When to thee, through Christ, I pray
That thy dealings day by day
May advance me on thy way,
.Taught by thy beloved Son,
All impatience may I shun,—
Not my will, but thine, be done,
Thy will, O Lord!
Thou, who didst thy truth unfold
To prophets and to saints of old,
Lord, teach me to receive as thine
Their visions and their songs divine.
Thou, whose mandates pour'd their light
On erring man from Sinai's height,
Lord, make me to obey thy will,
Thy laws and statutes to fulfil.
Saviour, who the Gospel gave
From Satan's bond my soul to save,
Oh, help me firmly to embrace
Thy yoke of freedom and of grace.
May I love thy precepts given
To direct my path to heaven,
And by the comforts they display,
Oh, give me patience on the way,
Till at length, my God, I come
To the glorious promis'd home,
Where for ever with the Lord
I will thank thee for thy Word.
"And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? And whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick." 1 Sam. xxx. 13.
Oh, thou faint and feeble mourner,
With cross upon thy brow!
Whence cam'st thou in such wretched plight?
To whom belongest thou?
For thou seemest all forsaken,
Like that deserted one
Abandon'd by his heartless lord
When found by Jesse's son.
With sickness sad thou art wasted,
The tear is in thine eye,
Thine heart, too, must be sore oppress'd,
Or wherefore now that sigh?
Say, hadst thou, most afflicted,
Ne'er printed on thy brow
A brighter sign of happiness
Than that thou wearest now?-
Ah, judge not from appearance,
But to my words give heed:
The blest and honour'd sign I wear
Is* dear to me indeed.
It is the same my Master bore—
That once accursed tree,
On which He paid sin's penalty,
So justly due to me.
"Is there who the blessed cross wipes off, As a foul blot from his dishonour'd brow?"
Young's Night Thoughts.
And the sickness that He sendeth
Will help me on the way
That leadeth to those mansions bright, Where tears are wip'd away.
Oh, when through His prevailing might
The crown of life I win,
No more my heavy heart shall sigh
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