2873.
[The chief of saints may well express]
What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? &c.
—xxi. 13.
The chief of saints may well express
A sympathising tenderness,
And blameless sorrow show;
The faithful soul with Jesus one
Has put his Saviour's bowels on,
And feels the common woe.
Yet with the mind of Jesus steel'd
He cannot to entreaties yield,
Or leave the bleeding Lamb,
Warn'd by the Spirit's clearest call
For Jesus' sake to give up all
And suffer for His name.
From all the power of passion free,
Against the soft infirmity
Immovable he stands;
No cross, no suffering he declines,
But cheerfully his life resigns,
When Christ his life demands.
O'erjoy'd his faithfulness to' approve,
And pay Him back the bleeding love
Display'd on Calvary,
Paul could not speak a greater word
Than “Here I am, my gracious Lord,
Ready to die for Thee.”
