2 If thou shouldst take them all away, Yet would I not repine; Before they were possessed by me, They were entirely thine.
3 Nor would I drop a murmuring word, Though all the world were gone, But seek enduring happiness In thee, and thee alone.
1007 C. M. 6 lines. God is the strength of my heart. Psalm 73:26.
Happy are they who learn in thee, Though patient suffering teach, The secret of enduring strength, And praise too deep for speech; Peace that no pleasure from without, Nor strife within, can reach.
2 Safe in thy sanctifying grace, Almighty to restore, Borne onward—sin and death behind, And love and life before— O let my soul abound in hope, And praise thee evermore!
1008 C. M. The Lord will strengthen him, etc. Psalm 41:3.
When languor and disease invade This trembling house of clay, ’Tis sweet to look beyond my pains, And long to fly away:
2 Sweet to look inward, and attend The whispers of his love; Sweet to look upward to the place Where Jesus pleads above:
3 Sweet to look back, and see my name In life’s fair book set down; Sweet to look forward, and behold Eternal joys my own:
4 Sweet to rejoice in lively hope, That when my change shall come, Angels shall hover round my bed, And waft my spirit home:
5 Sweet in his faithfulness to rest, Whose love can never end; Sweet on his covenant of grace For all things to depend.
6 If such the sweetness of the streams, What must the fountain be, Where saints and angels draw their bliss Immediately from thee!
7 O may the unction of these truths For ever with me stay, Till, from her sin-worn cage dismissed, My spirit flies away.
1009 C. M. The sorrows of death compassed me. Psalm 116:3.
My God, thy service well demands The remnant of my days: Why was this fleeting breath renewed, But to renew thy praise?
2 Thine arms of everlasting love Did this weak frame sustain; When life was hovering o’er the grave, And nature sunk with pain.
3 Thou, when the pains of death were felt, Didst chase the fears of hell, And teach my pale and quivering lips Thy matchless grace to tell.
4 Calmly I bowed my fainting head On thy dear, faithful breast; Pleased to obey my Father’s call To his eternal rest.
5 Into thy hands, my Saviour God, Did I my soul resign, In firm dependence on that truth Which made salvation mine.
6 Back from the borders of the grave, At thy command I come, Nor will I urge a speedier flight To my celestial home.
1010 C. M. Christ our Refuge. Heb. 6:18.
In every trouble, sharp and strong, My soul to Jesus flies; My anchor-hold is firm in him, When swelling billows rise.
2 His comforts bear my spirits up, I trust a faithful God; The sure foundation of my hope Is in a Saviour’s blood.
3 Loud hallelujahs sing, my soul, To thy Redeemer’s name; In joy and sorrow, life and death, His love is still the same.
1011 C. M. Entire submission.
And can my heart aspire so high, To say—“My Father God!” Lord, at thy feet I long to lie, And learn to kiss the rod.
2 I would submit to all thy will, For thou art good and wise; Let every anxious thought be still, Nor one faint murmur rise.
3 Thy love can cheer the darksome gloom, And bid me wait serene; Till hopes and joys immortal bloom, And brighten all the scene.
4 My Father! O permit my heart To plead her humble claim; And ask the bliss those words impart, In my Redeemer’s name.
1012 C. M. Out of the depths. Psalm 130:1.
O thou! who, in the olive shade, When the dark hour came on, Didst, with a breath of heavenly aid, Strengthen thy suffering Son;
2 O, by the anguish of that night, Send us now blest relief; Or to the chastened, let thy might Hallow this whelming grief.
3 And thou, that, when the starry sky, Saw the dread strife begun, Didst teach adoring faith to cry, Father! thy will be done;
4 By thy meek Spirit, thou, of all That e’er have mourned the chief, Blest Saviour! if the stroke must fall, Hallow this whelming grief.
1013 C. M. One thing have I desired. Psalm 27:4.
With earnest longings of the mind, My God, to thee I look; So pants the hunted hart to find And taste the cooling brook.
2 When shall I see thy courts of grace, And meet my God again? So long an absence from thy face, My heart endures with pain.
3 ’Tis with a mournful pleasure now, I think on ancient days; Then to thy house did numbers go, And all our work was praise.
4 But why, my soul, sunk down so far, Beneath this heavy load? Why do my thoughts indulge despair; And sin against my God?
5 Hope in the Lord, whose mighty hand Can all thy woes remove; For I shall yet before him stand, And sing restoring love.