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Confession and Pardon.

I.
1 ALAS my aking Heart!
2 Here the keen Torment lies;
3 It racks my waking Hours with Smart,
4 And frights my Slumbring Eyes.
II.
5 Guilt will be hid no more,
6 My Griefs take vent apace,
7 The Crimes that blot my Conscience o're
8 Flush Crimson in my Face.
III.
9 My Sorrows like a Flood
10 Impatient of Restraint
11 Into thy Bosom, O my God,
12 Pour out a long Complaint.
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IV.
13 This impious Heart of mine
14 Could once defie the Lord,
15 Could rush with Violence on to Sin
16 In presence of thy Sword.
V.
17 As often have I stood
18 A Rebel to the Skies,
19 The Calls, the Tenders of a God,
20 And Mercies Loudest cries.
VI.
21 He offers all his Grace,
22 And all his Heaven to me;
23 Offers! But 'tis to senseless Brass
24 That can nor feel nor see.
VII.
25 Jesus the Saviour stands
26 To court me from above,
27 And looks and spreads his wounded Hands,
28 And shows the Prints of Love.
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VIII.
29 But I, a stupid Fool,
30 How long have I withstood
31 The Blessings purchas'd with his Soul,
32 And paid for all in Blood?
IX.
33 The Heav'nly Dove came down
34 And tender'd me his Wings,
35 To mount me upward to a Crown
36 And bright Immortal things.
X.
37 Lord, I'm asham'd to say
38 That I refus'd thy Dove,
39 And sent thy Spirit griev'd away
40 To his own Realms of Love.
XI.
41 Nor all thine Heav'nly Charms,
42 Nor thy revenging Hand
43 Could force me to lay down my Arms,
44 And bow to thy Command.
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XII.
45 Lord, 'tis against thy Face
46 My Sins like Arrows rise,
47 And yet, and yet (O matchless Grace)
48 Thy Thunder silent lies.
XIII.
49 O shall I never feel
50 The Meltings of thy Love?
51 Am I of such Hell-harden'd Steel
52 That Mercy cannot move?
XIV.
53 Now for one powerful Glance
54 Dear Saviour, from thy Face!
55 This Rebel-heart no more withstands,
56 But sinks beneath thy Grace.
XV.
57 O'recome by dying Love I fall,
58 And at thy Cross I lie;
59 I throw my Flesh, my Soul, my All,
60 And Weep, and Love, and Die.
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XVI.
61 "Rise, says the Prince of Mercy, rise;
62 With Joy and Pity in his Eyes:
63 " Rise and behold my wounded Veins,
64 "Here flows the Blood to wash thy Stains.
XVII.
65 "See, my Great Father's reconcil'd:
66 He say'd, and Lo the Father smil'd;
67 The Joyful Cherubs clapt their Wings,
68 And sounded Grace on all their Strings.

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Title (in Source Edition): Confession and Pardon.
Author: Isaac Watts
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Genres: hymn

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Watts, Isaac, 1674-1748. Horæ lyricæ: Poems, chiefly of the lyric kind. In two books. ... By I. Watts. London: Printed by S. and D. Bridge, for John Lawrence at the Sign of the Angel in the Poultrey. MDCCVI., 1706, pp. 43-47. [20],267,[1]p.; 8⁰. (ESTC T82397; OTA K067329.000) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Princeton Theological Seminary Library.)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

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