Poems with Power to Strengthen the Soul

by Unknown

FAITH

If I could feel my hand, dear Lord, in thine,

And surely know

That I was walking in the light divine

Through weal or woe;

If I could hear thy voice in accents sweet

But plainly say,

To guide my groping, wandering feet,

"This is the way;"

I would so gladly walk therein; but now

I cannot see.

Oh, give me, Lord, the faith to humbly bow

And trust in thee!

There is no faith in seeing. Were we led

Like children here,

And lifted over rock and river-bed,

No care, no fear,

We should be useless in the busy throng;

Life's work undone;

Lord, make us brave and earnest, true and strong,

Till heaven is won.

—Sarah Knowles Bolton.

———

DOUBTING NOTHING

Acts 10. 9-20.

Not to thy saints of old alone dost Thou

In heavenly trance make known thy perfect will,

But to each hungry soul thy love would fill—

Descending out of heaven, we wist not how—

Comes by thy grace the holy vision now;

While we whose hearts should with the message thrill

Cry "Common and unholy!" to thee still,

And, uninspired, in grief before thee bow.

O Thou, whose Own the way we fare hath trod,

Give to thy children quick, discerning eyes

To see in life upspringing from the sod

All the divineness that within it lies,

Till humble service lift us to the skies

Who, "doubting nothing," seek thy will, O God!

—Louise Manning Hodgkins.

———

THE EYE OF FAITH

I do not ask for earthly store

Beyond a day's supply;

I only covet more and more

The clear and single eye.

To see my duty face to face

And trust the Lord for daily grace.

I care not for the empty show

That thoughtless worldlings see;

I crave to do the best I know,

And leave the rest with thee;

Well satisfied that sweet reward

Is sure to those who trust the Lord.

Whate'er the crosses mine shall be,

I will not dare to shun;

I only ask to live for thee,

And that thy will be done;

Thy will, O Lord, be mine each day,

While passing on my homeward way.

And when at last, my labor o'er,

I cross the narrow sea,

Grant, Lord, that on the other shore

My soul may dwell with thee,

And learn what here I cannot know:

Why thou hast ever loved me so.

—J. J. Maxfield.

———

HAVE FAITH IN GOD

Have faith in God! for he who reigns on high

Hath borne thy grief and hears the suppliant's sigh,

Still to his arms, thine only refuge, fly.

Have faith in God!

Fear not to call on him, O soul distressed!

Thy sorrow's whisper wooes thee to his breast;

He who is oftenest there is oftenest blest.

Have faith in God!

Lean not on Egypt's reeds; slake not thy thirst

At earthly cisterns. Seek the kingdom first.

Though man and Satan fight thee with their worst,

Have faith in God!

Go tell him all! The sigh thy bosom heaves

Is heard in heaven. Strength and grace he gives

Who gave himself for thee. Our Jesus lives;

Have faith in God!

———

FAITH IN GOD

Though time may dig the grave of creeds,

And dogmas wither in the sod,

My soul will keep the thought it needs—

Its swerveless faith in God.

No matter how the world began,

Nor where the march of science goes,

My trust in something more than man

Shall help me bear life's woes.

Let progress take the props away,

And moldering superstitions fall;

Still God retains his regal sway—

The Maker of us all.

Why cavil over that or this?

One thought is vast enough for me—

The great Creator was, and is,

And evermore will be.

———

A STRONGER FAITH

Perplext in faith, but pure in deeds,

At last he beat his music out.

There lives more faith in honest doubt,

Believe me, than in half the creeds.

He fought his doubts and gathered strength,

He would not make his judgment blind,

He faced the specters of the mind

And laid them; thus he came at length

To find a stronger faith his own,

And Power was with him in the night,

Which makes the darkness and the light,

And dwells not in the light alone.

—Alfred Tennyson.

———

A PERFECT 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.

Lord, give us such a faith as this,

And then, whate'er may come,

We'll taste, e'en here, the hallowed bliss

Of an eternal home.

—William H. Bathurst.

———

Who liveth best? Not he whose sail,

Swept on by favoring tide and gale,

Swift wins the haven fair;

But he whose spirit strong doth still

A victory wrest from every ill;

Whose faith sublime

On every cloud a rainbow paints—

'Tis he redeems the time.

