University of Virginia Library


151

28.

[Whom God pronounced His favourite Son]

When the tempter came to Him, he said, &c. —iv. 3.

Whom God pronounced His favourite Son
Can Christ His Father's word disown?
Whom God acknowledged from above,
Can Christ suspect His Father's love?
As left in the distressing hour,
Mistrust His providential power?
And kept for forty days unfed,
Despair of life for want of bread?
In vain for Christ the tempter spread
The snare for the first Adam laid;
Urging our Lord to disbelieve
He could not God Himself deceive:
In vain doth hell with heaven contend:
He proves His Godhead on the fiend,
Opposes by the written word,
And foils him by the Spirit's sword.