On God’s Law by Francis Quarles

………….Thy sacred law, O God,
……………Is like to Moses’ rod:
………If we but keep it in our hand,
………It will do wonders in the land;
….If we slight and throw it to the ground;
…Twill turn a serpent, and inflict a wound;
A wound that flesh and blood cannot endure,
….Nor salve, until the brazen serpent cure;
…I wish not, Lord, thou shouldst withold it;
…….Nor would I have it, and not hold it;
……………O teach me then, my God,
………………To handle Moses’ rod.

 

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Peace! Be Still! – anonymous

Peace! Be still!
In this night of sorrow bow,
O my heart! Contend not thou!
What befalls thee is God’s will –
Peace! Be still!

Peace! Be still!
All thy murmuring words are vain –
God will make the riddle plain,
Wait His word and bear His will –
Peace! Be still!

Hold thou still!
Though the good Physician’s knife
Seems to touch thy very life,
Death alone He means to kill, –
Hold thou still!

Shepherd mine!
From Thy fullness give me still
Faith to do and hear Thy will,
Till the morning light shall shine,
Shepherd mine!

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The Last Chantey by Rudyard Kipling

Thus said The Lord in the Vault above the Cherubim
Calling to the Angels and the Souls in their degree:
“Lo! Earth has passed away
On the smoke of Judgment Day.
That Our word may be established shall We gather up the sea?”

Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners:
“Plague upon the hurricane that made us furl and flee!
But the war is done between us,
In the deep the Lord hath seen us —
Our bones we’ll leave the barracout’, and God may sink the sea!”

Then said the soul of Judas that betrayed Him:
“Lord, hast Thou forgotten Thy covenant with me?
How once a year I go
To cool me on the floe?
And Ye take my day of mercy if Ye take away the sea!”

Then said the soul of the Angel of the Off-shore Wind:
(He that bits the thunder when the bull-mouthed breakers flee):
“I have watch and ward to keep
O’er Thy wonders on the deep,
And Ye take mine honour from me if Ye take away the sea!”

Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners:
“Nay, but we were angry, and a hasty folk are we!
If we worked the ship together
Till she foundered in foul weather,
Are we babes that we should clamour for a vengeance on the sea?”

Then said the souls of the slaves that men threw overboard:
“Kennelled in the picaroon a weary band were we;
But Thy arm was strong to save,
And it touched us on the wave,
And we drowsed the long tides idle till Thy Trumpets tore the sea.”

Then cried the soul of the stout Apostle Paul to God:
“Once we frapped a ship, and she laboured woundily.
There were fourteen score of these,
And they blessed Thee on their knees,
When they learned Thy Grace and Glory under Malta by the sea!”

Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners,
Plucking at their harps, and they plucked unhandily:
“Our thumbs are rough and tarred,
And the tune is something hard —
May we lift a Deep-sea Chantey such as seamen use at sea?”

Then said the souls of the gentlemen-adventurers —
Fettered wrist to bar all for red iniquity:
“Ho, we revel in our chains
O’er the sorrow that was Spain’s;
Heave or sink it, leave or drink it, we were masters of the sea!”

Up spake the soul of a gray Gothavn ‘speckshioner —
(He that led the flinching in the fleets of fair Dundee):
“Oh, the ice-blink white and near,
And the bowhead breaching clear!
Will Ye whelm them all for wantonness that wallow in the sea?”

Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners,
Crying: “Under Heaven, here is neither lead nor lee!
Must we sing for evermore
On the windless, glassy floor?
Take back your golden fiddles and we’ll beat to open sea!”

Then stooped the Lord, and He called the good sea up to Him,
And ‘stablished his borders unto all eternity,
That such as have no pleasure
For to praise the Lord by measure,
They may enter into galleons and serve Him on the sea.

Sun, wind, and cloud shall fail not from the face of it,
Stinging, ringing spindrift, nor the fulmar flying free;
And the ships shall go abroad
To the Glory of the Lord
Who heard the silly sailor-folk and gave them back their sea!

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My Evening Prayer by Charles H. Gabriel

If I have wounded any soul today,
If I have caused one foot to go astray,
If I have walked in my own willful way –
…….Good Lord, forgive! 