———

BELIEVE GOOD THINGS OF GOD

When in the storm it seems to thee

That he who rules the raging sea

Is sleeping—still, with bended knee,

Believe good things of God.

When thou hast sought in vain to find

The silver thread of love entwined

With life's oft-tangled web—resigned,

Believe good things of God.

And should he smite thee till thy heart

Is crushed beneath the bruising smart,

Still, while the bitter tear-drops start,

Believe good things of God.

'Tis true, thou canst not understand

The dealings of thy Father's hand;

But, trusting what his love has planned,

Believe good things of God.

He loves thee! In that love confide—

Unchanging, faithful, true, and tried;

And let or joy or grief betide,

Believe good things of God.

Thou canst not raise thy thoughts too high;

As spreads above the earth the sky,

So do his thoughts thy thoughts outvie:

Believe good things of God.

In spite of what thine eyes behold;

In spite of what thy fears have told;

Still to his gracious promise hold—

Believe good things of God.

For know that what thou canst believe

Thou shalt in his good time receive;

Thou canst not half his love conceive—

Believe good things of God.

—William Luff.

———

BE NOT WEARY

Then, fainting soul, arise and sing;

Mount, but be sober on the wing;

Mount up, for heaven is won by prayer,

Be sober, for thou art not there.

Till death the weary spirit free,

Thy God hath said 'tis good for thee

To walk by faith, and not by sight,

Take it on trust a little while;

Soon thou shalt read the mystery right

In the full sunshine of his smile.

—John Keble.

———

ALL'S FOR THE BEST

All's for the best; be sanguine and cheerful;

Trouble and sorrow are friends in disguise;

Nothing but folly goes faithless and fearful,

Courage forever is happy and wise.

All's for the best, if a man would but know it;

Providence wishes us all to be blest;

This is no dream of the pundit or poet,

Heaven is gracious and all's for the best.

All's for the best; then fling away terrors;

Meet all your fears and your foes in the van;

And in the midst of your dangers or errors,

Trust like a child, while you strive like a man.

All's for the best; unbiased, unbounded,

Providence reigns from the east to the west;

And, by both wisdom and mercy surrounded,

Hope, and be happy, that all's for the best.

—Martin Farquhar Tupper.

———

BLEST IS THE FAITH DIVINE AND STRONG

Blest is the faith divine and strong,

Of thanks and praise an endless fountain,

Whose life is one perpetual song

High up the Saviour's holy mountain.

Blest is the hope that holds to God,

In doubt and darkness still unshaken;

And sings along the heavenly road,

Sweetest when most it seems forsaken.

Blest is the love that cannot love

Aught that earth gives of best and brightest;

Whose raptures thrill, like saints above,

Most when its earthly gifts are lightest.

Blest is the time that in the eye

Of God its hopeful watch is keeping,

And grows into eternity

Like noiseless trees when men are sleeping.

—Frederick William Faber.

———

GOD'S VOICE

Around my path life's mysteries

Their deepening shadows throw;

And as I gaze and ponder,

They dark and darker grow;

Yet still amid the darkness

I feel the light is near,

And in the awful stillness

God's voice I seem to hear.

Thy voice I hear above me,

Which says, "Wait, trust, and pray,

The night will soon be over,

And light will come with day."

Amen! the light and darkness

Are both alike to thee;

Then to thy waiting servant

Alike they both shall be.

That great unending future,

I cannot pierce its shroud,

But nothing doubt nor tremble,

God's bow is on the cloud;

To him I yield my spirit,

On him I lay my load;

Fear ends with death; beyond it

I nothing see but God.

—Samuel Greg.

———

FLOWERS WITHOUT FRUIT

Prune thou thy words; the thoughts control

That o'er thee swell and throng;—

They will condense within thy soul,

And change to purpose strong.

But he who lets his feelings run

In soft luxurious flow

Shrinks when hard service must be done,

And faints at every woe.

Faith's meanest deed more favor bears,

Where hearts and wills are weighed,

Than brightest transports, choicest prayers,

Which bloom this hour, and fade.

—John Henry Newman.

———

Fair is the soul, rare is the soul

Who has kept, after youth is past,

All the art of the child, all the heart of the child,

Holding his faith at last.

—Frank Gelett Burgess.

