Lord, by whom are seen
Thy creatures as they be,
Forgive me if too close I lean
My human heart on thee.

--John Greenleaf Whittier.

Forgive us, Lord, our little faith;
And help us all, from morn till e'en,
Still to believe that lot the best
Which is, not that which might have been.

And grant we may so pass the days
The cradle and the grave between,
That death's dark hour not darker be
For thoughts of what life might have been.

THE ONE THING NEEDFUL

My prayer to the promise shall cling--
I will not give heed to a doubt;
For I ask for the one needful thing
Which I cannot be happy without:

A spirit of lowly repose
In the love of the Lamb that was slain;
A heart to be touched with his woes,
And a care not to grieve him again;

The peace that my Saviour has bought,
The cheerfulness nothing can dim,
The love that can bring every thought
Into perfect obedience to him;

The wisdom his mercy to own
In the way he directs me to take--
To glory in Jesus alone,
And to love and do good for his sake.

All this thou hast offered to me
In the promise whereon I will rest;
For faith, O my Saviour! in thee,
Is the substance of all my request.

Thy word has commanded my prayer,
Thy Spirit has taught me to pray;
And all my unholy despair
Is ready to vanish away.

Thou wilt not be weary of me;
Thy promise my faith shall sustain;
And soon, very soon, shall I see
I have not been asking in vain.

--Anna Letitia Waring.

Ah, God! I have not had thee day and night
In thought, nor magnified thy name aright,
Nor lauded thee, nor glorified, nor laid
Upon thine altars one poor kusa-blade!
Yet now, when I seek refuge, Lord! with thee,
I ask, and thou wilt give, all good to me.

--Edwin Arnold, from the Sanskrit.

ABOVE ALL, THE SHIELD

Faith fails;
Then in the dust
Lie failing rest and light and trust.
So doth the troubled soul itself distress,
And choke the fountain in the wilderness.
I care not what your peace assails!
The deep root is, faith fails.

Faith fails
When in the breast
The Lord's sweet presence doth not rest;
For who believes, clouds cannot make afraid;
He knows the sun doth shine behind the shade;