XXXV. WELCOME CROSS.

'Tis my happiness below

Not to live without the cross, But the Saviour's power to know, Sanctifying every loss:

Trials must and will befall;

But with humble faith to see
Love inscribed upon them all,
This is happiness to me.

God in Israel sows the seeds
Of affliction, pain, and toil;
These spring up and choke the weeds
Which would else o'erspread the soil:
Trials make the promise sweet,

Trials give new life to prayer;
Trials bring me to his feet,

Lay me low, and keep me there.

Did I meet no trials here,

No chastisement by the way:
Might I not, with reason, fear
I should prove a castaway.
Bastards may escape the rod,*
Sunk in earthly, vain delight;
But the trueborn child of God
Must not, would not, if he might.

* Hebrews xii. 8.

XXXVI. AFFLICTIONS SANCTIFIED BY THE WORD.

O HOW I love thy holy word,

Thy gracious covenant, O Lord!

It guides me in the peaceful way;
I think upon it all the day.

What are the mines of shining wealth,
The strength of youth, the bloom of health!
What are all joys compared with thɔse
Thine everlasting word bestows!

Long unafflicted, undismay'd,

In pleasure's path secure I stray'd;
Thou madest me feel thy chastening rod,*
And straight I turn'd unto my God.

What though it pierced my fainting heart,
I bless thine hand that caused the smart ;
It taught my tears awhile to flow,

But saved me from eternal woe.

Oh! hadst thou left me unchastised,
Thy precept I had still despised,
And still the snare in secret laid
Had my unwary feet betray'd.

I love thee, therefore, O my God,
And breathe towards thy dear abode ;
Where, in thy presence fully blest,
Thy chosen saints for ever rest.

* Psalm cxix. 71.

XXXVII. TEMPTATION.

THE billows swell, the winds are high,
Clouds overcast my wintry sky;

Out of the depths to thee I call,—

My fears are great, my strength is small.
O Lord, the pilot's part perform,

And guard and guide me through the storm,
Defend me from each threatening ill,
Control the waves,—say, "Peace, be still."
Amidst the roaring of the sea

My soul still hangs her hope on thee;
Thy constant love, thy faithful care,
Is all that saves me from despair.
Dangers of every shape and name
Attend the followers of the Lamb,
Who leave the world's deceitful shore,
And leave it to return no more.

Though tempest-toss'd and half a wreck,
My Saviour through the floods I seek;
Let neither winds nor stormy main

Force back my shatter'd bark again.

XXXVIII. LOOKING UPWARDS IN A STORM.

GOD of my life, to thee I call,

Afflicted at thy feet I fall;

When the great water-floods prevail,*

Leave not my trembling heart to fail!

*Psalm lxix. 15.

Friend of the friendless and the faint!
Where should I lodge my deep complaint?
Where but with thee, whose open door
Invites the helpless and the poor !

Did ever mourner plead with thee,
And thou refuse that mourner's plea?
Does not the word still fix'd remain,
That none shall seek thy face in vain?

That were a grief I could not bear,
Didst thou not hear and answer prayer;
But a prayer-hearing, answering God
Supports me under every load.

Fair is the lot that's cast for me;
I have an Advocate with thee;
They whom the world caresses most
Have no such privilege to boast.

Poor though I am, despised, forgot,*
Yet God, my God, forgets me not:
And he is safe, and must succeed,

For whom the Lord vouchsafes to plead.

XXXIX. THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH.

My soul is sad, and much dismay'd,
See, Lord, what legions of my foes,
With fierce Apollyon at their head,
My heavenly pilgrimage oppose !

* Psalm xl. 17.

See, from the ever-burning lake,

How like a smoky cloud they rise! With horrid blasts my soul they shake, With storms of blasphemies and lies. Their fiery arrows reach the mark,* My throbbing heart with anguish tear; Each lights upon a kindred spark,

And finds abundant fuel there.

I hate the thought that wrongs the Lord;
Oh! I would drive it from my breast,
With thy own sharp two-edged sword,
Far as the east is from the west.

Come, then, and chase the cruel host,

Heal the deep wounds I have received! Nor let the powers of darkness boast, That I am foil'd, and thou art grieved!

XL. PEACE AFTER A STORM.

WHEN darkness long has veil'd my mind, And smiling day once more appears;

Then, my Redeemer, then I find

The folly of my doubts and fears.

Straight I upbraid my wandering heart, And blush that I should ever be

Thus prone to act so base a part,

Or harbour one hard thought of thee! * Ephes. vi. 16.