6 O God, that every thought canst know,
And answer every prayer!
O give me sickness, want, or woe,
But snatch me from despair!
1 THOU dost come, all-healing Lord,
Thou dost speak, and, lo! thy word
Maketh truth o'er falsehood strong;
Maketh right prevail o'er wrong.
2 Immortality forth breaketh
Time's best brightness to outglow!
And sweet hope yet briefer maketh
Our brief exile here below.
3 Love celestial maketh light,
Lifteth up each burden here;
Lo! the eternal age dawns bright!
No remorse need be despair.
4 Deeper worth the just soul hath;
Virtue lowlier, loftier grows;
Children know, by humble faith ;
Wisdom nought more glorious knows.
5 And man, whom this glory cheers,
Man, for whom this light is sown,
Resteth fast, two thousand years,
In thy word's strange strength alone.
Midnight Thoughts at Sea.
1 BORNE upon the ocean's foam,
Far from native land and home,
Midnight's curtain, dense with wrath,
Brooding o'er our venturous path,
While the mountain wave is rolling,
And the ship's bell faintly tolling;
Saviour! on the boisterous sea,
Bid us rest secure in thee.
2 Blast and surge, conflicting hoarse,
Sweep us on with headlong force,
And the bark which tempests urge
Moans and trembles at their scourge;
Yet, if wildest tempests swell,
Be thou near and all is well.
Saviour! on the stormy sea,
Let us find repose in thee.
3 Hearts there are with love that burn,
When to us afar they turn;
Eyes that show the rushing tear,
If our uttered names they hear :
Saviour! o'er the faithless main,
Bring us to those homes again,
As the trembler, touched by thee,
Safely trod the treacherous sea.
1 How sweet beneath the cross,
At once, subdued, to lie; .
Soon as I feel my loss,
To find my gain is nigh;
Without the prelude of alarms,
To fall into my Saviour's arms!
2 How blest, impelled by gales
Of love, the port to win;
Never to furl the sails,
Till safely moored within;
To anchor in the sheltered bay,
Without one tempest on the way!
3 0, such was not my course,
When groping for the light;
Waves moaned and winds were hoarse,
And bitter was the night.
Across a gulf my vessel flew,
To halcyon Hope I bade adieu!
4 Till, to my utmost need,
The heavenly leader came;
Had put him, once, to shame.
What said he?—To my passions, "Cease!"
And straight my troubled soul had peace.
5 Methinks my final song,
Final, yet ending never,
Will cheerful praise prolong
To my dear Lord forever,
Who, when I such hard passage trod,
My feet with full deliverance shod.
2 Swift to my rescue come,
Thy own this moment seize ;
Gather my wandering spirit home,
And keep in perfect peace:
Suffered no more to rove
O'er all the earth abroad,
Arrest the prisoner of thy love,
And shut me up in God.
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