Or if the desert's sun-burnt soil
My lonely dwelling e'er should prove,
His presence would support my toil,
Whose smile is life, whose voice is love.
THOU hidden Source of calm repose,
Thou all-sufficient Love Divine,
My help and refuge from my foes,
Secure I am, if Thou art mine!
And, lo! from sin, and grief, and shame,
I hide me, Jesus! in thy Name.
Jesus, my All in All thou art,
My rest in toil, my ease in pain; The balm to heal my broken heart; In storms my peace, in loss my gain; My joy beneath the tyrant's frown, In shame my glory and my crown—
In want, my plentiful supply;
In weakness, my almighty power;
In bonds, my perfect liberty;
My refuge in temptation's hour;
In grief, my joy unspeakable;
My Life in death; my All in All.
THOUGH Sorrows rise, and dangers roll
In waves of darkness o'er my soul,
Though friends are false and love decays,
And few and evil are my days,
Though conscience, fiercest of my foes,
Swells with remember'd guilt my woes,
Yet even in nature's utmost ill,
I love Thee, Lord! I love Thee still!
Though Sinai's curse, in thunder dread,
Peals o'er mine unprotected head,
And memory points, with busy pain,
To grace and mercy given in vain,
Till nature, shrinking in the strife,
Would fly to hell to 'scape from life,
Though every thought has power to kill,
I love Thee, Lord! I love Thee still!
Oh, by the pangs thyself hast borne,
The ruffian's blow, the tyrant's scorn;
By Sinai's curse, whose dreadful doom
Was buried in thy guiltless tomb;
By these my pangs, whose healing smart
Thy grace hath planted in my heart-
I know, I feel, thy bounteous will,
Thou lov'st me, Lord! Thou lov'st me still!
WHEN in the hours of lonely woe
I give my sorrows leave to flow,
And anxious fear and dark distrust
Weigh down my spirit to the dust;
When not e'en friendship's gentle aid
Can heal the wounds the world has made;
Oh this shall check each rising sigh-
Thou, Saviour, art for ever nigh!
Jesus! in whom but Thee above
Can I repose my trust, my love?
And shall an earthly object be
Lov'd in comparison with Thee?
Thy counsels and upholding care
My safety and my comfort are:
Thou, Lord, shalt guide me all my days,
Till glory crown the work of grace.
My flesh is hast'ning to decay:
Soon shall the world have pass'd away;
And what can mortal friends avail,
When heart, and strength, and flesh shall fail!
But, Oh, be Thou, my Saviour, nigh,
And I will triumph while I die:
My Strength, my Portion, is divine,
And Jesus is for ever mine!
WHEN, marshall'd on the nightly plain,
The glitt'ring host bestud the sky,
One star alone, of all the train,
Can fix the sinner's wand'ring eye,
Hark! hark! to God the chorus breaks,
From every host, from every gem;
But one alone the Saviour speaks
It is the Star of Bethlehem.
Once on the raging seas I rode,
The storm was loud-the night was dark-
The ocean yawn'd-and rudely blow'd
The wind which toss'd my found'ring bark :
Deep horror then my vitals froze;
Deep-struck, I ceas'd the tide to stem;
When suddenly a star arose,
It was the Star of Bethlehem,
It was my guide, my light, my all,
It bade my dark foreboding cease;
And through the storm and danger's thrall,
It led me to the port of peace.
Now safely, moor'd-my perils o'er,
I'll sing, first in night's diadem,
For ever and for ever more,
The Star!-the Star of Bethlehem !
O THOU by long experience tried,
Near whom no grief can long abide;
My Lord, how full of sweet content
I pass my years of banishment.
All scenes alike engaging prove
To souls impress'd with sacred love!
Where'er they dwell, they dwell in thee;
In heaven, in earth, or on the sea.
To me remains nor place nor time,
My country is in every clime :
I can be calm and free from care
On any shore, since God is there.
While place we seek, or place we shun,
The soul finds happiness in none;
But with my God to guide my way,
'Tis equal joy to go or stay.
Could I be cast where thou art not,
That were indeed a dreadful lot;
But regions none remote I call,
Secure of finding God in all.
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