He who for winds and clouds
Doth make a pathway free,
Through wastes, or hostile crowds,
Can make a way for thee.

Thou must in him be blest, Ere bliss can be secure ;

On his work must thou rest, If thy work shall endure.

To anxious, prying thought,
And weary, fretting care,
The Highest yieldeth nought;
He giveth all to prayer.

This prison where thou art, Thy God will break it soon, And flood with light thy heart In his own blessed noon.

Thou wearest not the crown, Nor the best course can tell; God sitteth on the throne, And guideth all things well.

385.

Paul Gerhardt. Tr. by Elizabeth Charles.

"Truly my soul waiteth upon God; from
him cometh my salvation.”

NOT so in haste, my heart;
Have faith in God, and wait;
Although he linger long,
He never comes too late.

He never comes too late;
He knoweth what is best;
Vex not thyself in vain ;
Until he cometh, rest.

Until he cometh, rest;

Nor grudge the hours that roll;

The feet that wait for God,
Are soonest at the goal;

Are soonest at the goal
That is not gained by speed;
Then hold thee still, my heart,
For I shall wait his lead.

B. T

Through every darkening stain
That clouds his sacred image still,
And see him once again,

The brother man, the pitying friend,
Who weeps for human woes,
Whose pleading words of pardon blend
With cries of raging foes.

If, 'mid the gathering storms of doubt
Our hearts grow faint and cold,
The strength we cannot live without

Thy love will not withhold.
Our prayers accept; our sins forgive;
Our youthful zeal renew;
Shape for us holier lives to live
And nobler work to do!

AMEN.

Oliver Wendell Holmes.

389.

"God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

O GOD! thy power is wonderful,

Thy glory passing bright; Thy wisdom, with its deep on deep, A rapture to the sight.

There's not a craving in the mind

Thou dost not meet and still; There's not a wish the heart can have Which thou dost not fulfil.

All things that have been, all that are,
All things that can be dreamed,
All possible creations, made,

Kept faithful, or redeemed,

All these may draw upon thy power,
Thy mercy may command;
And still outflows thy silent sea,

Immutable and grand.

O little heart of mine! shall pain Or sorrow make thee moan, When all this God is all for thee, A Father all thine own?

Frederick W. Faber.

I LITTLE see, I little know,

Yet can I fear no ill:

He who hath guided me till now
Will be my leader still.

No burden yet on me was laid
Of trouble or of care,

But he my trembling step hath stayed,
And given me strength to bear.

I came not hither of my will

Or wisdom of mine own :
That higher Power upholds me still,
And still must bear me on.

I knew not of this wondrous earth,
Nor dreamed what blessings lay
Beyond the gates of human birth

To glad my future way.

And what beyond this life may be

As little I divine,

What love may wait to welcome me,

What fellowships be mine.

I know not what beyond may lie,
But look, in humble faith,

Into a larger life to die

And find new birth in death.

He will not leave my soul forlorn ;

I still must find him true,

Whose mercies have been new each morn

And every evening new.

Upon his providence I lean,

As lean in faith I must:
The lesson of my life hath been
A heart of grateful trust. AMEN.

Frederick L. Hosmer.
"God is light, and in him is no darkness
at all."

391.
I SEE the wrong that round me lies,
I feel the guilt within ;

I hear, with groan and travail-cries,
The world confess its sin.

Yet, in the maddening maze of things,
And tossed by storm and flood,
To one fixed stake my spirit clings;
I know that God is good!

Not mine to look where cherubim
And seraphs may not see,
But nothing can be good in him
Which evil is in me.

The wrong that pains my soul below
I dare not throne above;
I know not of his hate,

I know

His goodness and his love.

John Greenleaf Whittier.