THE old, old story! yet I kneel To tell it at thy call;
And cares grow lighter as I feel
My Father knows them all.
Yes, all! The morning and the night, The joy, the grief, the loss,
The roughened path, the sunbeam bright, The hourly thorn and cross.
Thou knowest all: I lean my head, My weary eyelids close; Content and glad awhile to tread
This path, since my God knows! And he has loved me! All my heart With answering love is stirred; My cares are his! my pain and smart Find healing in the word.
So here I lay me down to rest, As nightly shadows fall, And lean, confiding on his breast, Who knows and pities all,
And holds the morrows, far and near, Within his love alway:
Let come what will, he bends to hear The story, day by day!
Nuremburg, 39. Conant, 36.
Close my drooping eyes to sleep; Father, let thy vision blest Tender watch above me keep.
Hush to rest my dear ones all In the hollow of thy hand; All men sleep, or great or small, Safe beneath thy kind command.
On sad hearts let peace descend; On the weeping eyelids, sleep; And thy moon the skies ascend, And the still earth vigil keep.
ERE on my bed my limbs I lay, It hath not been my use to pray With moving lips or bended knees; But silently, by slow degrees, My spirit I to Love compose,
In humble trust mine eyelids close, With reverential resignation,
No wish conceived, no thought expressed!
Only a sense of supplication,
A sense o'er all my soul imprest That I am weak, yet not unblest, Since in me, round me, everywhere, Eternal Strength and Wisdom are.
LOVE for all! and can it be? Can I hope it is for me? I, who strayed so long ago, Strayed so far, and fell so low! I, the disobedient child, Wayward, passionate, and wild; I, who left my Father's home In forbidden ways to roam! I, who spurned his loving hold; I, who would not be controlled; I, who would not hear his call; I, the wilful prodigal! To my Father can I go?- At his feet myself I'll throw. In his house there yet may be Place, a servant's place, for me. See, my Father waiting stands! See, he reaches out his hands! God is Love! I know, I see There is love for me-even me!
Just as I am,-though tossed about With many a conflict, many a doubt, Fightings within, and fears without, O loving God! I come.
Just as I am;-thou wilt receive, Wilt welcome, pardon, heal, relieve; My shame is all that I can give,— Yet, loving God! I come.
O, richly, Father, have I been Blest evermore by thee!
And morning, noon and night thou hast Preserved me tenderly.
Unworthy to be called thy son,
I come with shame to thee, Father! O, more than Father, thou Hast always been to me!
Help me to break the heavy chains The world has round me thrown, And know the glorious liberty Of an obedient son.
That I may henceforth heed whate'er Thy voice within me saith, Fix deeply in my heart of hearts A principle of faith,-
Faith that, like armor to my soul, Shall keep all evil out, More mighty than an angel host Encamping round about.
50. Through and through. Olmutz, 35.
WE name thy name, O God, As our God call on thee,
Though the dark heart in us meantime Far from thy ways may be.
And we can own thy law, And we can sing thy songs, While this sad inner soul in us To sin and shame belongs.
On us thy love may glow, As the pure midday fire
On some foul spot in us look down,— And yet the mire be mire.
Then spare us not thy fires, The searching light and pain; Burn out the sin in us; and, last, With thy love heal again.
Brother, come! Noyes, 38.
Nuremburg, 39.
My God, my Strength, my Hope, On thee I cast my care,
With humble confidence look up, And know thou hear'st my prayer. I want a true regard,
A single, steady aim,
Unmoved by threatening or reward, To thee and thy great name.
I want a sober mind,
A self-renouncing will,
That tramples down and casts behind The baits of pleasing ill;
A soul inured to pain,
To hardship, grief, and loss; Bold to take up, firm to sustain,
The consecrated cross.
I want a godly fear,
A quick-discerning eye,
That looks to thee when sin is near, And sees the tempter fly; A spirit still prepared,
And armed with jealous care, Forever standing on its guard, And watching unto prayer.