———

GOD KNOWS

God knows—not I—the devious way

Wherein my faltering feet may tread,

Before into the light of day,

My steps from out this gloom are led,

And, since my Lord the path doth see,

What matter if 'tis hid from me?

God knows—not I—how sweet accord

Shall grow at length from out this clash

Of earthly discords which have jarred

On soul and sense; I hear the crash,

Yet feel and know that on his ear

Breaks harmony—full, deep, and clear.

God knows—not I—why, when I'd fain

Have walked in pastures green and fair,

The path he pointed me hath lain

Through rocky deserts, bleak and bare.

I blindly trust—since 'tis his will—

This way lies safety, that way ill.

He knoweth, too, despite my will

I'm weak when I should be most strong.

And after earnest wrestling still

I see the right yet do the wrong.

Is it that I may learn at length

Not mine, but his, the saving strength?

His perfect plan I may not grasp,

Yet I can trust Love Infinite,

And with my feeble fingers clasp

The hand which leads me into light.

My soul upon his errands goes,

The end I know not—but God knows.

———

THE LORD'S LEADING

Thus far the Lord hath led us, in darkness and in day,

Through all the varied stages of the narrow homeward way;

Long since he took that journey—he trod that path alone;

Its trials and its dangers full well himself hath known.

Thus far the Lord hath led us; the promise hath not failed.

The enemy, encountered oft, has never quite prevailed:

The shield of faith has turned aside, or quenched each fiery dart,

The Spirit's sword in weakest hands has forced him to depart.

Thus far the Lord hath led us; the waters have been high,

But yet in passing through them we felt that he was nigh.

A very present helper in trouble we have found,

His comforts most abounded when our sorrows did abound.

Thus far the Lord hath led us; our need hath been supplied,

And mercy hath encompassed us about on every side;

Still falls the daily manna; the pure rock-fountains flow;

And many flowers of love and hope along the wayside grow.

Thus far the Lord hath led us; and will he now forsake

The feeble ones whom for his own it pleases him to take?

Oh, never, never! earthly friends may cold and faithless prove,

But his is changeless pity and everlasting love.

Calmly we look behind us, our joys and sorrows past,

We know that all is mercy now, and shall be well at last;

Calmly we look before us; we fear no future ill,

Enough for safety and for peace, if Thou art with us still.

Yes, they that know thy name, Lord, shall put their trust in thee,

While nothing in themselves but sin and helplessness they see.

The race thou hast appointed us with patience we can run,

Thou wilt perform unto the end the work thou hast begun.

———

Have you found your life distasteful?

My life did and does smack sweet.

Was your youth of pleasure wasteful?

Mine I saved, and hold complete.

Do your joys with age diminish?

When mine fail me I'll complain.

Must in death your daylight finish?

My sun sets to rise again.

I find earth not gray, but rosy;

Heaven not grim, but fair of hue.

Do I stoop? I pluck a posy;

Do I stand and stare? All's blue.

—Robert Browning.

———

WE SHALL KNOW

In wise proportion does a fond hand mingle

The sweet and bitter in our life-cup here;

Each drop of either is by love eternal

Poured forth in wisdom for his children dear.

The loving Father, as a wise physician,

Knows what the wants of all those children are;

Knows which is needed most—the joy or sorrow,

The peace of comfort, or affliction's war.

Then, should the bitter be our daily portion,

So that we cannot any sweet discern,

Let us, in childlike faith, receive with meekness

The needed tonic, and its lessons learn.

And if we cannot even that decipher,

Let us be still, nay, thank him for his care,

Contented that we soon shall know—hereafter—

When we the fullness of his presence share.

—Charlotte Murray.

———

THE STEPS OF FAITH

Know well, my soul, God's hand controls

Whate'er thou fearest;

Round him in calmest music rolls

Whate'er thou hearest.

Nothing before, nothing behind;

The steps of faith

Fall on the seeming void, and find

The rock beneath.

The Present, the Present is all thou hast

For thy sure possessing;

Like the patriarch's angel, hold it fast

Till it gives its blessing.

—John Greenleaf Whittier.

———

I am of sinfulness and sorrows full!

Thou art the Mighty, Great, and Merciful!

How should we not be friends, or thou not save

Me who bring naught to thee who all things gave?

—Edwin Arnold, from the Sanskrit.

———

MY GUIDE

I know not the way I am going,

But well do I know my Guide!

