HYMN 153. (C. M.) The Distemper, Folly, and Madness of Sin.
I
Sin like a venomous disease
Infects our vital blood;
The only balm is sovereign grace,
And the physician, God.
II
Our beauty and our strength are fled,
And we draw near to death;
But Christ the Lord recals the dead
With his almighty breath.
III
Madness by nature reigns within,
The passions burn and rage;
Till God's own Son with skill divine
The inward fire assuage.
IV
We lick the dust, we grasp the wind,
And solid good despise;
Such is the folly of the mind
Till Jesus makes us wise.
V
We give our souls the wounds they feel,
We drink the poisonous gall,
And rush with fury down to hell;
But heaven prevents the fall.
VI
The man possess'd amongst the tombs
Cuts his own flesh, and cries;
He foams, and raves, till Jesus comes,
And the foul spirit flies.