This blessing above all,— Always to pray I want: Out of the deep on thee to call, And never, never faint: Give me on thee to wait, Till I can all things do,--- On thee, almighty to create, Almighty to renew!
All for God. Noyes, 38.
Nuremburg, 39.
TAKE my life, and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to thee; Take my hands, and let them move At the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet and let them be Swift and beautiful for thee; Take my voice, and let me sing Always, only for my King.
Take my silver and my gold,- Not a mite would I withhold; Take my moments and my days,- Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my will and make it thine,- It shall be no longer mine; Take my heart, it is thine own,- It shall be thy royal throne.
Take my love; my Lord, I pour At thy feet its treasure-store; Take myself, and I will be Ever, only, all for thee.
Working faith. Mornington, 34.
ONLY to living faith The promises are shown, And by the love that passeth death The rest is won alone.
Be ours the earnest heart, Be ours the steady will,
To work in silent faith our part,— For God is working still.
Then newer lights shall rise Above these clouds of sin, And heaven's unfolding mysteries To glad our souls begin.
Our hearts from fear and wrong Shall win their full release, With God's own might forever strong, And calm with God's own peace.
WE cannot kindle when we will The fire that in the heart resides; The spirit bloweth and is still, In mystery our soul abides: But tasks in hours of insight willed, Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled. With aching hands and bleeding feet We dig and heap, lay stone on stone; We bear the burden and the heat Of the long day, and wish 'twere done: Not till the hours of light return, All we have built do we discern. Then, when the clouds are off the soul, When thou dost rest in Nature's eye, Triumphant in thy self-control, Thy struggling, tasked morality,- "Ah, child!" she cries, "that strife divine, It was the life of God in thine!"
56. The everlasting yea. Channing, 58. SOUL, struggle on! Within the darkest night
Still broods the majesty of deathless Right. If to its promptings clear thou still art true, The larger, sweeter lights will flash to view.
The stars will shine, and the blue pomp of day,
And to thine ear the Everlasting Yea Will breathe its music and its lofty song: And we shall know that Beauty still is strong;
That there is heart and life, the good, the fair,
That God is smiling in the sunny air, And Wisdom shaping to remotest star, And Love is yearning where the lowest
On our banner's gleaming fold,
Freedom! all thy sacred worth Never yet has half been told.
But to-day we sing of one Older, graver far than thou; With the seal of time begun Stamped upon her awful brow. She is Duty in her hand Is a sceptre heaven-brought; Hers the accent of command, Hers the dreadful mystic Ought.
But her bondage is so sweet! And her burdens make us strong: Wings they seem to weary feet, Laughter to our lips and song. Wheresoever she may lead, Freshly burdened every day, Freedom, make us free to speed In her ever brightening way!
ONE Lord there is, all lords above,- His name is Truth, his name is Love, His name is Beauty, it is Light, His will is Everlasting Right.
But ah! to wrong what is his name? This Lord is a Consuming Flame To every wrong beneath the sun: He is One Lord, the Holy One.
Lord of the Everlasting Name,
Truth, Beauty, Light, Consuming Flame! Shall I not lift my heart to thee, And ask thee, Lord. to rule in me?
If I be ruled in other wise, My lot is cast with all that dies,
With things that harm, and things that
And roam by night, and miss the Gate,
Thy happy Gate, which leads us where Love is like sunshine in the air, And Love and Law are both the same, Named with the Everlasting Name.
O SOURCE divine, and Life of all, The Fount of being's wondrous sea! Thy depth would every heart appall, That saw not Love supreme in thee. We shrink before thy vast abyss, Where worlds on worlds eternal brood: We know thee truly but in this, That thou bestowest all our good. And so, 'mid boundless time and space, O, grant us still in thee to dwell, And through the ceaseless web to trace Thy presence working all things well! Nor let thou life's delightful play Thy truth's transcendent vision hide; Nor strength and gladness lead astray From thee, our nature's only guide.
Bestow on every joyous thrill Thy deeper tone of reverent awe; Make pure thy children's erring will, And teach our hearts to love thy law!
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