Election Sovereign and Free. Rom. 9. 20-23
I. Watts L.M.
1
Behold the potter and the clay;
He forms his vessels as he please;
Such is our God, and such are we,
The subjects of his high decrees.
2
[Does not the workman’s power extend
O’er all the mass, which part to choose,
And mould it for a nobler end,
And which to leave for viler use?]
3
May not the sovereign Lord on high
Dispense his favours as he will?
Choose some to life, while others die,
And yet be just and gracious still?
4
[What if, to make his terror known,
He let his patience long endure,
Suffering vile rebels to go on,
And seal their own destruction sure?]
5
[What if he mean to show his grace,
And his electing love employs,
To mark out some of mortal race,
And form them fit for heavenly joys?]
6
Shall man reply against his Lord,
And call his Maker’s ways unjust,
The thunder of whose dreadful word
Can crush a thousand worlds to dust?
7
But O, my soul, if truths so bright
Should dazzle and confound thy sight,
Yet still his written will obey,
And wait the great decisive day.
8
Then shall he make his justice known,
And the whole world before his throne,
With joy or terror shall confess
The glory of his righteousness.
