3. Hymn: Be Thou Content

Be Thou Content

Author: Paul Gerhardt

1. Be thou content; be still before
    His face, at whose right hand doth reign
    Fulness of joy for evermore,
    Without whom all thy toil is vain.
    He is thy living spring, thy sun, whose rays
    Make glad with life and light thy dreary days.
    Be thou content.

2. In Him is comfort, light and grace,
    And changeless love beyond our thought;
    The sorest pang, the worst disgrace,
    If He is there, shall harm thee not.
    He can lift off thy cross, and loose thy bands,
    And calm thy fears, nay, death is in His hands.
    Be thou content.

3. Or art thou friendless and alone,
    Hast none in whom thou canst confide?
    God careth for thee, lonely one,
    Comfort and help will He provide.
    He sees thy sorrows and thy hidden grief,
    He knoweth when to send thee quick relief;
    Be thou content.
 
4. Thy heart's unspoken pain He knows,
    Thy secret signs He hears full well,
    What to none else thou dar'st disclose,
    To Him thou mayst with boldness tell;
    He is not far away, but ever nigh,
    And answereth willingly the poor man's cry.
    Be thou content.

5. Be not o'er-mastered by thy pain,
    But cling to God, thou shalt not fall;
    The floods sweep over thee in vain,
    Thou yet shalt rise above them all;
    For when thy trial seems to hard to bear,
    Lo! God, thy King, hath granted all thy prayer:
    Be thou content.

6. Why art thou full of anxious fear
    How thou shalt be sustained and fed?
    He who hath made and placed thee here,
    Will give the needful daily bread;
    Canst thou not trust His rich and bounteous hand,
    Who feeds all living things on sea and land?
    Be thou content.

7. He who doth teach the little birds
    To find their meat in field and wood,
    Who gives the countless flocks and herds
    Each day their needful drink and food,
    Thy hunger too will surely satisfy,
    And all thy wants in His good time supply.
    Be thou content.

8. Sayst thou, I know not how or where,
    No help I see where'er I turn;
    When of all else we most despair,
    The riches of God's love we learn;
    When thou and I His hand no longer trace,
    He leads us forth into a pleasant place.
    Be thou content.

9. Though long His promised aid delay,
    At last it will be surely sent:
    Though thy heart sink in sore dismay,
    The trial for thy good is meant.
    What we have won with pains we hold more fast,
    What tarrieth long is sweeter at the last.
    Be thou content.

10. Lay not to heart whate'er of ill
      Thy foes may falsely speak of thee,
      Let man defame thee as he will,
      God hears, and judges righteously.
      Why shouldst thou fear, if God be on thy side,
      Man's cruel anger, or malicious pride?
      Be thou content.

11. We know for us a rest remains,
      When God will give us sweet release
      From earth and all our mortal chains,
      And turn our sufferings into peace.
      Sooner or later death will surely come
      To end our sorrows, and to take us home:
      Be thou content.

12. Home to the chosen ones, who here
      Served their Lord faithfully and well,
      Who died in peace, without a fear,
      And there in peace for ever dwell;
      The Everlasting is their joy and stay,
      The Eternal Word Himself to them doth say,
      Be thou content!