Classic Poem

HYMN XXIX.

Eternal father, how divine,
How noble is this gift of thine!
That thou should'st send thy only son,
That holy, lov'd, and lovely one;

The noblest object of thy love,
To leave his throne and crown above,
To dwell with mortals here below,
And death for them to undergo!

And thou, blest saviour, who didst come
So freely from thy heav'nly home,
To make thyself a sacrifice
For criminals and enemies:

How full of wonder is that love
That could determine thee to move
From thy illustrious palace, where
The heav'nly host did thee revere!

Where flaming Seraphs bow'd before
Thy awful scepter, to adore
Thy holy, holy, holy name,
And thy perfections to proclaim!

Love made thee all this glory leave,
A veil of human flesh receive,
To live in grief and misery,
And after all to bleed and die!

To die a death the most accurst,
And of all deaths the very worst;
To be with lingring torments slain,
Abus'd with scoffs and vile disdain!

All this thou hast endur'd, that we
Holy and happy too might be;
And with thee in thy kingdom reign,
When thou, dear Lord, shalt come again.

HYMN XXX.

You that the holy Jesus love,
Give honour to his name;
The great atchievements of his grace
In thankful verse proclaim.

Tho what your highest thoughts surmounts
Can never be exprest;
Yet something of it you may tell,
And wonder out the rest.

Remember all his mighty deeds,
His sorrows all review;
How he abas'd his glorious self,
To bleed and die for you.

Remember all the shame and scorn,
The vinegar and gall,
The gaping wounds thro which he pour'd
His vital juices all.

His sorrows, as his virtues, were
Innumerable found;
Troubles from earth, from heaven and hell,
His spotless soul surround.

Crucify'd by the worst of men,
Forsaken by the best;
With th' endless number of our sins,
Sin's mighty weight oppress'd.

He felt the curses of the law,
His father's wrath sustain'd;
Endur'd the cruel shock of all
The powers of hell unchain'd.

But after all victorious prov'd,
In triumph did ascend,
And now prepares us crowns and thrones,
And joys that ne'er shall end.