19. Hymn: Where Is My God? Does He Retire

Hymn: Where Is My God? Does He Retire

Author: Anne Steele (1717-1778)

1. Where is my God? does he retire
    Beyond the reach of humble sighs?
    Are these weak breathings of desire
    Too languid to ascend the skies?
    Where is my God? can he be mine
    And yet so long conceal his face?
    And must I every joy resign
    Nor hope for his returning grace?

2. Hence guilty diffidence depart,
    His goodness never can decline;
    He sees this weak, this trembling heart
    That yet aspires to call him mine.
    He hears the breathings of desire,
    The weak petition if sincere,
    Is not forbidden to aspire,
    And hope to reach his gracious ear.

3. Look up, my soul, with cheerful eye,
    See where the great redeemer stands,
    The glorious advocate on high,
    With precious incense in his hands.
    He sweetens every humble groan,
    He recommends each broken prayer;
    Recline your hope on him alone,
    Whose power and love forbid despair.

4. Teach my weak heart, O gracious Lord,
    With stronger faith to call you mine,
    Bid me pronounce the blissful word,
    My father God with joy divine.
    Look up, my soul, with cheerful eye,
    See where the great redeemer stands,
    The glorious advocate on high,
    With precious incense in his hands.

18. Hymn: Leave God to Order All Thy Ways

Hymn: Leave God to Order All Thy Ways

Author: Georg Neumark (1621-1681)

1. Leave God to order all thy ways,
    And hope in him whate’er betide;
    Thou’lt find him in the evil days
    Thy all-sufficient strength and guide;
    Who trusts in God’s unchanging love
    Builds on the rock that naught can move.

2. Only thy restless heart keep still,
    And wait in cheerful hope, content
    To take whate’er his gracious will,
    His all-discerning love, hath sent;
    Nor doubt our inmost wants are known
    To him who chose us for his own.

3. Sing, pray, and swerve not from his ways,
    But do thine own part faithfully;
    Trust his rich promises of grace,
    So shall they be fulfilled in thee;
    God never yet forsook at need
    The soul that trusted him indeed.

17. Devotional: And Shalt Thou Be Delivered?

Devotional: And Shalt Thou Be Delivered?

Author: James Smith (1802-1862)

And shalt thou be delivered? - Isaiah 37:11

    This is plainly the language of an insulting foe; he had triumphed, and now he boasted, but his power was bounded, and his pride procured his fall.

    Often when in trouble, when distressed, when tried by a sense of sin and unworthiness, unbelief and Satan join, and pointing to others who have fallen and to our acknowledged unworthiness, insultingly ask the question, "And shalt thou be delivered?" Yes, Satan, we shall be delivered; the God of Hezekiah is our God, and He hath said, "I will deliver thee in six troubles, and in seven I will not forsake thee."

    We believe His word, we rely on His faithfulness, we plead at His throne; and so sure as He can deliver, He WILL. He hath often done so in times past, He doth deliver all His praying people now, and in Him we trust that He will deliver us. Not on account of anything in us, or of anything done by us, but because He hath said, "I will be with him trouble, I will deliver him and honour him; I will set him on high, because he hath known My name." He is faithful, His word cannot fail, nor should our faith be shaken. Deliverance is certain, for God hath spoken, and God is true.

The same His power, His love the same,
Unmoved the promise shines;
Eternal truth surrounds His name,
And guards the precious lines.

16. Hymn: Tunnel

Hymn: Tunnel

Author: Unknown

Often darkness fills the pathway of the pilgrim’s onward track,
And we shrink from going forward—trembling, feel like going back:
But the Lord, Who plans so wisely, leads us on both day and night,
Till at last, in silent wonder, we rejoice in Wisdom’s light.

Though the tunnel may be tedious through the narrow, darkened way,
Yet it amply serves its purpose—soon it brings the light of day:
And the way so greatly dreaded, as we backward take a glance,
Shows the skill of careful planning: never the result of chance!

Is your present path a tunnel, does the darkness bring you fear?
To the upright, oh, remember, He doth cause a light to cheer.
Press on bravely, resting calmly, though a way you dimly see,
Till, at length, so safely guided, you emerge triumphantly.

Trust the Engineer Eternal; surely all His works are right;
Though we cannot always trace them, faith will turn at last to sight:
Then no more the deepening shadows of the dark and dismal way;
There, for ever in clear sunlight, we’ll enjoy "The perfect day."

15. Hymn: Affliction Is A Stormy Deep

Hymn: Affliction Is A Stormy Deep

Author: Nathaniel Cotton (1707-1788)

1. Affliction is a stormy deep,
    Where wave resounds to wave;
    Though o'er my head the billows roll,
    I know the Lord can save.

2. The hand that now withholds my joys
    Can reinstate my peace:
    And He who bade the tempest roar,
    Can bid that tempest cease.

3. In the dark watches of the night,
    I'll count His mercies o'er;
    I'll praise Him for ten thousand past,
    And humbly sue for more.

4. When darkness and when sorrows rose
    And pressed on every side,
    The Lord has still sustained my steps,
    And still has been my Guide.

