Short Features

Victorious Faith

O for a faith that will not shrink,
Though pressed by every foe;
That will not tremble on the brink
Of any earthly woe.

That will not murmur nor complain
Beneath the chastening rod,
But in the hour of grief or pain
Will lean upon its God.

A faith that shines more bright and clear
When tempests rage without;
That when in danger knows no fear,
In darkness feels no doubt.

That bears unmoved the world’s dread frown,
Nor heeds its scornful smile;
That seas of trouble cannot drown,
Nor Satan’s arts beguile.

A faith that keeps the narrow way,
‘Till life’s last hour is fled,
And with a pure and steady ray
Illumes a dying bed.

Lord, lead me to a faith like this,
Through trial though it be;
For O! the rest of faith is bliss,
The bliss of rest in thee.

—Hymns of Dawn, #197

Earnest Watchfulness

I want a principle within of jealous godly fear;
A sensibility of sin, a pain to feel it near;
I want the first approach to feel of pride of fond desire;
To catch the wand’ring of my will, and quench the kindling fire.

From thee that I no more may part, no more thy goodness grieve,
The filial awe, the loving heart, the tender conscience give.
Quick as the apple of an eye, O God, my conscience make;
Awake my soul when sin is nigh, and keep it still awake.

If to the right or left I stray, that moment, Lord, reprove;
And let thy goodness chase away all hindrance to thy love.
O! may the least omission pain my well instructed soul,
And send me to the blood again, which makes and keeps me whole.

—Hymns of Dawn, #130

Mercy

The quality of mercy is not strain’d.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway.
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings.
It is an attribute of God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice. . . .
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.

—William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene 1

Triumphant Faith

Triumphant Zion, lift thy head
From dust and darkness and the dead!
Though humbled long, awake at length,
And gird thee with thy saviour’s strength.

Put all thy beauteous garments on,
And let thine excellence be known.
Decked in the robe of righteousness,
The world thy glory shall confess.

No more shall foes unclean invade,
And fill thy hallowed courts with dread.
No more shall sin’s defiling host
Their vict’ry, and thy sorrows, boast.

God, from on high, has heard thy prayer;
His hand thy ruins shall repair;
Nor will thy watchful Monarch cease
To guard thee in eternal peace.

Yea, soon astonished men shall see
The laurels of thy victory;
And thou, with grace and glory crowned,
May’st lavish blessings all around.

—Hymns of Dawn, #310

Faith in our Father

Our Father knows what things we need
Each step along the way,
His eye of love does never sleep,
He watches night and day.

He knows sometimes, like ripening grain
We need the sunshine bright,
Again He sends the peace that comes
With shadows of the night.

 Sometimes our pride would fain unfurl
Ambition’s flaunting sail,
Ah! then He knows we need to walk
Humiliations’s vale.

Sometimes He takes our eager hands
And folds them on our breast,
He gently lays our work aside,
He knows we need to rest.

Sometimes we need companionship,
Sometimes, “the wilderness,”
How sweet to feel He’ll know and give
The state that most will bless!

Then let us leave it all with Him,
Assured that, come what may,
Our Father knows just what we need
Upon our pilgrim-way.

(Poems of the Way)