335.
[What crowds in every age receive]
He . . . heareth the word, and . . . with joy, &c.
—xiii. 20, 21.
What crowds in every age receive
The word with joyful forwardness,
Transported for a while believe,
And all the warmth of zeal express,
Yet shrinking in the evil day,
They faint, and fall, and die away.
The various shapes of worldly woe,
The conflicts dire of inbred sin,
These, only these can surely show
Who has or wants a root within:
And happy they, who always fear,
Till love, the perfect fruit appear.
O may I hear and taste the word,
And faithfully Thy grace retain,
Devoted to my pardoning Lord,
Stand all the assaults of sin and pain,
Rooted in humble love Divine,
And live, and die, entirely thine!
