Songs 26

¹Ho! ye that thirst, approach the spring

where living waters flow:

Free to that sacred fountain all

without a price may go.

²How long to streams of false delight

will ye in crowds repair?

How long your strength and substance waste

on trifles, light as air?

³My stores afford those rich supplies

that health and pleasure give:

Incline your ear, and come to me;

the soul that hears shall live.

⁴With you a cov’nant I will make,

that ever shall endure;

The hope which gladden’d David’s heart

my mercy hath made sure.

⁵Behold he comes! your leader comes,

with might and honour crown’d;

A witness who shall spread my name

to earth’s remotest bound.

⁶See! nations hasten to his call

from ev’ry distant shore;

Isles, yet unknown, shall bow to him,

and Isr’el’s God adore.

⁷Seek ye the Lord while yet his ear

is open to your call;

While offer’d mercy still is near,

before his footstool fall.

⁸Let sinners quit their evil ways,

their evil thoughts forego:

And God, when they to him return,

returning grace will show.

⁹He pardons with o’erflowing love:

for, hear the voice divine!

My nature is not like to yours,

nor like your ways are mine:

¹⁰But far as heav’n’s resplendent orbs

beyond earth’s spot extend,

As far my thoughts, as far my ways,

your ways and thoughts transcend.

¹¹And as the rains from heav’n distil,

nor thither mount again,

But swell the earth with fruitful juice,

and all its tribes sustain:

¹²So not a word that flows from me

shall ineffectual fall;

But universal nature prove

obedient to my call.

¹³With joy and peace shall then be led

the glad converted lands;

The lofty mountains then shall sing,

the forests clap their hands.

¹⁴Where briers grew ’midst barren wilds,

shall firs and myrtles spring;

And nature, through its utmost bounds,

eternal praises sing.