8. Hymn: Oh! Foolish Heart, Be Still

Oh! Foolish Heart, Be Still

Author: C. F. Gellert

1. Oh! foolish heart, be still, 

    And vex thyself no more, 

    Wait thou for God until 

    He opens pleasure's door. 

    Thou know'st not what is good for thee, 

    But God doth know,— 

    Let Him thy strong reliance be, 

    And rest thee so.   

2. He counted all my days, 

    And ev'ry joy and tear, 

    Ere I knew how to praise, 

    Or e'en had learn'd to fear. 

    Before I Him, my Father, knew, 

    He call'd me, child: 

    His help has guarded me all through 

    This weary wild.   

3. The least of all my cares 

    Is not to Him unknown; 

    He sees, and He prepares 

    The pathway for His own: 

    And what His hand assigns to me, 

    That serves my peace,— 

    The greatest burden it might be, 

    Yet joy's increase.   

4. I live no more on earth, 

    Nor seek my full joy here; 

    The world seems little worth, 

    When heaven is shining clear; 

    Yet joyfully I go my way, 

    So free, so blest! 

    Sweetening my toil from day to day 

    With thoughts of rest.

5. Give me, my Lord, whate’er 

    Will bind my heart to Thee; 

    For that I make my prayer. 

    And know Thou hearest me! 

    But all that might keep back my soul, 

    Make Thee forgot— 

    Tho' of earth-good it were the whole, 

    Oh! give it not.   

6. When sickness-pains, distress, 

    And want doth follow fear, 

    And men their hate express, 

    My sky shall still be clear. 

    Then wait I, Lord, and wait for Thee; 

    And I am still— 

    Tho' mine should unaccomplis’d be, 

    Do Thou Thy will!   

7. Thou art the strength and stay 

    Of ev’ry weary soul; 

    Thy wisdom rules the way; 

    Thy pity does control. 

    What ill can happen unto me 

    When thou art near? 

    Thou wilt, oh! God, my keeper be, 

    I will not fear.

7. Hymn: Forth In Thy Name, O Lord, I Go

Forth In Thy Name, O Lord, I Go

Author: Charles Wesley

Tune: SONG 34, by Orlando Gibbons

(Vocal)

1. Forth in Thy Name, O Lord, I go 

    My daily labor to pursue, 

    Thee, only Thee, resolved to know, 

    In all I think, or speak, or do.  

2. The task Thy wisdom hath assigned, 

    O let me cheerfully fulfil; 

    In all my works Thy presence find, 

    And prove Thy good and perfect will.  

3. Preserve me from my calling's snare, 

    And hide my simple heart above; 

    Above the thorns of choking care, 

    The gilded baits of worldly love.  

4. Thee may I set at my right hand, 

    Whose eyes mine inmost substance see, 

    And labor on at Thy command, 

    And offer all my works to Thee.  

5. Give me to bear Thy easy yoke, 

    And every moment watch and pray; 

    And still to things eternal look, 

    And hasten to Thy glorious day.

6. For Thee delightfully employ 

    Whate'er Thy bounteous grace hath given, 

    Would run my course with even joy 

    And closely walk with Thee to heaven.

6. Hymn: Constantly Abiding

Constantly Abiding

Author: Anne S. Murphy

(Vocal)
(Melody)

1. There’s a peace in my heart that the world never gave,
    A peace it cannot take away;
    Though the trials of life may surround like a cloud,
    I’ve a peace that has come here to stay!

Refrain:

Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine; 

Constantly abiding, rapture divine; 

He never leaves me lonely, whispers, oh, so kind: 

“I will never leave thee”—Jesus is mine. 

2. All the world seemed to sing of a Savior and King, 

    When peace sweetly came to my heart; 

    Troubles all fled away and my night turned to day, 

    Blessed Jesus, how glorious Thou art! 

