V.
“Thy sins are forgiven thee”
“Forgiveness may then yet be mine,
The sinless lips have said ‘Forgiven;’
Pardon is then a right Divine,
And love indeed the law of heaven.
“But can the sullied snow grow white?
What spell can seal the memory fast?
What has been ever must have been,
The Almighty cannot change the past.
“His eyes, though piercing as the light,
In pity may refuse to see;
But what can make my memory white?
What veil can hide myself from me?”
Oh! raise thy downcast eyes to His,
And read the blessed secret there;
The pardoning love from guilt that frees,
By loving thee shall make thee fair.
Love's deepest depth of saving woe
Has yet to be to thee revealed;
Blood from that tender heart must flow,
And thus thy bitter streams be healed.
Thy guilt and shame on Him must lie:
Then search the past thy guilt to see;
Instead, this sight shall meet thine eye,—
Thy Saviour on the cross for thee!
