GENESIS ii.

REST.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he rested the seventh day from all his work which he had made; and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work that he had created and made.'

Exodus xvi. And Moses said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord. So the people rested on the seventh day.'

Luke xxiii.And the women followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid, and they returned, and prepared spices and ointments, and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.'

Christ rested in the tomb of Joseph the last Sabbath under the law: but the evening and the morning were the first day. On that morning he closed his work of humiliation, manifested his victory over death, the curse denounced, by rising from the tomb, and rested on the first day of the week from all his humiliation work; his death, burial, and rest in the grave on the seventh day, being the last part of that work.

142

The following Poem was not found till after Mrs. Graham's Funeral Sermon was preached.

JORDAN.

oshua chap. i. 11, and chap. iii. Psalm xxiii. 4, lxxiii. 24. THE Solemn hour, my soul, draws near,

The holy Ark and Priests appear:

They forward move to Jordan's flood,

The type, thou knowest, thy Cov'nant God.

The signal too, to thee is known,

Obey, remove, and follow on;

The Ark of the Cov'nant is thy guide,
Shrink not, but face the rolling tide.
The waves toss high their foaming heads
But can'st thou perish? Jesus leads,
This way before I ne'er did pass,
But Jesus, thy forerunner, has.
When all its banks it overflow'd,
All nature wrapt in midnight cloud
While darkness had its hour and power,
And all God's billows pass'd him o'er.
The waves for him, must not divide,
Deep calls to deep on every side;
Around his head the surges roll,
O'erwhelming ev'n his very soul.
He substituted in my stead,
The curse for sin laid on his head;
The law's demands came like a flood,
Sinner or surety must give blood.
'Till jot and tittle had been paid,
Atonement due for sin been made,
No way for him, no ray of grace:
Justice ev'n hid his Father's face.

From brim to bottom he drank up,
Of wrath, that deep mysterious cup;
This Jordan pass'd, then rose on high,
And captive led captivity.

Justice now fully satisfied,

The law now honour'd, magnified;
At God's right hand he takes his place,
Executor of Cov'nant Grace.

Crown'd by Jehovah's firm decree,
With universal sov'reignty;

All nature owns his powerful sway,
He speaks, the elements obey.

The emblem, then thou may'st pursue,
For safe to thee this Jordan through;
The priests but touch the watery space,
When lo! the floods desert their place.

They gather up upon an heap,
Leave dry the channel of the deep;

The ark and priests there take their stand,
And beckon thee to leave the land.
I come, my best belov'd, I come;
Now lead me to our Father's home;
On thy dear person fix mine eye,
And faith firm footing shall supply.
I fear no ill while thou art near,
But let thy voice salute my ear;
Should spirits faint, and 'scape the sigh,
With these sweet words "Fear not, 'tis I."

With courage fresh my soul shall tread,
On faith's firm ground where thou dost lead;
While still upon thy gracious face,
My steady eye maintains its place.

And now, my Joshua, choose, and lay,
The stones in Jordan's middle way;
Let them o'ertop the flowing wave
Memorial of thy power to save.

For once a suit I did prefer,
With feeble hope, and trembling fear:
That I might have a Pisgah view,
In Jordan's swells of Canaan new.
O then, thy glory let me see,

Then cause thy face to shine on me;
And tune my heart, and tune my voice,
And language furnish to rejoice:
That all around may lend their tongue,
And sweetly join my dying song;
And Newton sav'd by grace like me,
We'll sing of sov'reign grace with thee.

THE END.