Poems with Power to Strengthen the Soul

by Unknown

FAITH

ASSURANCE, DOUBT, UNBELIEF

THE ETERNAL GOODNESS

I bow my forehead to the dust,

I veil mine eyes for shame,

And urge, in trembling self-distrust,

A prayer without a claim.

No offering of mine own I have,

Nor works my faith to prove;

I can but give the gifts he gave,

And plead his love for love.

I dimly guess, from blessings known,

Of greater out of sight;

And, with the chastened psalmist, own

His judgments too are right.

And if my heart and flesh are weak

To bear an untried pain,

The bruisèd reed he will not break,

But strengthen and sustain.

I know not what the future hath

Of marvel or surprise,

Assured alone that life and death

His mercy underlies.

And so beside the silent sea

I wait the muffled oar;

No harm from him can come to me

On ocean or on shore.

I know not where his islands lift

Their fronded palms in air;

I only know I cannot drift

Beyond his love and care.

And thou, O Lord, by whom are seen

Thy creatures as they be,

Forgive me if too close I lean

My human heart on thee.

—John Greenleaf Whittier.

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Forgive us, Lord, our little faith;

And help us all, from morn till e'en,

Still to believe that lot the best

Which is, not that which might have been.

And grant we may so pass the days

The cradle and the grave between,

That death's dark hour not darker be

For thoughts of what life might have been.

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THE ONE THING NEEDFUL

My prayer to the promise shall cling—

I will not give heed to a doubt;

For I ask for the one needful thing

Which I cannot be happy without:

A spirit of lowly repose

In the love of the Lamb that was slain;

A heart to be touched with his woes,

And a care not to grieve him again;

The peace that my Saviour has bought,

The cheerfulness nothing can dim,

The love that can bring every thought

Into perfect obedience to him;

The wisdom his mercy to own

In the way he directs me to take—

To glory in Jesus alone,

And to love and do good for his sake.

All this thou hast offered to me

In the promise whereon I will rest;

For faith, O my Saviour! in thee,

Is the substance of all my request.

Thy word has commanded my prayer,

Thy Spirit has taught me to pray;

And all my unholy despair

Is ready to vanish away.

Thou wilt not be weary of me;

Thy promise my faith shall sustain;

And soon, very soon, shall I see

I have not been asking in vain.

—Anna Letitia Waring.

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Ah, God! I have not had thee day and night

In thought, nor magnified thy name aright,

Nor lauded thee, nor glorified, nor laid

Upon thine altars one poor kusa-blade!

Yet now, when I seek refuge, Lord! with thee,

I ask, and thou wilt give, all good to me.

—Edwin Arnold, from the Sanskrit.

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ABOVE ALL, THE SHIELD

Faith fails;

Then in the dust

Lie failing rest and light and trust.

So doth the troubled soul itself distress,

And choke the fountain in the wilderness.

I care not what your peace assails!

The deep root is, faith fails.

Faith fails

When in the breast

The Lord's sweet presence doth not rest;

For who believes, clouds cannot make afraid;

He knows the sun doth shine behind the shade;

He rides at anchor through the gales.

Do you not so? Faith fails.

Faith fails;

Its foes alarm,

And persecution's threats disarm;

False friends can scarcely wish it a good day,

Before it taketh fright and shrinks away.

When God doth guard, what foe prevails?

Why then the fear? Faith fails.

Faith fails;

Else cares would die,

And we should on God's care rely.

Man for the coming day doth grieve and fret,

And all past days doth sinfully forget.

For every beast God's care avails;

Why not for us? Faith fails.

Faith fails;

Then cometh fear,

If sickness comes, if death is near.

O man, why is it, when the times are bad

And the days evil, that thy face is sad?

How is it that thy courage quails?

It must be this: Faith fails.

My God!

Let my faith be

Living, and working actively

With hope and joy, that death may not surprise.

So let them sweetly close my eyes;

The Christian's life to death may yield—

Hope stands; faith has the field.

—S. C. Schoener.

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LOOKING UNTO GOD

I look to Thee in every need,

And never look in vain;

I feel thy strong and tender love,

And all is well again:

The thought of thee is mightier far

Than sin and pain and sorrow are.

Discouraged in the work of life,

Disheartened by its load,

Shamed by its failures or its fears,

I sink beside the road;

But let me only think of Thee,

And then new heart springs up in me.

Thy calmness bends serene above

My restlessness to still;

Around me flows thy quickening life,

To nerve my faltering will;

Thy presence fills my solitude;

Thy providence turns all to good.

Embosomed deep in Thy dear love,

Held in thy law, I stand;

Thy hand in all things I behold,

And all things in thy hand;

Thou leadest me by unsought ways,

And turn'st my mourning into praise.

—Samuel Longfellow.

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