Hymn 2:159. An unconverted state; or, Converting grace.
1 [Great King of Glory and of grace,
We own with humble shame,
How vile is our degenerate race,
And our first father's name.]
2 From Adam flows our tainted blood,
The poison reigns within,
Makes us averse to all that's good,
And willing slaves to sin.
3 [Daily we break thy holy laws,
And then reject thy grace;
Engag'd in the old serpent's cause
Against our Maker's face.]
4 We live estrang'd afar from God,
And love the distance well;
With haste we run the dangerous road
That leads to death and hell.
5 And can such rebels be restor'd?
Such natures made divine?
Let sinners see thy glory, Lord,
And feel this power of thine.
6 We raise our Father's name on high,
Who his own Spirit sends
To bring rebellious strangers nigh,
And turn his foes to friends.
Hymn 2:160.
Custom in sin.
1 Let the wild leopards of the wood
Put off the spots that nature gives,
Then may the wicked turn to God,
And change their tempers and their lives.
2 As well might Ethiopian slaves
Wash out the darkness of their skin;
The dead as well might leave their graves,
As old transgressors cease to sin.