The Willing and Obedient.
"If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of
the land." Isa. 1:19.
Whose is a willing heart,
Whose is a ready hand;
Joyful in Jesus' cause to start,
Joyful for him to stand?
Whose breast with ardor glows,
The conflict to begin;
Warring, but not with carnal foes,
Wrestling with every sin?
Who when the cross appears,
Hasten its weight to bear;
Glad, though it be through thorns and tears,
The cross of Christ to share?
Who at stern duty's call,
Unbound by selfish will,
Meekly resign their earthly all,
Its bidding to fulfill?
Who with unyielding feet,
When storms around them roar,
Shrink not the scorn and hate to meet
Which Christ their Saviour bore:
Deeming of higher worth,
Their Lord's reproaches now,
Than all the cankered gold of earth,
To which the worldlings bow?
Whose is a willing heart?
And who obedient stand?
To them shall Heaven its joys impart,
To them the goodly land.
For them the City waits,
Unstained by woe or sin,
And as they come, the pearly gates
Shall ope to let them in.
Be Not Cast Down.
Tempted, tried, desponding one,
Why does darkness shade thy brow?
Is there no all-beaming sun
In the heavens above thee now?
Is the cloud of radiant light,
Glowing round th' Eternal throne,
Shrouded in a pall of night,
Or in outer darkness gone?
Is the fount of glory dried?
Are the gates of mercy closed?
Went there ever unsupplied,
Any who in God reposed?
Has his arm grown short to save?
Heavy is his ear to hear?
Bids he any be a slave
To despair or doubt or fear?
Then may we refuse to move,
When his word and mighty arm,
Weak and impotent shall prove,
To deliver us from harm.
Then may we despondent be,
And in him refuse to trust,
When his throne and majesty
Both shall crumble to the dust.
Has not help on One been laid
Strong to save and set us free?
And is there no promise made,
In his name, of victory?
Then in Jesus let us trust;
On him stay our troubled mind:
Not presume; for God is just:
Nor despair; for he is kind.
Be Faithful.