Oh Woe to Sin, and Therefore Woe to Me!

 Retribution
by James Furneaux 

 "As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women."--1 Samuel XV. 33. 

 Oh woe to sin, and therefore woe to me!
 God ever punishes though He forgive.
 Oh, who would dare to sin could he foresee
 Stern Retribution (who would cease to live
 But for man's crimes) avenging one by one
 Each evil thought and word and action done.
 Let him who thinks of sin mark David's fall,
 His penitence and punishment, his flight,
 The never failing sword, and most of all
 His secret sin repaid in Israel's sight.
 When all his visitations I recall   
(The man of God's own heart) a fearful light
 Across my shuddering memory seems to creep,
 I think upon my secret sins -- and weep.

Lent, Feb. 1844