If I have uttered idle words or vain,
If I have turned aside from want or pain,
Lest I myself should suffer through the strain –
…….Good Lord, forgive! 

If I have craved for joys that are not mine,
If I have let my wayward heart repine,
Dwelling on things of earth, not things divine –
…….Good Lord, forgive!

If I have been perverse, or hard, or cold,
If I have longed for shelter in Thy fold,
When Thou hast given me some part to hold –
…….Good Lord, forgive!

Forgive the sins I have confessed to Thee,
Forgive the secret sins I do not see,
That which I know not, Father, teach Thou me –
…….Help me to live.

 

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The Created by Jones Very

There is naught for thee by thy haste to gain;
‘Tis not the swift with Me that win the race;
Through long endurance of delaying pain,
Thine opened eye shall see thy Father’s face;
Nor here nor there, where now thy feet would turn,
Thou wilt find Him who ever seeks for thee;
But let obedience quench desires that burn,
And where thou art, thy Father, too, will be.
Behold! as day by day the spirit grows,
Thou see’st by inward light things hid before,
Till what God is, thyself, his image shows;
And thou dost wear the robe that first thou wore,
When bright with radiance from his forming hand,
He saw thee Lord of all his creatures stand.

 

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St. Agnes’ Eve by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Deep on the convent–roof the snows
…Are sparkling to the moon;
My breath to heaven like vapor goes;
…May my soul follow soon!
The shadows of the convent-towers
…Slant down the snowy sward,
Still creeping with the creeping hours
…That lead me to my Lord:
Make Thou my spirit pure and clear
…As are the frosty skies,
Or this first snowdrop of the year
…That in my bosom lies. 

As these white robes are soiled and dark,
…To yonder shining ground;
As this pale taper’s earthly spark,
…To yonder argent round;
So shows my soul before the Lamb,
…My spirit before Thee;
So in mine earthly house I am,
…To that I hope to be.
Break up the heavens, O Lord! And far,
…Thro’ all yon starlight keen,
Draw me, thy bride, a glittering star,
…In raiment white and clean. 

He lifts me to the golden doors;
…The flashes come and go;
All heaven bursts her starry floors,
…And strows her lights below,
And deepens on and up! the gates
…Roll back, and far within
For me the Heavenly Bridegroom waits,
…To make me pure of sin.
The Sabbaths of Eternity,
…One Sabbath deep and wide –
A light upon the shining sea –
…The Bridegroom and his bride!

 

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Huswifery by Edward Taylor

…………………..Huswifery

Make me, O Lord, Thy spinning-wheel complete.
…Thy holy Word my distaff make for me;
Make mine affections Thy swift flyers neat;
…And make my soul Thy holy spool to be;
…My conversation make to be Thy reel,
…And reel the yarn thereon spun of Thy wheel.

Make me Thy loom then; knit therein this twine;
…And make Thy Holy Spirit, Lord, wind quills;
Then weave the web Thyself.  The yarn is fine.
…Thine ordinances make my fulling mills.
…Then dye the same in heavenly colors choice,
…All pinked with varnished flowers of paradise.

Then clothe therewith mine understanding, will,
…Affections, judgment, conscience, memory,
My words and actions, that their shine may fill
…My ways with glory and Thee glorify,
…Then mine apparel shall display before Ye
…That I am clothed in holy robes for glory.

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She Walks In Beauty by George Gordon Byron

She walks in beauty, like the night
…Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that’s best of dark and bright
…Meet in her aspect and her eyes,
Thus mellowed to that tender light
…Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
…Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress
…Or softly lightens o’er her face,
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
…How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek and oe’r that brow
…So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
…But tell of days in goodness spent, –
A mind at peace with all below,
…A heart whose love is innocent.

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Light Shining Out Of Darkness by William Cowper

God moves in a mysterious way
…His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
…And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
…Of never-failing skill
He treasures up his bright designs,
…And works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take!
…The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
…In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
…But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence
…He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
…Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
…But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
…And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
…And he will make it plain.

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Battle-Hymn of the Republic by Julia Ward Howe

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword.
…His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps.
…His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel:
“As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
…Since God is marching on.”

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat:
O, be swift, my soul, to answer him! be jubilant my feet!
…Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me;
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
…While God is marching on.

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