THE INVESTIGATIVE JUDGMENT.
By L. M. Gates
And is the righteous Judgment near?
And must my life, disclosed, appear
Before the eyes of One,
Who is of purer heart and eye
One sin to pass unheeded by,
Uncanceled by his Son? Must every idle word and thought
Be fully in subjection brought?
And every motive pure?
Must selfishness be laid aside,
Impatience, envy, malice, pride,
That I the test endure? Must I most full confession make,
That 'gainst my name, for Jesus' sake,
Pardon may be engraved?
That every sin may be erased,
The whole dark catalogue effaced,
And I forever saved? Most solemn thought! ’tis even so;
And every thing I say, and do,
Is chronicled on high.
Forbid, O Lord, that I be found
Asleep upon enchanted ground,
Nor watch thy coming nigh.