NATHAN AND DAVID.
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NATHAN AND DAVID.
"And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against The Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shall not die."2 Samuel xii. 13.
"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord."Acts iii. 19.
The monarch knelt, and, in the dust,
Confessed his sin and shame;
And God forgave the guilty one,
Who called upon his name.
He won by tears, he won by prayers,
A pardon from on high;
Though scarce he dared to raise to heaven
His dim and pleading eye.
Oh, write the lesson on our heart,
And teach us that our tears
Can wash away each guilty stain
That on life's page appears.
God grant that never we may bow
So low to guilt's control,
As did that king who had the weight
Of blood upon his soul.
But seeds of sorrow and of crime
Are sown each heart within;
And who can look upon his soul,
And say he knows not sin?
We are as nothing in ourselves,
And only in thy name
May we approach thy heavenly throne,
And urge our sorrow's claim.
Then teach us, Lord, to weep and pray,
And bend the suppliant knee;
For what but penitence and prayer
Can hope for grace from thee?