O FATHER, I COME TO THEE.
O Father, I come to thee; my way in life
Is dark, beset with sorrow, pain, and strife;
I am weak and faltering, oft I faint,
In mercy, Father, hear thy child's complaint.
Oh! does thy loving face no longer shine,
Casting such gloom around the heart of mine?
I am unworthy, weakest one of all,
And without thy hand, Father, I shall fall. I hear, my child, but does thy heart not know
That pain and sorrow come to all below?
Dost thou not know that in affliction's fire
The heart's refined, the soul is lifted higher?
All this chastening I give to thee in love,
To draw thy heart to brighter realms above;
However dark the way, whate'er betide,
There is One who loveth ever at thy side. O Father, I hear, and bow to thy will,
For thy love alone my bosom can fill.
This life's storms and darkness I will not fear,
When thy loving hand is forever near;
And freely I offer my life unto thee,
To suffer and do what thy will may be,
If only at last, when my time shall come,
I may enter the rest of my heavenly home.—Sel.