5. Here will I rest, and build my hopes,
    Nor murmur at His rod;
    He's more than all the world to me,
    My Health, my Life, my God!

14. Hymn: Light in Darkness

Hymn: Light in Darkness

Author: Karl Johann Philipp Spitta (1801-1859)

All things work together for good to them that love God. (Rom.8:28)

How weary and how worthless this life at times appears!
What days of heavy musings, what hours of bitter tears!
How dark the storm-clouds gather along the wintry skies!
How desolate and cheerless the path before us lies!

And yet these days of dreariness are sent us from above:
They do not come in anger, but in faithfulness and love;
They come to teach us lessons which bright ones could not yield,
And to leave us blest and thankful when their purpose is fulfilled.

They come to draw us nearer to our Father and our Lord,
More earnestly to seek His face, to listen to His word.
And to feel, if now around us a desert land we see,
Without the star of promise, what would its darkness be!

They come to lay us lowly and humbled in the dust,
All self-deception swept away, all creature-hope and trust;
Our helplessness, our vileness, our guiltiness to own,
And flee, for hope and refuge, to Christ, and Christ alone.

They come to break the fetters which here detain us fast,
And force our long reluctant hearts to rise to heaven at last
And brighten every prospect of that eternal home,
Where grief and disappointment and fear can never come.

Then turn not in despondence, poor weary heart, away,
But meekly journey onwards, through the dark and cloudy day;
Even now the bow of promise is above thee painted bright,
And soon a joyful morning shall dissipate the night.

Thy God hath not forgot thee, and, when He sees it best,
Will lead thee into sunshine, will give thee bowers of rest;
And all thy pain and sorrow, when the pilgrimage is o'er,
Shall end in heavenly blessedness, and joys for evermore!

13. Hymn: The Saints Should Never Be Dismayed

Hymn: The Saints Should Never Be Dismayed

Author: William Cowper (1731-1800)

The saints should ne­ver be dis­mayed,
Nor sink in hope­less fear;
For when they least ex­pect His aid,
The Sav­ior will ap­pear.

This Ab­ra­ham found: he raised the knife;
God saw, and said, For­bear!
Yon ram shall yield his mean­er life;
Behold the vic­tim there.

Once David seemed Saul’s cer­tain prey;
But hark! the foe’s at hand;
Saul turns his arms ano­ther way,
To save th’in­vad­ed land.

When Jo­nah sank be­neath the wave,
He thought to rise no more;
But God pre­pared a fish to save,
And bear him to the shore.

Blest proofs of pow­er and grace di­vine,
That meet us in His Word!
May ev­ery deep felt care of mine
Be trust­ed with the Lord.

Wait for His sea­son­able aid,
And though it tar­ry, wait:
The pro­mise may be long de­layed,
But can­not come too late.

12. A Quote from T. Austin-Sparks (15)

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11. Hymn: When I Survey The Wondrous Cross

Hymn: When I Survey The Wondrous Cross

Author: Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

(Vocal)

(Music)

(Sheet Music)

1. When I survey the wondrous cross
    On which the Prince of glory died,
    My richest gain I count but loss,
    And pour contempt on all my pride.

2. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
    Save in the death of Christ my God!
    All the vain things that charm me most,
    I sacrifice them to His blood.

3. See from His head, His hands, His feet,
    Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
    Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
    Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

4. Were the whole realm of nature mine,
    That were a present far too small;
    Love so amazing, so divine,
    Demands my soul, my life, my all.

10. Hymn: Cometh Sunshine After Rain

Hymn: Cometh Sunshine After Rain

Author: Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676)

Cometh sunshine after rain,
After mourning joy again,
After heavy bitter grief
Dawneth surely sweet relief!
And my soul, who from her height
Sank to realms of woe and night,
Wingeth new to heav'n her flight.

Bitter anguish have I borne,
Keen regret my heart hath torn,
Sorrow dimm'd my weeping eyes,
Satan blinded me with lies;
Yet at last am I set free,
Help, protection, love, to me
Once more true companions be.

None was ever left a prey,
None was ever turn'd away,
Who had given himself to God,
And on Him had cast his load.
Who in God his hope hath placed
Shall not life in pain outwaste,
Fullest joy he yet shall taste.

Though to-day may not fulfil
All thy hopes, have patience still,
For perchance to-morrow's sun
Sees thy happier days begun;
As God willeth march the hours,
Bringing joy at last in showers,
When whate'er we ask'd is ours.

Now as long as here I roam,
On this earth have house and home,
Shall this wondrous gleam from Thee
Shine through all my memory.
To my God I yet will cling,
All my life the praises sing
That from thankful hearts outspring.

Every sorrow, every smart,
That the Eternal Father's heart
Hath appointed me of yore,
Or hath yet for me in store,
As my life flows on, I'll take
Calmly, gladly for His sake,
No more faithless murmurs make.

I will meet distress and pain,
I will greet e'en Death's dark reign,
I will lay me in the grave,
With a heart still glad and brave;
Whom the Strongest doth defend,
Whom the Highest counts His friend,
Cannot perish in the end.