With a childlike trust do I give my hand

To the mighty Friend by my side;

And the only thing that I say to him,

As he takes it, is, "Hold it fast!

Suffer me not to lose the way,

And lead me home at last."

As when some helpless wanderer

Alone in some unknown land,

Tells the guide his destined place of rest,

And leaves all else in his hand;

'Tis home—'tis home that I wish to reach,

He who guides me may choose the way;

And little I care what path I take

When nearer home each day.

———

THE LORD'S PROVISION

In some way or other the Lord will provide;

It may not be my way, it may not be thy way;

And yet in his own way, "The Lord will provide."

At some time or other the Lord will provide;

It may not be my time, it may not be thy time;

And yet in his own time, "The Lord will provide."

Despond, then, no longer, the Lord will provide.

And this be the token—no word he hath spoken

Was ever yet broken: "The Lord will provide."

March on, then, right boldly; the sea shall divide;

The pathway made glorious, with shoutings victorious

We'll join in the chorus, "The Lord will provide."

—Mary Ann W. Cook.

———

It is faith,

The feeling that there's God. He reigns and rules

Out of this low world.

—Robert Browning.

———

FAITH IS THE VICTORY

Encamped along the hills of light,

Ye Christian soldiers, rise,

And press the battle ere the night

Shall veil the glowing skies;

Against the foe in vales below

Let all our strength be hurled;

Faith is the victory, we know,

That overcomes the world.

His banner over us is love,

Our sword the word of God;

We tread the road the saints above

With shouts of triumph trod;

By faith they, like a whirlwind's breath,

Swept on o'er every field;

The faith by which they conquered death

Is still our shining shield.

On every hand the foe we find

Drawn up in dread array;

Let tents of ease be left behind,

And—onward to the fray;

Salvation's helmet on each head,

With truth all girt about,

The earth shall tremble 'neath our tread,

And echo with our shout.

To him that overcomes the foe

White raiment shall be given;

Before the angels he shall know

His name confessed in heaven;

Then onward from the hills of light,

Our hearts with love aflame,

We'll vanquish all the hosts of night

In Jesus' conquering name.

—John H. Yates.

———

RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES

Yes, we do differ when we most agree,

For words are not the same to you and me,

And it may be our several spiritual needs

Are best supplied by seeming different creeds.

And, differing, we agree in one

Inseparable communion,

If the true life be in our hearts; the faith

Which not to want is death;

To want is penance; to desire

Is purgatorial fire;

To hope is paradise; and to believe

Is all of heaven that earth can e'er receive.

—Hartley Coleridge.

———

THE LORD WILL PROVIDE

Though troubles assail, and dangers affright,

Though friends should all fail, and foes all unite,

Yet one thing secures us, whatever betide,

The promise assures us, "The Lord will provide."

The birds, without barn or storehouse, are fed;

From them let us learn to trust for our bread:

His saints what is fitting shall ne'er be denied,

So long as 'tis written, "The Lord will provide."

When Satan appears to stop up our path,

And fills us with fears, we triumph by faith;

He can not take from us, though oft he has tried,

The heart-cheering promise, "The Lord will provide."

He tells us we're weak, our hope is in vain;

The good that we seek we ne'er shall obtain:

But when such suggestions our graces have tried,

This answers all questions, "The Lord will provide."

No strength of our own nor goodness we claim;

Our trust is all thrown on Jesus's name:

In this our strong tower for safety we hide:

The Lord is our power, "The Lord will provide."

When life sinks apace, and death is in view,

The word of his grace shall comfort us through;

Not fearing or doubting, with Christ on our side,

We hope to die shouting, "The Lord will provide."

—John Newton.

———

Art thou afraid his power will fail

When comes thy evil day?

And can an all-creating arm

Grow weary, or decay!

———

IF WE BELIEVED

If we believed we should arise and sing,

Dropping our burdens at his piercèd feet.

Sorrow would flee and weariness take wing,

Hard things grow fair, and bitter waters sweet.

If we believed, what room for fear or care

Within his arms, safe sheltered on his breast?

Peace for our pain, and hope for our despair,

Is what he meant who said, "I give thee rest."

Why linger, turn away, or idly grieve?

Where else is rest—the soul's supremest need?

Grandly he offers; meanly we receive.

