The Darkness of Despair.
The heart knows its bitterness, thought ’t may be said,
You are happy and blest all the while;
The depth of your misery, your burden of sin
May in anguish be hid ’neath a smile.
Thy waves and thy billows are over me gone,
With the Psalmist, I mournfully say,
And ask, Why cast down? Why disquieted, opprest?
’Tis why I’ve no heart now to pray?
Has the Spirit been grieved? Has it taken its flight?
To this desolate self am I left?
And merited sure, naught else is deserved,
But to be thus of comfort bereft.
I groan, being burdened, and cannot look up,
By reason of sin’s dread array,
O keep back from sins, and from secret faults cleanse,
Or despairing, I sink in dismay.
Sin hardens, and blinds, and shuts up in despair;
The way of transgressors is hard,
Its end is destruction, its wages are death,
Thus forever from Heaven debarred.
This anguish of spirit, this sad state of the soul,
I must bear though I may not submit.
God is just though I perish, his throne remains pure,
However many he may not acquit.
Oh! for one gleam of hope, thus to break the dread spell,
By which I in misery seem bound;
Naught of earth, but the power of Heaven must heal
Sin’s painful, sin’s deep, bleeding wound.
Should I ever again meet the smiles of my God,
Should I ever his praise again sing,
In rapturous song I would swell the grand theme,
And my tribute of thanksgiving bring.
Oh! here is the mystery,—give glory to God;
The blessing is coming e’en now.
I’ll sing hallelujah, I’ll praise and adore,
And low in humility bow.
With the Psalmist, I cry, Come praise ye the Lord,
Praise and glory to God now belong;
My heart with my hands, lift to God in the Heavens,
Giving praise with the angelic throng.
This praise ne’er will end; the redeemed will unite,
And with angels, God’s glory repeat.
To the pure tree of life all will there have a right,
And the fruit of the vineyard will eat.
How blest to know Jesus our Lord will be there,
The glory and light of the place.
And the song which forever will rise on its air,
Will be sung to his sovereign grace.