Election sovereign and free. <br /> <br />Rom. 9:20-23. <br /> <br />Behold the potter and the clay, <br />He forms his vessels as he please: <br />Such is our God, and such are we, <br />The subjects of his high decrees. <br /> <br />[Doth not the workman's power extend <br />O'er all the mass, which part to choose <br />And mold it for a nobler end, <br />And which to leave for viler use?] <br /> <br />May not the sovereign Lord on high <br />Dispense his favors as he will, <br />Choose some to life, while others die, <br />And yet be just and gracious still? <br /> <br />[What if, to make his terror known, <br />He lets his patience long endure, <br />Suff'ring vile rebels to go on, <br />And seal their own destruction sure? <br /> <br />What if he means to show his grace, <br />And his electing love employs <br />To mark out some of mortal race, <br />And form them fit for heav'nly joys?] <br /> <br />Shall man reply against the Lord, <br />And call his Maker's ways unjust, <br />The thunder of whose dreadful word <br />Can crush a thousand worlds to dust? <br /> <br />But, O my soul! if truths so bright <br />Should dazzle and confound thy sight, <br />Yet still his written will obey, <br />And wait the great decisive day. <br /> <br />Then shall he make his justice known, <br />And the whole world before his throne <br />With joy or terror shall confess <br />The glory of his righteousness.<br /><br />Isaac Watts<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/hymn-117/
