ABHORRENCE.
And now am I their song, yea, I am their by-word. They abhor me, they flee far from me.—Job, xxx. 9, 10.
I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.—Job, xlii. 5, 6.
Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.—Romans, xii. 9.
Father of lights! from whom proceeds
Whate’er thy every creature needs;
Whose goodness providently nigh,
Feeds the young ravens when they cry;
To thee I look, my heart prepare;
Suggest, and hearken to my prayer.
Fain would I know, as known by thee,
And feel the indigence I see:
Fain would I all my vileness own,
And deep beneath the burden groan;
Abhor the pride that lurks within,
Detest and loathe myself and sin.
Wesley.
’Tis a point I long to know,
Oft it causes anxious thought,
Do I love the Lord, or no?
Am I his, or am I not?
Could I joy his saints to meet,
Choose the ways I once abhorred,
Find at times the promise sweet,
If I did not love the Lord?
Newton.
Were half the power that fills the world with terror,
Were half the wealth bestowed on camps and courts,
Given to redeem the human mind from error,
There were no need of arsenals nor forts.
The warrior’s name would be a name abhorred;
And every nation that should lift again
Its hand against a brother, on its forehead
Would wear for evermore the curse of Cain.
Longfellow.