Classic Poem

I.

When first I broke my league with sin,
And to my God was reconcil'd;
My breast was always calm within,
Because my God upon me smil'd:
With joy I in his house appear'd;
And when I pray'd, he always heard.
II.

Now tho I've serv'd him many years,
And for his sake reproach have born,
My joys are turn'd to sighs and tears,
While I his absent favours mourn:
He shuts out my petitions now,
And with fierce terror arms his brow.

III.

Shall I suppose he loves me less
Of late, than e'er he did before;
Or pleasure takes in my distress,
While I his wonted grace implore?
Can truth itself inconstant prove?
And love itself forget to love?

IV.

Earth from its center may be tost,
The spacious heavens together furl'd,
Their order in confusion lost,
And time dissolve the tottering world:
But God's firm cov'nant never moves,
And whom he once, he always, loves.

V.

Since there no change in God can be,
My trouble to myself I owe;
The guilty change is all in me,
Tho not enough my guilt I know.
I'll search my heart for that incroaching sin,
That makes him frown; and then he'll smile again.