Poems with Power to Strengthen the Soul

by Unknown

TRUST

GUIDANCE, SAFETY, GLADNESS

RESTING IN GOD

Since thy Father's arm sustains thee,

Peaceful be;

When a chastening hand restrains thee,

It is he.

Know his love in full completeness

Fills the measure of thy weakness;

If He wound the spirit sore,

Trust him more.

Without murmur, uncomplaining,

In His hand.

Lay whatever things thou canst not

Understand.

Though the world thy folly spurneth,

From thy faith in pity turneth,

Peace thy inmost soul shall fill,

Lying still.

Like an infant, if thou thinkest

Thou canst stand,

Childlike, proudly pushing back

The offered hand,

Courage soon is changed to fear,

Strength doth feebleness appear;

In his love if thou abide,

He will guide.

Fearest sometimes that thy Father

Hath forgot?

When the clouds around thee gather,

Doubt him not.

Always hath the daylight broken;

Always hath He comfort spoken;

Better hath he been for years

Than thy fears.

Therefore, whatsoe'er betideth,

Night or day,

Know His love for thee provideth

Good alway.

Crown of sorrow gladly take;

Grateful wear it for His sake;

Sweetly bending to his will,

Lying still.

To his own thy Saviour giveth

Daily strength.

To each troubled soul that liveth,

Peace at length.

Weakest lambs have largest share

Of the tender Shepherd's care;

Ask him not the "When," or "How";

Only bow.

—Charles Rudolf Hagenbach.

———

I WILL TRUST

I am glad to think

I am not bound to make the world go right,

But only to discover and to do

With cheerful heart the work that God appoints.

I will trust in him

That he can hold his own; and I will take

His will, above the work he sendeth me,

To be my chiefest good.

—Jean Ingelow.

———

I KNOW NOT IF THE DARK OR BRIGHT

I know not if the dark or bright

Shall be my lot;

If that wherein my hopes delight

Be best or not.

It may be mine to drag for years

Toil's heavy chain;

Or day and night my meat be tears,

On bed of pain.

Dear faces may surround my hearth

With smiles and glee;

Or I may dwell alone, and mirth

Be strange to me.

My bark is wafted to the strand

By breath divine;

And on the helm there rests a hand

Other than mine.

One who has known in storms to sail

I have on board;

Above the raging of the gale

I hear my Lord.

He holds me when the billows smite;

I shall not fall;

If sharp, 'tis short; if long, 'tis light,

He tempers all.

Safe to the land, safe to the land!

The end is this:

And then with him go, hand in hand,

Far into bliss.

—Dean Alford.

———

I CAN TRUST

I cannot see, with my small human sight,

Why God should lead this way or that for me;

I only know he saith, "Child, follow me."

But I can trust.

I know not why my path should be at times

So straitly hedged, so strongly barred before;

I only know God could keep wide the door;

But I can trust.

I find no answer, often, when beset

With questions fierce and subtle on my way,

And often have but strength to faintly pray;

But I can trust.

I often wonder, as with trembling hand

I cast the seed along the furrowed ground,

If ripened fruit will in my life be found;

But I can trust.

I cannot know why suddenly the storm

Should rage so fiercely round me in its wrath;

But this I know—God watches all my path,

And I can trust.

I may not draw aside the mystic veil

That hides the unknown future from my sight;

Nor know if for me waits the dark or light;

But I can trust.

I have no power to look across the tide,

To see, while here, the land beyond the river;

But this I know, I shall be God's forever;

So I can trust.

———

The world is wide

In time and tide,

And God is guide;

Then do not hurry.

That man is blest

Who does his best

And leaves the rest;

Then do not worry.

—Charles F. Deems.

———

WISDOM OF DISCIPLINE

Whate'er my God ordains is right;

His will is ever just;

Howe'er he orders now my cause

I will be still, and trust.

He is my God,

Though dark my road,

He holds me that I shall not fall,

Wherefore to him I leave it all.

Whate'er my God ordains is right;

He never will deceive;

He leads me by the proper path,

And so to him I cleave,

And take, content,

What he hath sent;

His hand can turn my grief away,

And patiently I wait his day.

Whate'er my God ordains is right;

He taketh thought for me;

The cup that my Physician gives

No poisoned draught can be,

But medicine due;

For God is true;

And on that changeless truth I build

And all my heart with hope is filled.

Whate'er my God ordains is right;

Though I the cup must drink

That bitter seems to my faint heart,

I will not fear nor shrink;

Tears pass away

With dawn of day;

Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,

And pain and sorrow all depart.

Whate'er my God ordains is right;

My Light, my Life, is he,

Who cannot will me aught but good;

I trust him utterly;

For well I know,

In joy or woe,

We soon shall see, as sunlight clear,

How faithful was our Guardian here.

Whate'er my God ordains is right;

Here will I take my stand;

Though sorrow, need, or death, make earth

For me a desert land.

My Father's care

Is round me there;

He holds me that I shall not fall,

And so to him I leave it all.

—S. Rodigast.

———

MY TIMES ARE IN THY HAND

"My times are in thy hand";

My God, I wish them there;

My life, my friends, my soul, I leave

Entirely to thy care.

