On Despair

Amongst Satan's chief Magazine of Arms,
To fight against men's Souls none does such harms,
As those despairs which he in clouds lets fly
At faithless men, when we draw near to die.
He treats our Youth at first with such delights,
As do most please men's appetites;
With lusts, with gluttony, and avarice,
Or what will more our eyes and hearts entice
To follow him into his hidden snares,
Where once engag'd, he leads us to despairs,
And throws such mists before our dazled eyes,
We cannot find our selves in his surprize;
But do run on in pleasures, and rejoice,
Mistaking his deceits for our own choice;
And so applaud our wits for our success
In sin, and do admire our activeness;
And ne'er discern this subtile Agent stand,
With all his wicked Instruments at hand,
Ready and glad to be employ'd, while we
Make haste to Hell by our impiety,
Till youth and vigour with its power decrease,
And cause our evil appetites to cease
From wicked acts; yet he'll not give us o'er,
Nor quit us so! He has new sins in store:
When wrinkled age adorns us with gray hairs,
He terrifies our hearts with high despairs;
Shews us the ills that we have done, too great
For pardon are, and now too late to treat
With Heav'n; having resign'd our selves to Hell,
No holy Charm can e'er dissolve that Spell;
And dictates thus to our affrighted sense,
Repentance cannot balance our offence,
Who have so many years our God refus'd,
So many ways his Laws and Grace abus'd,
That in his Justice he can ne'er forgive
Our Crimes: Thus he torments us whil'st we live.
When flattering objects fail, he thus presents
Our fancies with despairing arguments,
That we must never hope to see God's face,
'Cause we have sinn'd beyond the reach of Grace,
Out-gone the merit of Christ's Blood, and have
Done things beyond the power of God to save.
Thus by degrees he leads us to despair,
Never to hope for better than we are;
And thus by doubting God's Omnipotence,
To aggravate his wrath and our offence;
Unless our great and glorious God do please
To free us from this Devil, and this Disease,
So deadly to our Souls, and let us see
We may be yet redeem'd by Piety,
If we get Grace to pray, and to repent,
With constant fervent zeal and full intent
For ever to forsake, and truly hate
Those horrid Sins we doted on of late.
If we get faith to love and serve God thus,
No doubt he doth already pity us,
And will in time forgive; there's no dispute
But Mercy is God's highest Attribute;
Severe in Justice, yet of Grace not scant,
When chief of Sinners was the greatest Saint.