5 His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
6 Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.
HEN Israel, by divine command,
The pathless desert trod,
They found, though 'twas a barren land,
A sure resource in God.
2 A cloudy pillar marked their road,
And screened them from the heat;
From the hard rocks the water flowed,
And manna was their meat.
3 Like them, we have a rest in view,
Secure from adverse powers;
Like them, we pass a desert too,
And Israel's God is ours.
4 His Word a light before us spreads,
By which our path we see;
His love, a banner o'er our heads,
From harm preserves us free.
5 Jesus, the Bread of Life, is given,
To be our daily food;
We drink a wondrous stream from Heaven,
"Tis water, wine, and blood.
6 Lord! 'tis enough! I ask no more;
These blessings are divine;
I envy not the worldling's store,
If Christ and Heaven are mine.
1 ORD! how mysterious are Thy ways,
How blind are we! how mean our praise!
Thy steps can mortal eyes explore?
"Tis ours to wonder and adore.
2 Thy deep decrees from our dim sight
Are hid in shades of awful night;
Amid the lines, with curious eye,
Not angels' minds presume to pry.
3 Great God, I would not ask to see
What in my coming life shall be;
Enough for me if love divine
At length through every cloud shall shine.
4 Yet this my soul desires to know,
Be this my only wish below,
That Christ be mine; this great request
Grant, bounteous God, and I am blest!
Heras abyss of providence!
WOW wondrous, Lord, are Thy designs!
Too deep to sound with mortal lines,
Too dark to pierce with feeble sense.
2 Now Thou dost veil Thine awful face,
And hide from view Thy gracious smile;
Yet in the cloud we trust Thy grace,
Secure of Thy compassion still.
3 Through storms of trouble and distress
We walk by faith, and not by sight;
Faith guides us in the wilderness,
And cheers the hours of weary night.
4 Yet should Thy lifted angry rod
Resolve to scourge us here below,
Still may we trust the faithful God,
Whose arm can bring us safely through.
LTHOUGH the vine its fruit deny,
The budding fig-tree droop and die,
No oil the olive yield;
Yet will I trust still in my God,
Still bend rejoicing to His rod,
And by His grace be healed.
2 Though fields, in verdure once arrayed,
By whirlwinds desolate be laid,
Or scorched by parching beam;
Still in the Lord shall be my trust,
My joy, for though His frown is just,
His mercy is supreme.
3 Although the flocks be famine's prey,
Though herds should pine and die away,
A dreary waste the land:
Yet in my God will I rejoice,
To Him in praise lift up my voice;
In Him alone I stand.
4 In God my strength, howe'er distrest,
I yet will hope and calmly rest,-
Nay, triumph in His love;
My lingering soul, my tardy feet,
Free as the hind He makes, and fleet,
To speed my course above.
O God! is in the sea,
Thy paths I cannot trace;
Nor comprehend the mystery
Of Thine unbounded grace.
2 Here the dark veils of flesh and sense
My captive soul surround;
Mysterious deeps of providence
My wondering thoughts confound.
3 When I behold Thine awful hand
My earthly hopes destroy,
In deep astonishment I stand,
And ask the reason why.
4 As through a glass I dimly see
The wonders of Thy love;
How little do I know of Thee,
Or of the joys above!
5 'Tis but in part I know Thy will,
I bless Thee for the sight;
When will Thy love the rest reveal
In glory's clearer light?
6 With rapture I shall then survey
Thy providence and grace;
And spend an everlasting day
In wonder, love, and praise.
OW awful is Thy chastening rod !"
May Thy own children
"The great, the wise, the dreadful God,
How holy is His way!"
2 I'll meditate His works of old,
The King that reigns above;
I'll hear His ancient wonders told,
And learn to trust His love.
3 Long did the house of Joseph lie
With Egypt's yoke oppressed;
Long He delayed to hear their cry,
Nor gave His people rest.
4 The sons of good old Jacob seemed
Abandoned to their foes;
But His almighty arm redeemed
The nation that He chose.
5 Israel, His people and His sheep,
Must follow where He calls;
He bade them venture through the deep,
And made the waves their walls.
6 The waters saw Thee, mighty God!
The waters saw Thee come;
Backward they fled, and frighted stood,
To make Thine armies room.
7 Strange was Thy journey through the sea,
Thy footsteps, Lord, unknown;
Terrors attend the wondrous way
That brings Thy mercies down.
(INCE all the varying scenes of time
God's watchful eye surveys,
Oh, who so wise to choose our lot,
Or to appoint our ways?
2 Good, when He gives, supremely good;
Nor less when He denies :
E'en crosses, from His sovereign hand,
Are blessings in disguise.
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