What are the mines of shining wealth,
The strength of youth, the bloom of health!
What are all joys compared with those
Thine everlasting word bestows!
Long unafflicted, undismayed,
In pleasure's path secure I strayed;
Thou madest me feel thy chastening rod,
And straight I turned unto my God.
What though it pierced my fainting heart,
I blessed thine hand that caused the smart;
It taught my tears awhile to flow,
But saved me from eternal woe.
Oh! hadst thou left me unchastised,
Thy precepts I had still despised;
And still the snare in secret laid
Had my unwary feet betrayed.
I love thee, therefore, O my God,
And breathe towards thy dear abode ;
Where, in thy presence fully blest,
Thy chosen saints for ever rest.
THE billows swell, the winds are high,
Clouds overcast my wintry sky;
Out of the depths to thee I call,—
My fears are great, my strength is small.
O Lord, the pilot's part perform,
And guard and guide me through the storm, Defend me from each threatening ill,
Control the waves,-say, "Peace! be still."
Amidst the roaring of the sea
My soul still hangs her hope on thee;
Thy constant love, thy faithful care,
Is all that saves me from despair.
Dangers of every shape and name
Attend the followers of the Lamb
Who leave the world's deceitful shore,
And leave it to return no more.
Though tempest-tost and half a wreck,
My Saviour through the floods I seek ;
Let neither winds nor stormy main
Force back my shattered bark again.
XXXIX. LOOKING UPWARDS IN A STORM
GoD of my life, to thee I call,
Afflicted at thy feet I fall;
When the great water-floods prevail
Leave not my trembling heart to fail!
Friend of the friendless and the faint,
Where should I lodge my deep complaint?
Where but with thee whose open door
Invites the helpless and the poor !
Did ever mourner plead with thee,
And thou refuse that mourner's plea ?
Does not the word still fixed remain,
That none shall seek thy face in vain?
That were a grief I could not bear,
Didst thou not hear and answer prayer;
But a prayer-hearing, answering God
Supports me under every load.
Fair is the lot that's cast for me;
I have an Advocate with thee;
They whom the world caresses most
Have no such privilege to boast.
Poor though I am, despised, forgot,
Yet God, my God, forgets me not:
And he is safe, and must succeed,
For whom the Lord vouchsafes to plead.
XL. THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH
My soul is sad, and much dismayed;
See, Lord, what legions of my foes,
With fierce Apollyon at their head,
My heavenly pilgrimage oppose !
See, from the ever-burning lake,
How like a smoky cloud they rise!
With horrid blasts my soul they shake,
With storms of blasphemies and lies.
Their fiery arrows reach the mark,
My throbbing heart with anguish tear;
Each lights upon a kindred spark,
And finds abundant fuel there.
I hate the thought that wrongs the Lord;
Oh! I would drive it from my breast,
With thy own sharp two-edged sword,
Far as the east is from the west.
Come, then, and chase the cruel host,
Heal the deep wounds I have received!
Nor let the powers of darkness boast
That I am foiled, and thou art grieved!
XLI. PEACE AFTER A STORM
WHEN darkness long has veiled my mind, And smiling day once more appears,
Then, my Redeemer, then I find
The folly of my doubts and fears.
Straight I upbraid my wandering heart,
And blush that I should ever be
Thus prone to act so base a part,
Or harbour one hard thought of thee.
Oh! let me then at length be taught
What I am still so slow to learn;
That God is Love, and changes not,
Nor knows the shadow of a turn.
Sweet truth, and easy to repeat!
But when my faith is sharply tried,
I find myself a learner yet,
Unskilful, weak, and apt to slide.
But, O my Lord, one look from thee
Subdues the disobedient will,
Drives doubt and discontent away,
And thy rebellious worm is still.
Thou art as ready to forgive
As I am ready to repine;
Thou, therefore, all the praise receive; Be shame and self-abhorrence mine.
XLII. MOURNING AND LONGING
THE Saviour hides his face!
My spirit thirsts to prove
Renewed supplies of pardoning grace,
And never-fading love.
The favoured souls who know
What glories shine in him
Pant for his presence as the roe
Pants for the living stream.
What trifles tease me now! They swarm like summer flies; They cleave to everything I do, And swim before my eyes.
How dull the Sabbath day Without the Sabbath's Lord! How toilsome then to sing and pray, And wait upon the word!
Of all the truths I hear
How few delight my taste!
I glean a berry here and there,
But mourn the vintage past.
Yet let me (as I ought)
Still hope to be supplied;
No pleasure else is worth a thought,
Nor shall I be denied.
Though I am but a worm,
Unworthy of his care,
The Lord will my desire perform,
And grant me all my prayer.
DEAR Lord! accept a sinful heart
Which of itself complains,
And mourns, with much and frequent smart,
The evil it contains.
There fiery seeds of anger lurk
Which often hurt my frame;
And wait but for the tempter's work
To fan them to a flame.
Legality holds out a bribe
To purchase life from thee;
And discontent would fain prescribe
How thou shalt deal with me.
While unbelief withstands thy grace,
And puts the mercy by;
Presumption, with a brow of brass,
Says, "Give me, or I die!"
How eager are my thoughts to roam
In quest of what they love!
But ah! when duty calls them home,
How heavily they move!
Oh, cleanse me in a Saviour's blood,
Transform me by thy power,
And make me thy beloved abode,
And let me roam no more.
XLIV. PRAYER FOR PATIENCE
LORD, who hast suffered all for me,
My peace and pardon to procure,
The lighter cross I bear for thee
Help me with patience to endure.
The storm of loud repining hush;
I would in humble silence mourn; Why should the unburnt, though burning bush, Be angry as the crackling thorn?
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