Lord, should my path through suffering lie
Forbid it I should e'er repine;
Still let me turn tỏ Calvary,
Nor heed my griefs, remembering thine.
O let me think how thou didst leave
Untasted every pure delight,
To fast, to faint, to watch, to grieve,
The toilsome day, the homeless night:—
To faint, to grieve, to die for me;
Thou camest not thyself to please:
And, dear as earthly comforts be,
Shall I not love thee more than these?
Yes! I would count them all but loss,
To gain the notice of thine eye:
Flesh shrinks and trembles at the cross,
But thou canst give the victory.
JAKE up thy cross, the Saviour said,
If thou wouldst my disciple be;
Deny thyself, the world forsake,
And humbly follow after me.
Take up thy cross; let not its weight
Fill thy weak spirit with alarm:
His strength shall bear thy spirit up,
And brace thy heart, and nerve thine arm.
Take up thy cross, nor heed the shame;
Nor let thy foolish pride rebel :
Thy Lord for thee the Cross endured,
To save thy soul from death and hell.
Take up thy cross then in his strength,
And calmly every danger brave;
'Twill guide thee to a better home,
And lead to victory o'er the
Not to live without the cross,
But the Saviour's power to know,
Sanctifying every loss.
Trials must and will befal;
But with humble faith to see
Love inscribed upon them all,
This is happiness to me.
God, in Israel, sows the seeds
Of affliction, pain, and toil;
These spring up and choke the weeds
Which would else o'erspread the soil.
Trials make the promise sweet;
Trials give new life to prayer;
Trials bring me to his feet,
Lay me low, and keep me there.
Did I meet no trials here,
No correction by the way,
Might I not with reason fear
I should prove a cast-away?
Worldlings may escape the rod,
Sunk in earthly, vain delight;
But the true-born child of God
Must not, would not, if he might.
ND is there, Lord, a cross for me,
As through this wilderness I stray,
Which, if I would, I must not flee,
But thy divine command obey?
I would not, Lord, pass by that cross,
For thou hast placed it in my way;
To turn aside would be my loss,
I therefore lift my heart and pray :-
Shew me the cross that I must bear;
Bend my proud heart, that I may take
In holy faith and humble prayer,
The cross of shame, for thy dear sake:
For thou didst take a cross for me,
And on it all my sins didst bear;
Its agony thou didst not flee,
That in thy glory I might share.
Then I will take my cross with joy,
And bear it onward to the end;
My shame and pride, O Lord, destroy,
My faith and hope on thee depend.
Thou soon wilt take the cross away,
And place the crown upon my brow,
In that bright world of endless day,
Where I no more a cross shall know.
ESUS, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow thee.
Destitute, despised, forsaken,
Thou, from hence, my all shalt be.
Perish every fond ambition,
All I've sought, and hoped, and known : Yet how rich is my condition!
God and heaven are still mine own.
Let the world despise and leave me :
They have left my Saviour too.
Human hearts and looks deceive me:
Thou art not, like them, untrue.
And whilst thou shalt smile upon me,
God of wisdom, love, and might,
Foes may hate, and friends disown me;
Shew thy face, and all is bright.
Man may trouble and distress me,
"Twill but drive me to thy breast;
Life with trials hard may press me,
Heaven will bring me sweeter rest;
O'tis not in grief to harm me,
While thy love is left to me;
O 'twere not in joy to charm me,
Were that joy unmix'd with thee.
Soul! then, know thy full salvation;
Rise o'er sin and fear and care;
Joy to find, in every station,
Something still to do or bear.
Think what Spirit dwells within thee:
What a Father's smiles are thine :
What a Saviour died to win thee:
Child of heaven, canst thou repine?
Haste thee on from grace to glory,
Arm'd by faith and wing'd by prayer:
Heaven's eternal days before thee:
God's own hand shall guide thee there.
Soon shall close thine earthly mission:
Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days:
Hope shall change to full fruition,
Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.
TEARER, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee;
E’en though it be a cross
That raiseth me;
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
Though like a wanderer,
The sun gone down,
Darkness comes over me,
My rest a stone,
Yet in my dreams I'd be
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
There let my way appear
Steps unto heaven,
All that thou sendest me
In mercy given ;
Angels to beckon me
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
Then with my waking thoughts
Bright with thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs
Bethel I'll raise;
So by my woes to be
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
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