Vain man on fool­ish plea­sures bent,
Prepares for his own pun­ish­ment;
What pains, what loath­some ma­la­dies,
From lux­ury and lust ar­ise!

The drunk­ard feels his vi­tals waste,
Yet drowns his health to please his taste;
Till all his act­ive pow­ers are lost,
And faint­ing life draws near the dust.

The glut­ton groans, and loathes to eat,
His soul ab­hors de­li­cious meat;
Nature, with hea­vy loads op­pressed,
Would yield to death to be re­leased.

Then how the fright­ed sin­ners fly,
To God for help with ear­nest cry!
He hears their groans, pro­longs their breath,
And saves them from ap­proach­ing death.

No me­di­cines could ef­fect the cure
So quick, so ea­sy, or so sure:
The dead­ly sen­tence God re­peals,
He sends His so­ver­eign Word and heals.

O may the sons of men re­cord
The won­drous good­ness of the Lord!
And let their thank­ful of­fer­ings prove
How they ad­ore their mak­er’s love.