Isaiah 28: The faithful soul doth not make haste

The faithful soul doth not make haste
To judge or think, to speak or do,
But present times compares with past.
The false to separate from the true,
Nature in all her turns to trace,
And vindicate the work of grace.

Tell him — you feel your pardon seal'd,
With strongest confidence assert
The secret of the Lord reveal'd,
The image stamp'd upon your heart;
He hears unmoved, and waits to see
The fruit, and then discern the tree.

Your tempers with judicious love,
He in the sacred balance weighs;
How to condemn you, or approve.
On every word, and action stays
Observes your hope, dislike, desire.
And marks you passing through the fire.

His long-withheld assent to steal,
The sanguine novice hopes in vain;
Nor rapturous joy, nor flaming zeal
His lingering approbation gain;
Nor glittering gifts his judgment seize,
Nor fairest forms of godliness.

If nature mix'd with grace he find.
Careful the evil to remove.
The good entire he leaves behind,
Or, while he cannot both approve.
Error with truth combined he spares.
To save the wheat, permits the tares.

Cautious in all his works and deeds,
He dares on God alone rely.
With calm deliberate step proceeds
The spirits, and himself to try,
Patience the uncontested sign
Which slowly proves his faith Divine,