Reading: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.” Hosea 13:14
The world is afraid of a hidden poison where there is none. The real hidden poison is sin, which the Lord granted me to fear everywhere: for it has infected all things and all places.
But oh, my dear Saviour, thou being my all sufficient preservative and antidote, in all places, oh, dwell in me continually, and increase thou my faith, that I may know thee and enjoy thee more and more. Take away all slavish fears of death and hell from my soul, for thou hast conquered both for me.
Let reason vainly boast her power
To teach her children how to die;
The sinner, in the dying hour,
Needs more than reason can supply;
A view of Christ, the sinner’s friend,
Alone can cheer him in the end.
When nature sinks beneath disease,
And every earthly hope is fled,
What then can give the sinner ease,
And fill with peace his dying bed?
Jesus, thy word his heart can cheer,
He’s blest, e’en then, if thou art near.
The gospel free salvation brings,
And Jesus is the gospel theme;
In death the pardoned sinner sings,
And triumphs in the Saviour’s name.
“O death where is thy sting?” they cry,
“O grave, where is thy victory?”
Taken from Karl Heinrich von Bogatzky: Bogatzky’s Golden Treasury (1690–1774)
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