3. This treasure I have in a temple of clay, 

    While here on His footstool I roam; 

    But He’s coming to take me some glorious day, 

    Over there to my heavenly home!

5. Hymn: I Thirst, Thou Wounded Lamb Of God

I Thirst, Thou Wounded Lamb Of God

Author: Nikolaus L. von Zinzendorf 

(Vocal)

1. I thirst, Thou wounded Lamb of God, 

    To wash me in Thy cleansing blood, 

    To dwell within Thy wounds; then pain 

    Is sweet, and life or death is gain.  

2. Take this poor heart, and let it be 

    For ever closed to all but Thee! 

    Seal Thou my breast, and let me wear 

    That pledge of love for ever there.  

3. How blest are they who still abide, 

    Close sheltered in Thy bleeding side; 

    Who life and strength from thence derive, 

    And by Thee move, and in Thee live.  

4. What are our works, but sin and death, 

    Till Thou Thy quickening Spirit breathe? 

    Thou giv’st the power Thy grace to move; 

    O wondrous grace! O boundless love!

5. How can it be, Thou heavenly King, 

    That Thou shouldst us to glory bring; 

    Make slaves the partners of Thy throne, 

    Decked with a never-failing crown?  

6. Hence our hearts melt, our eyes o’erflow, 

    Our words are lost; nor will we know, 

    Nor will we think of aught beside, 

    My Lord, my Love, is crucified!  

7. Ah! Lord, enlarge our scanty thought, 

    To know the wonders Thou hast wrought; 

    Unloose our stammering tongues to tell 

    Thy love immense, unsearchable.  

8. First-born of many brethren, Thou! 

    To Thee, lo! all our souls we bow, 

    To Thee our hearts and hands we give, 

    Thine may we die, Thine may we live!

4. Hymn: Courage, Brother, Do Not Stumble

Courage, Brother, Do Not Stumble 

Author: Norman Macleod

Tune: COURAGE BROTHER by Arthur S. Sullivan
(Vocal)

1. Courage, brother, do not stumble,
    Though thy path be dark as night;
    There’s a star to guide the humble:
    Trust in God and do the right.
    Let the road be rough and dreary,
    And its end far out of sight,
    Foot it bravely; strong or weary.

Refrain: 

Trust in God, trust in God, 

Trust in God and do the right. 

2. Perish policy and cunning, 

    Perish all that fears the light!
    Whether losing, whether winning,
    Trust in God and do the right.
    Trust no party, sect, or faction;
    Trust no leaders in the fight;
    Put in every word or action.

3. Some will hate thee, some will love thee,
    Some will flatter, some will slight;
    Cease from man, and look above thee:
    Trust in God and do the right.
    Simple rule, and safest guiding,
    Inward peace and inward might,
    Star upon our path abiding.

4. Trust no lovely forms of passion—
    Fiends may look like angels bright;
    Trust no custom, school or fashion:
    Trust in God, and do the right.
    Simple rule, and safest guiding,
    Inward peace, and inward might,
    Star upon our path abiding.

3. Hymn: He Giveth More Grace

He Giveth More Grace

Author: Annie Johnson Flint
(Vocal)
(Melody)

1. He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
    He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
    To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
    To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.

2. When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
    When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
    When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
    Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

3. Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
    Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
    Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
    The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

4. His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
    His power no boundary known unto men;
    For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
    He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

2. Devotional: Be Still!

Be Still!

by Stopford A. Brooke

He knoweth the way that I take. (Job 23:10) 

Man's goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way? (Proverbs 20:24)

    We complain of the slow, dull life we are forced to lead, of our humble sphere of action, of our low position in the scale of society, of our having no room to make ourselves known, of our wasted energies, of our years of patience. So do we say that we have no Father who is directing our life; so do we say that God has forgotten us; so do we boldly judge what life is best for us, and so by our complaining do we lose the use and profit of the quiet years. O men of little faith! Because you are not sent out yet into your labor, do you think God has ceased to remember you? Because you are forced to be outwardly inactive, do you think you, also, may not be, in your years of quiet, “about your Father’s business”? It is a period given to us in which to mature ourselves for the work which God will give us to do.

