468. с.м. MRS.STEELE.
Submission to GOD under affliction.
1 PEACE, my complaining, doubting heart!
Ye busy cares, be still!
Adore the just, the sov'reign LORD,
Nor murmur at his will.
2 Unerring wisdom guides his hand;
Nor dares my guilty fear,
Amid the sharpest pains I feel,
Pronounce his hand severe.
3 To soften ev'ry painful stroke,
Indulgent mercy bends,
And unrepining when I plead,
His gracious ear attends.
4 Let me reflect with humble awe
Whene'er my heart complains,
Compar'd with what my sins deserve,
How easy are my pains!
5 Yes, LORD, I own thy sov'reign hand,
Thou just, and wise, and kind!
Be ev'ry anxious thought supprest,
And all my soul resign'd.
469. L.M. MRS. STEELE.
Trust in God under afflictions.
WHY is my heart with grief opprest?
Can all the pains I feel or fear,
Make thee, my soul, forget thy rest,
Forget that GOD, thy God, is near?
2 Mortality's unnumber'd ills
Are all beneath his sov'reign hand:
Each pain which this frail body feels
Attends, obedient, his command.
3 LORD, form my temper to thy will!
If thou my faith and patience prove,
May ev'ry painful stroke fulfil
Thy purposes of faithful love!
4 O may this weak, this fainting mind
A father's hand adoring see;
Confess thee just, and wise, and kind,
And trust thy word, and cleave to thee !
COMMIT thou all thy ways
And griefs into his hands,
To his sure trust and tender care,
Who heav'n and earth commands:
2 Who points the clouds their course,
Whom winds and seas obey:
He shall direct thy wand'ring feet,
He shall prepare thy way.
3 No profit canst thou gain
By self-consuming care:
To him commend thy cause, his ear
Attends the softest pray'r.
Give to the winds thy fears,
Hope, and be undismay'd;
GOD hears thy sighs and counts thy tears,
He will lift up thy head.
Thro' waves, and clouds, and storms,
He'll gently clear thy way;
Wait thou his time, so shall this night
Soon end in boundless day.
471. C.M. MRS. STEELE.
The presence of GOD in affliction.
IN vain, while dark affliction spreads
Her melancholy gloom,
472. P.M. MRS. STEELE.
Tranquillity and contentment.
HAPPY the man, and he alone,
To whom the easy lot is given,
Cheerful to wait, and thankful own
The gracious hand of bounteous heav'n.
Then solitude or social joy,
Can please, yet not engage his heart,
Nor sorrow, pain, nor care annoy
His nobler, his immortal part.
3 His wish, his hope, his soul aspires
To a fair paradise above;
Yet patient waits, till heav'n requires
From worldly toil his blest remove.
4 Thus may my hopes and wishes rise;
Be mine serenity like this;
Till death's kind sleep shall close my eyes,
Then wake to light, and life, and bliss!
Within our breasts this jewel lies,
And they are fools who roam :
The world has little to bestow;
From our own selves our joys must flow; Our bliss begins at home.
2 We'll therefore relish with content
Whate'er kind providence has sent,
Nor aim beyond our pow'r ;
And if our store of wealth be small,
With thankful hearts improve it all,
Nor lose the present hour.
3 To be resign'd, when ills betide,
Patient when favours are deny'd,
And pleas'd with favours giv❜n:
This, gracious God, is wisdom's part;
This is that incense of the heart,
Whose fragrance reaches heav'n.
4 Thus thro' life's changing scenes we'll go,
Its chequer'd paths of joy and woe
With cautious steps we'll tread;
Quit its vain scenes without a tear,
Without a trouble or a fear,
And mingle with the dead;
5 While conscience, like a faithful friend,
Shall through the gloomy vale attend,
And cheer our dying breath;
Shall, when all other comforts cease,
Like a kind angel, whisper peace,
And smooth the bed of death.
474: S.M. WATTS.
The mystery of providence unfolded.
THERE is a righteous GOD,
Nor is religion vain ;
Though men of vice may boast aloud,
And virtuous men complain.
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