O Thou, our souls' chief hope! Where'er we are, Thou canst protect, Whether we sleep or wake, To Thee we both resign; By night we see, as well as day, Whether we live or die, Both we submit to Thee; In death we live, as well as life, JOHN AUSTIN, 1668. O SACRED JOY. TELL me whence that joy doth spring, Which wears heaven like a bridal ring, Sure, holyness the magnet is, And love the lure that woos thee down; Which makes the high transcendent bliss Of knowing thee, so rarely known! HENRY VAUGHAN. THE SECRET OF CONTENT. E thou content; be still before BE His face, at whose right hand doth reign Fulness of joy for evermore, Without whom all thy toil is vain. He is thy living spring, thy sun, whose rays Make glad with life and light thy dreary days. Be thou content. In Him is comfort, light, and grace, If He is there, shall harm thee not. He can lift off thy cross, and loose thy bands, And calm thy fears, nay, death is in His hands. Be thou content. Or art thou friendless and alone, Hast none in whom thou canst confide? God careth for thee, lonely one, Comfort and help will He provide. He sees thy sorrows and thy hidden grief, Thy heart's unspoken pain He knows, He is not far away, but ever nigh, And answereth willingly the poor man's cry. Be thou content. Be not o'ermastered by thy pain, But cling to God, thou shalt not fall; The floods sweep over thee in vain, Thou yet shalt rise above them all; For when thy trial seems too hard to bear, Why art thou full of anxious fear How thou shalt be sustained and fed? He who hath made and placed thee here, Will give thee needful daily bread; Canst thou not trust His rich and bounteous hand, Who feeds all living things on sea and land ? Be thou content. He who doth teach the little birds To find their meat in field and wood, Who gives the countless flocks and herds Each day, their needful drink and food, Thy hunger too will surely satisfy, And all thy wants in His good time supply. Be thou content. Sayst thou, I know not how or where, When of all else we most despair, The riches of God's love we learn ; When thou and I His hand no longer trace, Though long His promised aid delay, The trial for thy good is meant. What we have won with pains we hold more fast, What tarrieth long is sweeter at the last. Be thou content. Lay not to heart whate'er of ill Thy foes may falsely speak of thee, Let man defame thee as he will, God hears, and judges righteously. Why shouldst thou fear, if God be on thy side, Man's cruel anger, or malicious pride? Be thou content. We know for us a rest remains, When God will give us sweet release From earth and all our mortal chains, And turn our sufferings into peace. Sooner or later death will surely come Home to the chosen ones, who here Who died in peace, without a fear, And there in peace for ever dwell; The Everlasting is their joy and stay, Be thou content. PAUL GERHARDT, 1670. AT SEA. HE night is made for cooling shade, TH For silence, and for sleep; And when I was a child, I laid My hands upon my breast and prayed, Each movement of the swaying lamp As o'er her deck the billows tramp, It starts and shudders, while it burns, Now swinging slow, and slanting low, And yet I know, while to and fro |