University of Virginia Library

861.

[A sinner's heart by lust possess'd]

There met Him out of the tombs a man with, &c. —v. 2.

A sinner's heart by lust possess'd,
Of birds unclean the loathsome nest,
Of fiends the dark abode;
A stinking sepulchre it lies,
While the poor wretch with horror flies
The sight of man and God.
Shut up within himself he dwells,
Corruption, rottenness, conceals,
Till the Deliverer come:

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Tormented then with sudden light
The slave of hell bewrays his fright,
And rushes from his tomb.
Jesus, Thy Spirit drags him thence,
Compell'd by Thine omnipotence
He shows himself to Thee,
His putrid heart, his shameful vice
Exposes to Thy glorious eyes,
Thou God of purity.