Denial

The Guilt and Folly of Denying God

"There is a God," all Nature cries,
All Knowledge proves "there is a God:"
"There is no God," the Fool replies,
Whose heart is duller than the clod.

The grateful clod, refresh'd with rains,
Pours flowers along its Maker's path;
But the Fool's heart a Fool's remains,
Untouch'd by love, unmoved by wrath.

And yet the wretch himself deceives;
While fiends believe, and trembling fly,
He trembles though he disbelieves;
And conscience gives his life the lie.

Can guilt, can madness further go?
Yes, his who God in works denies,
Whose creed saith "Yes," whose life says "No:"
Am I more holy, just, and wise?

My soul, sink down in shame and grief;
So fair without, so foul within;
Thy faith is specious unbelief,
Thy righteousness, self-righteous sin.

O God! Thou art, Thou surely art,
And those who truly seek Thee find;
Put Thou Thy laws into my heart,
In mercy write them on my mind.

Light in Thy light I long to see,
Thy glory in Thy goodness trace;
Ah! then reveal Thy Son in me,
Through faith may I be saved by grace.

..from Sacred Poems and Hymns by James Montgomery