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SOLILOQUY XVIII.
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211

SOLILOQUY XVIII.

I will not leave thee; bid me not be gone,
Repulse me not, for I will take no nay.
As thou dost live, I will pursue thee still,
Nor e'er let go my hold: I'm fix'd on this,
To wrestle with thee till I gain the blessing.
I cannot be deny'd; thy word is past,
'Tis seal'd, 'tis ratify'd; thou art oblig'd,
Engag'd, confin'd by thy own clemency,
And spotless truth, to listen to my call.
I come, I enter by the strength of faith
The holy place; thro' the atoning blood
I kneel, I humbly worship at thy seat:
My great request is to obtain thy grace,
Thro' my Redeemer's merits. Here's the way
By which I would approach thy sacred throne.
O let me never meet with a repulse,
While I invoke thee by that charming name;
That name in which is center'd thy delight,
That name which at thy own command I use;
Nor can it be in vain—Thy word is past;
Nor can'st thou vary, or deny thy self,
And change thy purposes, like fickle man.
The earth shall change her form, the shining skies
Shall lose their light, and vanish into shade;
But not a tittle of thy sacred word
Shall fail the hopes of them that rest on thee.

212

Be gone, ye impious, unbelieving fears!
I am a sinner, freely 'tis confest,
Unmeriting the least regard from thee;
But here the riches of thy grace will shine;
To thee immortal honour will arise,
When such a worthless wretch as I shall stand
Acquitted by an act of sov'reign will
Before thy gracious sight; cleans'd from my guilt
By a Redeemer's blood, that healing balm
For all the wounds within.—In heav'nly strains
My lips shall tell the story of thy grace;
Ages shall in a long succession roll,
While the blest theme employs my joyful tongue:
Unbounded gratitude shall swell my soul,
And all its nobler faculties enlarge.