By Faith

A fearful cloud arose and stretched

Its blackness o’er my head

It wrapped my path in deepest gloom

It filled my soul with dread

 

It shut the landmarks from my sight

It hid the light of day

I grouped in darkness as of night

And could not see my way

 

I trembled and was sore afraid

I knew not where to go

No kindly hand to proffer aid

No friend my path to show

 

But God was near, he saw my doubt

And bade me lean on him

Through darkness fence me ‘round about

And all the heavens were dim

 

I trusted, and was comforted

I dried my foolish tears

I walked by faith, and I was led

Beyond the reach of fears

 

 Dissatisfied

O earth where are the pleasures thou dost give

Where are thy sunny ways, thy blooming flowers

I shall not find in them however long I live

A recompense for all the weary hours

 

The cup that thou has given me to quaff

Is filled with bitterness unto the brim

I have been mocked with hopes but born to die

My faith in all things, save in God, grows dim

 

The path wherein I’ve walked through life, has been

Filled full of thorns to piece my tired feet

And all my past rises before me now

A wasted life, a mission incomplete

 

Some hearts I may have lightened on the road

Some tears perchance, my hand have wiped away

Yet when I stand before a righteous God

To answer to his charge, what shall I say.

 

 Preaching Versus Practice

Our minister preached last Sunday

A powerful discourse

He was even so much in earnest

That towards the last he was hoarse

How he charged us to love on another

I never can forget

But of course he only meant we should love

The people of our own set

 

He couldn’t have meant for instance

Such fellows as old Tom Relph

Of course he didn’t, you know that he

Never notices Tom himself

There’s no denying that when Tom prays

Heaven seems to come very near

But then he’s so old fashioned

And he does dress so queer.

 

He charged us to visit the widows

But he meant the wealthy ones

I know he must, for he never calls

On poor old widow Jones

She’s an earnest Christian, I do believe

And a member of his church

But I’ve noticed when visiting day comes round

She get left in the lurch

 

Of course he couldn’t go there you know

It would be too much to request

We see her often enough at church

Considering the way she’s dressed

There’s Mrs. Harley, a widow

The minister visits her

And over her fatherless children

Extends the tenderest care.

 

Then Mrs. Graves and Mrs. Lee

They live right side by side

Only a narrow gateway

Their dooryards divide

And both of them are striving

To walk in the narrow road

And both of them need his counsels

To help them on to God.

 

He often visits Mrs. Graves

But never Mrs. Lee

And I for one don’t blame him

She’s as poor as poverty

He’s here as shepherd of his flock

Our spiritual guide

If we follow his example

We cannot go far wide.

 

If he meant for us to visit much

He’d go and see them too

And if it ain’t required of him

It ain’t of me and you

To see he don’t go near ‘em

Nor his wife, she don’t go either

And I’m determined I for one

Won’t go a near them neither.

 

But do you know that Mrs. Harley

Can always be dressed in style

You don’t come in contact with poverty then

In want and suffering toil

I know she’s a wealthy woman

And winks at sin and vice

But the minister is but human

And likes to see people look nice.

 

 Trusting my Captain

I know not if the harbor of the blessed

Be near me or be far

And I shall find the paradise of rest

I know not when or where

 

As through the deeper channels of the sea

Float without a car

The everlasting arms are under me

My God is near

 

He guides me safely past the sunken rocks

The dangerous hidden reef

He shelters me against the tempest shocks

He makes me safe

 

The treacherous billows shall not overflow

Rage as they may and will

The strength of Him who holds I know

And trust Him still

 

And though the clouds may lower dark and drear

And though the tempest rage

Yet day by day I know I’m drawing near

Safe anchorage.

 

 Call Upon Me In The Day of Thy Trouble And I Will Deliver Thee

If pleasures should tempt thee

To turn from Thy God

Or if the dangers beset thee

The path to be trod

 

If darkness surrounds thee

Be not thou afraid

Appeal to the Savior

For comfort and aid

 

If sinners entice thee

Pass them unheeded

He is able to give thee

The strength that is needed.

 

He bids thee in trouble

To call on his name

He pities thy weakness

He knoweth thy frame

He will not unbraid thee

In whom is thy trust

The savior remembers

That thou art but dust

 

If thy strength becomes weakness

Thy light become dim

Or the courage forsake thee

Go tell it to Him

 

Tell Jesus thy trouble

And he will deliver

His mercy endureth

Forever and ever

 

 Secure

These billows that buffet so sorely

Arise in thine ocean of love

They are beating me farther from perilous shoals

And nearer the harbor above

 

My pilot stands ever beside me

He knoweth where channels are deep

So I will not fear, I will be of good cheer

He will neither slumber nor sleep

 

The rocks that are hidden he knoweth

He knoweth what shallows to shun

On the infinite tide of his mercy my guide

Bids me sail till the voyage be done

 

Oh let me hear clearly thing orders

Let the trumpet speak loud through the storm

Tell me which way to steer and if danger be near

Be instant to sound the alarm

 

Le me hold to thee through the dark waters

Hear the voice of thy love in the blast

To thy promises cling and my soul thou wilt bring

To the haven desired at last

 

I can no longer soar nor sing

O shelter me beneath Thy wing

Be thou my covert in the storm

And keep me safe and keep me warm

 

O comfort me with tenderness

Abide and cheer my loneliness

Talk to my heart in loving-wise

And shower compassion from Thine eyes

 

I would that I might ever be

Drawing a little more near Thee

Might feel my love to thee increase

And know that Thine shall never cease

 

If I be lost oh let it be

To sin and self but found of Thee

I well may bear all other loss

To find and clasp Thy wondrous cross

 

These seas of trouble sound me rise

To lift me nearer to the skies

Their waves and surges only prove

The overflowing of Thy love

 

I know thee that Thy love is great

Thou wilt not leave me desolate

For even now while trusting Thee

The comforter is come to me.

 

 Our Home Beyond

I cherish my dreams of heaven

Not as something vague and ideal

But that which grows to me daily

More tangible and real

 

And I think of the glorious dawning

Of the everlasting day

And fancy eternities morning

Nor very far away

 

But earthly glory and earthly love

Seem far away and obscure

Or only as shadows thrown from above

Of that which shall endure

 

Only as flitting shadows

Of the glory and love of heaven

Or faint and imperfect pictures

To our earthly longing given

 

Hints of the grand surprises

Preparing for us on high

Sweetly contrived disguises

To hide the reality

 

Visions I have in plenty

As I muse in the twilight alone

Of the joy of the four and twenty

That always surround the throne

 

Of the bliss that swells in the rapturous tones

That utter their praises sweet

As kneeling they cast their starry crowns

At the dear redeemers feet.

 

Something that I fancy I can hear

An echo of heavenly psalms

And catch through the tremulous evening air

A glimpse of the robes and palms

 

Of the river of life and the golden street

On which they mansion stands

And I await for the coming of angel feet

And the guidance of angel hands

 

All my hopes and my dreams of ambition

I reckon as nothing account

If I gain the celestial city

Beyond the delectable mount

 

If only the gates of Jasper

Stand open my coming to greet

And I may behold my Master

And sit as a child at His feet

 

I am ever waiting and eager

For my release to be given

This life has been poor and meager

I long for the riches of heaven

 

Though the days of my waiting be dreary

God know what is best for me

But I often think when weary

How sweet the rest will be.

 

Rest after tedious travel

Rest after labor sore

Rest in the arms of eternal love

Never to tire anymore.