FORGIVE

A Suppliant, begging for pardon, came
To confess his faults, and his errors name;
And tears of contrition rolled down his face,
As he sought his wayward steps to retrace;
But the injured viewed with unfeeling eye,
And spurned, unrelenting, the penitent’s cry,
Nor thought of the debt he owed to Heaven,
For snares escaped, and for sins forgiven!HHHH 99.1

Ere long, at Mercy’s shrine, one knelt,
Who the stings of conscience keenly felt;
For guilt, as heinous, his course unfolds
To Him who the balances evenly holds;
And this was the prayer that I heard him make,
O Father, forgive, for Jesus’ sake!
With the measure ye mete, lest thy heart be riven,
Forgive, as thou hop’st to be forgiven!HHHH 99.2