IN an hour when all was anguish, when loss and death were near,
I sought the Christ and cried aloud for aid,
Through the heavy mist of sorrow, His voice came, sweet and clear
Take the promise, let thy mind on Me be stayed.
For ye shall have perfect peace,
And the grieving shall depart,
And the striving and the bitterness shall cease,
Then laid the wounded hand of Him
Upon my breaking heart,
Lo, ’twas mine, the priceless gift of Perfect Peace.
Come let us weigh the tenderness Christ hath for you and me,
By the promises He ready stands to prove,
Let us try to comprehend it, the gift so full and free,
O the height and depth, and length and breadth, of Love!
He is so patient with us as He guides our stubborn feet—
So patient though we wander far astray,
Lean on the Everlasting Strength, He saith in accents sweet,
As we falter and we stumble by the way.
For ye shall have perfect peace,
And the grieving shall depart,
And the striving and the bitterness shall cease,
Then laid the wounded hand of Him
Upon my breaking heart,
Lo, ’twas mine, the priceless gift of Perfect Peace.
Blessed Christ, if we could bring Thee the years so swiftly gone,
O the wasted hours! the swiftly coming night!
The finding in the twilight what we might have found at dawn—
Thee—the source of strength, and joy, and all delight!
I can thank Thee now for taking what I held dear away,
For my mind on Thee, and Thee alone, is stayed,
Thou wilt give back my treasures in the coming golden day,
I will trust Thee and I will not be afraid.
For I shall have perfect peace,
And the grieving shall depart,
And the striving and the bitterness shall cease,
Then laid the wounded hand of Him
Upon my breaking heart,
Lo, ’twas mine the priceless gift of Perfect Peace.
The King’s Gift
THE angels open the windows wide
In the world so far above us,
Lo, all about us, on every side,
Falls the newborn year unstained, untried,
O, angel hearts that love us!
Ye take our yesterdays dim and old,
Touched with sorrow and sinning,
And ye give to us with a grace untold
The year’s soft dew and the dawn of gold,
Ye give us the fresh beginning.
Unstained the new year falls at our feet
From the world so far above us,
And what it will bring of joy complete,
Or take of treasures tender and sweet,
Ye know, O hearts that love us!
