TOO LATE by M. E. Williams

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 13, 1872

TOO LATE.

By M. E. Williams

TOO LATE! too late! oh! wail of dark despair, From many a lip an utterance wilt thou find, In that dread day so swiftly hastening on, When all appear before the bar of God. Great day of recompense, then fully come, For deeds committed, yea, and deeds undone; For sins so heinous reaching up to Heaven, For good they did not, which they might have done. When from the Judge the awful sentence rings, Depart ye cursed to everlasting fire: How willingly they then would give—if theirs, The world with all its store of wealth untold For e’en one hour in which they might repent; But ah! ’tis all too late, too late.

Dear Lord, how will it be with me; Shall I toil on o’er all the dreary way, Till e’en the glorious city doth appear, And yet thus fail at last of entering in? Some duty shrink, some cross neglect to bear; Some idol cherish, some little sin indulge; Appear all ready, yet be unprepared, My talent called for, while as yet no gain, Alas! found wanting, when in the balance weighed. Too late, too late, shall it be all too late, When knocking at the gate I seek to enter in? O Lord, forbid that this should be my fate, But courage, strength, and grace do thou impart, And help me that I shall not be too late, To find a covert from the storm that’s near, A shelter underneath thy mighty wings.

M. E. WILLIAMS.