Be still, my soul, let nothing stir
Thee from the sweet repose
Of those who to their God refer
Their joys, their cares, their woes.

Be quiet, why this anxious heed
About thy tangled ways?
God knows them all, He giveth speed,
And He allows delays.

What though He let thee not perform
Some good and loved design?
Thou would'st not wish Him to conform
His perfect will to thine!

My God! the hearing ear impart,
To hear Thee tell Thy will,
And then bestow the ready heart
All meekly to fulfill.
                                  - E. W.

1. Hymn: O Love Divine, How Sweet Thou Art

O Love Divine, How Sweet Thou Art

Author: Charles Wesley

1. O love divine, how sweet thou art!
    When shall I find my willing heart
    All taken up by thee?
    I thirst, I faint, I die to prove
    The greatness of redeeming love,
    The love of Christ to me.

2. Stronger His love than death or hell;
    Its reaches are unsearchable;
    The first-born sons of light
    Desire in vain its depths to see;
    They cannot reach the mystery
    The length, and breadth, and height.

3. God only knows the love of God;
    O that it now were shed abroad
    In this poor stony heart!
    For love I sigh, for love I pine;
    This only portion, Lord, be mine,
    Be mine this better part.

4. O that I could forever sit
    With Mary at the Master’s feet;
    Be this my happy choice;
    My only care, delight, and bliss,
    My joy, my heaven on earth, be this
    To hear the Bridegroom’s voice.

5. O that, with humbled Peter, I
    Could weep, believe, and thrice reply,
    My faithfulness to prove.
    Thou know’st, for all to Thee is known,
    Thou know’st, O Lord, and Thou alone,
    Thou know’st that Thee I love.

6. O that I could, with favored John,
    Recline my weary head upon
    The dear Redeemer’s breast!
    From care, and sin, and sorrow free,
    Give me, O Lord, to find in Thee
    My everlasting rest.

7. Thy only love do I require,
    Nothing on earth beneath desire,
    Nothing in Heaven above;
    Let earth, and Heaven, and all things go,
    Give me Thy only love to know,
    Give me only Thy love.

12. July Archive Index

July Archive Index

1. Devotional: Have Faith In God

2. Hymn: Now Shall My Inward Joys Arise

3. March Archive Index

4. April Archive Index

5. May Archive Index

6. June Archive Index

7. Gleaning: Let Us Then...

8. Devotional: The March Of Time

9. Devotional: Burdens Cast On Him

10. Devotional: Wilderness Communion

11. Art Thou Weary, Art Thou Languid

11. Art Thou Weary, Art Thou Languid

Art Thou Weary, Art Thou Languid

Translator: John Mason Neale

Tune: STEPHANOS, by Henry W. Baker
(Melody)

1. Art thou weary, art thou languid,  

    Art thou sore distrest?  

    “Come to Me,” saith One, “and coming  

    Be at rest!”  

2. Hath He marks to lead me to Him,  

    If He be my Guide?  

    “In His Feet and Hands are Wound-prints,  

    And His Side.”  

3. Hath He diadem as Monarch  

    That His Brow adorns?  

    “Yea, a Crown, in very surety,  

    But of thorns.”     

4. If I find Him, if I follow,  

    What His guerdon here?  

    “Many a sorrow, many a labour,  

    Many a tear.”  

5. If I still hold closely to Him,  

    What hath He at last?  

    “Sorrow vanquish’d, labour ended,  

    Jordan past.”  

6. If I ask Him to receive me,  

    Will He say me nay?  

    “Not till earth, and not till Heaven  

    Pass away.”     

7. Finding, following, keeping, struggling,  

    Is He sure to bless?  

    “Angels, Martyrs, Prophets, Virgins,  

    Answer, Yes!”