Yet love that gives us rest is love indeed.

The love that rests—say, shall it not do more?

Make haste, sad soul, thy heritage to claim.

It calms; it heals; it bears what erst ye bore,

And marks thy burdens with his own dear name.

Carried in him and for him, can they harm

Or press thee sore, or prove a weary weight?

Nay, nay; into thy life his blessed calm

Shall drop, and thou no more be desolate.

———

TO FAITH

Beside thy gracious hearth content I stay,

Or with thee fate's appointed journey go;

I lean upon thee when my step is slow,

I wrap me with thee in the naked day.

With thee no loneliness, no pathless way;

The wind is heaven's, to take as it shall blow;

More than thy voice, thy hand, I need not know;

I may not murmur, for I shall not stray.

———

WAIT ON GOD

Not so in haste, my heart!

Have faith in God, and wait;

Although he seems to linger long

He never comes too late.

He never comes too late;

He knoweth what is best;

Vex not thyself, it is in vain;

Until he cometh, rest.

Until he cometh, rest;

Nor grudge the hours that roll;

The feet that wait for God, 'tis they

Are soonest at the goal.

Are soonest at the goal

That is not gained by speed;

Then hold thee still, O restless heart,

For I shall wait his lead.

—Bradford Torrey.

———

BEGONE, UNBELIEF

Begone, unbelief, my Saviour is near,

And for my relief will surely appear.

His love in time past forbids me to think

He'll leave me at last in trouble to sink.

Since all that I meet shall work for my good,

The bitter is sweet, the medicine food;

Though painful at present, 'twill cease before long,

And then, oh, how pleasant the conqueror's song!

—John Newton.

———

As yonder tower outstretches to the earth

The dark triangle of its shade alone

When the clear day is shining on its top,

So, darkness in the pathway of man's life

Is but the shadow of God's providence,

By the great Sun of Wisdom cast therein;

And what is dark below is light in Heaven.

—John Greenleaf Whittier.

———

Faith is a grasping of Almighty power;

The hand of man laid on the arm of God;

The grand and blessèd hour

In which the things impossible to me

Become the possible, O Lord, through thee.

—Anna E. Hamilton.

———

There is no faith in seeing. Were we led

Like children here,

And lifted over rock and river bed,

No care, no fear,

We should be useless in the busy throng,

Life's work undone;

Lord, make us brave and earnest, in faith strong,

Till heaven is won.

———

The cross on Golgotha can never save

Thy soul from deepest hell;

Unless with loving faith thou setts't it up

Within thy heart as well.

—Scheffler, tr. by Frederic Rowland Marvin.

———

In vain they smite me. Men but do

What God permits with different view.

To outward sight they hold the rod,

But faith proclaims it all of God.

—Madame Guyon.

———

Talk Faith. The world is better off without

Your uttered ignorance and morbid doubt.

If you have faith in God, or man, or self,

Say so; if not, push back upon the shelf

Of silence lower thoughts till faith shall come.

———

The body sins not, 'tis the will

That makes the action good or ill.

—Robert Herrick.

———

Who never doubted, never half believed;

Where doubt, there truth is—'tis her shadow.

—Philip James Bailey.

———

'Tis not the grapes of Canaan that repay,

But the high faith that failed not by the way.

—James Russell Lowell.

———

No more with downcast eyes go faltering on,

Alone and sick at heart, and closely pressed.

Thy chains shall break, thy heavy heart is gone,

For he who calls thee, he will "give thee rest."

—Mary Lowe Dickinson.

———

My God, I would not live

Save that I think this gross hard-seeming world

Is our misshaping vision of the Powers

Behind the world that make our griefs our gains.

—Alfred Tennyson.

———

And all is well, though faith and form

Be sundered in the night of fear.

Well roars the storm to those that hear

A deeper voice across the storm.

—Alfred Tennyson.

———

The crowd of cares, the weightiest cross,

Seem trifles less than light;

Earth looks so little and so low,

When faith shines full and bright.

—Frederick William Faber.

———

A faith that shines by night and day

Will lighten every earthly load.

———

Grant us, O God, in love to thee—

Clear eyes to measure things below,

Faith the invisible to see,

And wisdom thee in all to know.

———

Our doubts are traitors,

And make us lose the good we oft might win,

By fearing to attempt.

—William Shakespeare.

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