262.
[The father hates his gracious child]
I am come to set a man at variance against his, &c.
—x. 35.
The father hates his gracious child,
Himself unsaved, unreconciled,
Through Thy atoning blood;
The graceless son his father scorns,
If first the pious parent turns,
And meets a pardoning God.
Thy handmaid in the softer kind
Can no remorse or pity find,
If Thou hast set her free;
The mother never can forgive
The daughter who presumes to live
Devoted all to Thee.
The daughter gay both hates and fears
The mother who to Thee adheres,
With Thee in spirit one;
And none their dearest friends can bear
Who God to friends and life prefer,
Who seek Thy love alone.