"My times are in thy hand,"

Whatever they may be;

Pleasing or painful, dark or bright,

As best may seem to thee.

"My times are in thy hand";

Why should I doubt or fear?

My Father's hand will never cause

His child a needless tear.

"My times are in thy hand,"

Jesus, the crucified!

The hand my cruel sins had pierced

Is now my guard and guide.

"My times are in thy hand";

I'll always trust in thee;

And, after death, at thy right hand

I shall forever be.

—William F. Lloyd.

———

ALL FOR THE BEST

Away, my needless fears,

And doubts no longer mine;

A ray of heavenly light appears,

A messenger divine.

Thrice comfortable hope,

That calms my troubled breast;

My Father's hand prepares the cup

And what he wills is best.

If what I wish is good,

And suits the will divine,

By earth and hell in vain withstood,

I know it shall be mine.

Still let them counsel take

To frustrate his decree;

They cannot keep a blessing back,

By heaven designed for me.

Here, then, I doubt no more;

But in his pleasure rest

Whose wisdom, love, and truth, and power,

Engage to make me blest.

—Charles Wesley.

———

GOD NEVER FORSAKES

Leave God to order all thy ways,

And hope in him, whate'er betide,

Thou'lt find in him, in evil days,

Thy all-sufficient strength and guide.

Who trusts in God's unchanging love

Builds on the rock that naught can move.

What can these anxious cares avail,

The never-ceasing moans and sighs?

What can it help us to bewail

Each painful moment as it flies?

Our cross and trials do but press

The heavier for our bitterness.

Only thy restless heart keep still,

And wait in cheerful hope, content

To take whate'er his gracious will,

His all-discerning love, hath sent.

Nor doubt our inmost wants are known

To him who chose us for his own.

He knows when joyful hours are best;

He sends them as he sees it meet;

When thou hast borne the fiery test,

And now art freed from all deceit,

He comes to thee all unaware

And makes thee own his loving care.

Nor in the heat of pain and strife

Think God has cast thee off unheard,

And that the man whose prosperous life

Thou enviest is of him preferred.

Time passes, and much change doth bring

And sets a bound to everything.

All are alike before his face;

'Tis easy to our God most high

To make the rich man poor and base,

To give the poor man wealth and joy;

True wonders still by him are wrought

Who setteth up and brings to naught.

Sing, pray, and swerve not from his ways,

But do thine own part faithfully;

Trust his rich promises of grace,

So shall they be fulfilled in thee.

God never yet forsook at need

The soul that trusted him indeed.

—George Neumarck.

———

Bear up, bear on, the end shall tell

The dear Lord ordereth all things well.

—John Greenleaf Whittier.

———

THE SECRET PLACE

There is a safe and secret place,

Beneath the wings divine,

Reserved for all the heirs of grace:

O be that refuge mine!

The least and feeblest there may bide,

Uninjured and unawed;

While thousands fall on every side,

He rests secure in God.

He feeds in pastures large and fair

Of love and trust divine;

O child of God, O glory's heir,

How rich a lot is thine!

A hand almighty to defend,

An ear for every call,

An honored life, a peaceful end,

And heaven to crown it all!

—Henry F. Lyte.

———

GOD KNOWS

Our Father! through the coming year

We know not what shall be;

But we would leave without a fear

Its ordering all to thee.

It may be we shall toil in vain

For what the world holds fair;

And all the good we thought to gain

Deceive, and prove but care.

It may be it shall darkly blend

Our love with anxious fears,

And snatch away the valued friend,

The tried of many years.

It may be it shall bring us days

And nights of lingering pain;

And bid us take a farewell gaze

Of these loved haunts of men.

But calmly, Lord, on thee we rest;

No fears our trust shall move;

Thou knowest what for each is best,

And thou art Perfect Love.

—Eliza Cleghorn Gaskell.

———

Forever in their Lord abiding

Who can their gladness tell;

Within his love forever hiding,

They feel that all is well.

———

NO FEAR

I know no life divided,

O Lord of life, from thee;

In thee is life provided

For all mankind and me:

I know no death, O Jesus,

Because I live in thee;

Thy death it is which frees us

From death eternally.

I fear no tribulation,

Since, whatsoe'er it be,

It makes no separation

Between my Lord and me.

If thou, my God and Teacher,

Vouchsafe to be my own,

Though poor, I shall be richer

Than monarch on his throne.

If while on earth I wander

My heart is light and blest,

Ah, what shall I be yonder,

In perfect peace and rest?

O blessed thought! in dying

We go to meet the Lord,

Where there shall be no sighing,

A kingdom our reward.

—Carl J. P. Spitta.

———

THE LORD'S APPOINTMENT

I say it over and over, and yet again to-day,

It rests my heart as surely as it did yesterday:

It is the Lord's appointment;

Whatever my work may be,

I am sure in my heart of hearts

He has offered it to me.

I must say it over and over, and again to-day

For my work is different from that of yesterday:

It is the Lord's appointment;

It quiets my restless will

Like the voice of a tender mother,

And my heart and will are still.

I will say it over and over, this and every day,

Whatsoever the Master orders, come what may:

It is the Lord's appointment;

For only his love can see

What is wisest, best and right—

What is truly good for me.

———