jj jackman the character of love - index
the sweetest frame Lord i did love another in Thy stead And would have brought this sweetest frame* to bed Had it not come to me in prayer** and fast Though give her all i had despite the cost That she would but my substance to exhaust And plead to me of rent and vital need And spend it all on one expensive purse And love its object not at all does judge And reason lacks to label this as greed In admonition makes the matter worse And from her course of terror she won’t budge And Thou, in Proverbs*** said this could not last But only could be nipped in early bud! And now my spirit does in pain so groan As violent men do seek to shed my blood And view me lifeless in my spit and crud Such folly to such end is ever known And as i sink in mire nigh to my neck My feet touch not the ground as in a flood My life a ship in vi’lent storm, a wreck! Not loyal i! in pleasure scorned Thy face And traipsed both high and low to Thy disgrace And plead i now to Thee one last appeal In mercy please recall my former zeal! And pray that this dear lady beckon still And turn to Thee with gladness her strong will! 5But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying O LORD, make no tarrying O LORD, make no tarrying O LORD, make no tarrying*****from the hymn “The Solid Rock” My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus blood and righteousness I dare not trust the sweetest frame But wholly lean on Jesus’ name On Christ the solid Rock I stand All other ground is sinking sand All other ground is sinking sand. ** (pron. prair) ***Proverbs 5: 3-12 (NIV) 3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; 4 but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. 6 She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths are crooked, but she knows it not. 7 Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say. 8 Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house, 9 lest you give your best strength to others and your years to one who is cruel, 10 lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich another man's house. 11 At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. 12 You will say, "How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! Proverbs 5 (KJV) 1My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: 2That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. 3For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: 4But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. 5Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. 6Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. 7Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. 8Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: 9Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: 10Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; 11And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, 12And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; 13And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! 14I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. 15Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. 16Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. 17Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee. 18Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. 19Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. 20And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? 21For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings. 22His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. 23He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. ****Psalm 70:5 (KJV)