Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, OLNEY HYMNS: 11. JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, by WILLIAM COWPER


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OLNEY HYMNS: 11. JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: My god, how perfect are thy ways!
Last Line: The lord for ever mine.
Subject(s): Sin


Jer. xxiii. 6.

MY God, how perfect are thy ways!
But mine polluted are;
Sin twines itself about my praise,
And slides into my prayer.

When I would speak what thou hast done
To save me from my sin,
I cannot make thy mercies known,
But self-applause creeps in.

Divine desire, that holy flame
Thy grace creates in me;
Alas! impatience is its name,
When it returns to thee.

This heart, a fountain of vile thoughts,
How does it overflow,
While self upon the surface floats,
Still bubbling from below!

Let others in the gaudy dress
Of fancied merit shine;
The Lord shall be my righteousness,
The Lord for ever mine.





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