Or whether sickness, pain, or health; Or whether poverty or wealth- One thing I know, that needful 'tis To watch with careful eye; Too well I know what precious hours Earth rolls her rapid seasons round, But virtue is with glory crown'd, What awful thought! what truth sublime Oh ! let me well improve my time! Oh let me die in peace. THE LORD WILL PROVIDE.. THOUGH troubles assail, And dangers affright,— Though friends should all fail, And foes all unite; Yet one thing secures us, The scripture assures us, The birds without barn So long as 'tis written, We may, like the ships, On perilous deeps, But cannot be lost : Though Satan enrages The wind and the tide, The promise engages The Lord will provide. His call we obey, Like Abr'ham, of old, Not knowing our way, But faith makes us bold; For though we are strangers, We have a good guide, And trust, in all dangers, The Lord will provide. H When Satan appears He tells us we're weak, We ne'er shall obtain ; No strength of our own, Or goodness we claim ; Yet since we have known, The Saviour's great name, In this our strong tower, When fled is our youth, And death is in sight The word of his truth Shall still be our light; Though tempests may lower, THE GOLDEN MEAN. He that holds fast the golden mean, The little and the great, Feels not the wants that pinch the poor, Nor plagues that haunt the rich man's door, Imbitt'ring all his state. The tallest pines feel most the pow'r Comes heaviest to the ground. The bolts that span the mountain's side, And spread the ruin round. DAVID AND GOLIAH. By whom was David taught When he Goliah fought, And laid the Gittite low? No sword nor spear the stripling took, But chose a pebble from the brook. 'Twas Israel's God and King Ye feeble saints, your strength endures, Who order'd Gideon forth, To storm th' invader's camp, A pitcher and a lamp? The trumpet made his coming known, And all the host was overthrown. Oh! I have seen the day, God helping me to say, My trust is in the Lord, My soul has quell'd a thousand foes, But unbelief, self will, Self-righteousness and pride, How often do they steal My weapon from my side? Yet David's Lord and Gideon's friend, Will help his servants to the end. |