Man's Weakness; God's Strength.
By Ella M. Robinson
Know thou, vain heart, how little thou dost know!
How oft the feet of Prudence are beguiled
From paths of right, forbidden ways to go!
Nor know their danger, even as a child
Lost in the wild! O trembling one, e'en tho thou can'st not see
The path, fear not. If thou hast turned aside,
Then learn to seek for wisdom full and free:
Thou canst not wander if a heavenly Guide
Is by thy side. Self-trusting one, thy power to will is small.
Why build sand towers against temptation's day?
Thy resolutions seem a mighty wall
Against the waves of sin. Beneath the spray
They drift away. Weak, wavering one, look up, thy God lives still.
By His decree the feeble, shifting sands
Stand firm as rock to carry out His will.
'Tis not their strength that forms the ocean bands,
But His commands. Tremble, proud, fearless one, canst thou defy,
Alone, unaided, all the powers of hell—
One-third of all the angel host on high,
Who chose to follow Lucifer, and fell
From heaven to hell? Discouraged one, look up, thy God is Might.
Tho 'gainst thee all the hosts of hell combine,
They quail before the messengers of light
That hasten to thy side, with strength divine,—
And victory's thine.