Ver. If, to thy pray'r, heart-pureness cleave, 6 His favour would thee raise;

II

Thy profp'rous state he would retrieve,
And crown thy righteous ways.

7 Though thy beginning, small and low,
Seem but an abject state;
Thy latter end shall not be fo,

But have an increase great.

SONG

XII.

Time and Life short. Job viii. 9.

9 WE'RE but of yesterday's new mold,

Our life's of no regard,

When with our long-liv'd fathers old
And ancestors compar'd.
No knowledge nor experience we

Can ever justly boaft:

Our days like shadows are that flee,

No fooner had, than loft.

SONG

XIII.

The Hope of the Hypocrite vain and vanishing.

Job viii. 11,-14.

JUST as a weak and empty rufh,,

in a wat'ry mead, With hasty growth and easy push, Rears up its haughty head; 12 In moisture rich, in verdure gay, Unmov'd and not cut down; Yet on a sudden wears away Ere other plants are grown. 13 So shall the wicked's beauty fade, The hypocrite's fair shew; Who no foundation firm hath laid, But mire in which he grew. 14 His fwelling hopes, ere he's aware, In their high tide shall ebb; His groundless truft is weaker far Than any fpider's web

Ver. He on his tott'ring house shall lean,
A false and fruitless prop,
Which, finking foon, shall fail him clean,
And disappoint his hope.

2

SONG XIV.

God juft in judging. Job ix. 2, 3, 4.

WHEN juftice, out of mercy's rod,

Thoughts, words, and actions tries,

How can a man be just with God,
Or pure before his eyes ?

3 Once to contend, if God begins,
Vain shifts will have no fenfe;
Not one of all our thousand fins
Can bear a just defence.
4 He's wife in heart, and strong in might,
What arm can his repel;
Who can against him fafely fight,
Or profper that rebel ?

15

G

SONG XV.

The Righteousness of Words discarded.
Job ix. 15. 20, 21.

OD's eyes espy our aims afar,
And, to his clearer fight,
These very ways most crooked are,
That we esteem'd most right.
Then righteous though I were, yet I
To answer him would grudge;
And, laying proud pretences by,
Would fupplicate my Judge.

20 Should I my innocence aver,

21

My mouth would brand my face;
Yea, were I perfect, I'd prefer,
The way of life by grace

+Gg

4

SONG XVI.

The afflicted Soul's Complaint to GOD.
Job x. 1, 2. 14, 15.

HE constant woes that load my back,

Fer. THE

I

Such endless groans create;

My present life's a very black
Uncomfortable state.

My restless weary foul abhors
This loathsome lump of clay;
Longs to be free of fin and fores,
And wings to heav'n her way.
2 I make to God my heavy moan,
To give my forrow vent;
But yet upon myself alone

I'll leave my fad complaint.
I'm press'd, but I condemn thee not;
O Lord, condemn not me :
Why thou contends with me so hot
Shew, Lord, and let me fee.
14 If I be wicked in thine eyes,
Then wo to me indeed;
If righteous, yet shall never I
Lift up my haughty head.
15 Despair and deep confufion do
My wounded foul oppress :
O shew thy mercy, see my wo,
And pity my distress.

SONG XVII.

GOD'S Wisdom unfearchable. Job xi. 7, 8, 9.

7 CAN human reason's utmost stretch,

Her arms fo far extend,
As shall th' Eternal's counsel reach,
His wifdom comprehend ?

8,9 What creature can, with finite hand,
The vast dimension weigh!
Tis longer than the earth or land,
And broader than the fea.

Ver. Higher than heav'n, what canst thou know,

So infinitely steep?

Deeper then hell, what canst thou do,
But awful distance keep?

SONG XVIII.

That God may suffer the wicked to profper, exemplified in Beafts, Birds, and Fishes; and this resolved into bis abfolute Dominion over, and Propriety in all bis Creatures. Job xii. 6,-10.

6 AFFLICTIONS great are of the just,

In time, the common fate;
While wicked men, that lick the dust,
Enjoy a profp'rous state.
Robbers and spoilers see their stock
Of worldly wealth endure;
And these who most do God provoke,
On earth live most secure.
Great gifts, on them he disregards,
With lavish hand he throws,
And on them multiply'd rewards,
Unmerited, bestows.

7 Ask now the beasts, and trial make,
How matters with them go;
Soon will they tell how they partake
The self-fame kind of wo.

How bears, wolves, monsters of the wood,
That ravage and destroy,

Inur'd to rapine, spoil, and blood,

Yet peace and pow'r enjoy.

While harmless flocks, on hills that browse,
And useful herds, each way,

To men their friends, or beasts their foes,

Are daily made a prey.

Ask of the fowls aloft that flee,

For answer they'll return,

That they, conform to their degree,

The fame disafter mourn.

Gga

Ver. They will affert their vultures rude,
And tyrants live secure;

8

While doves and birds of mildest brood,
A thousand woes endure.

Then ask the fishes what's their state,
And question how they do;

They'll tell that this unequal fate
Attends the ocean too.

Great whales, sea-tyrants, drunk with blood,
That profper to their wish,
Devour controulless, in the flood,
Whole shoals of harmless fish.

9 This state of things fram'd he, whose pow'r
All beings did produce;

Whole wifdom too, in ord'ring fure,

Hath fix'd their end and ufe.

10 God's creatures are his own, their lives

II

12

He may at pleasure take;
When he refumes but what he gives,
Who can objections make?

SONG XIX.

Doctrine to be tried ere it be trusted. Job xii. 11.

THE

HE ear tries words before they be
Receiv'd as true and good;
The mouth tastes meat ere ever we

Can judge it wholesome food.
Doctrines and spirits thus we try,
By grace's inward guft;
Left we for truth receive a lie,

For food to poifon truft.

SONG XX.

The Wisdom of antient Men nothing to the Wisdom
of the Antient of Days. Job xii. 12, 13.

THOUGH wisdom oft, we are aflur'd,
In hoary heads appears,
And understanding is matur'd

By time and num'rous years: