The Fast by Croswell

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 23, 1863

The Fast.

By Croswell

THOU who for forty days and nights o'ermastered all the might Of Satan, and the fiercest pangs of famished appetite, O Saviour! leave us not alone to wrestle with our sin, But aid us in these holy hours of solemn discipline.

Let not the tempter tempt us, Lord, beyond our strength to bear, Though in the desert of our woe, he wildly shrieks, Despair! Let not our humble confidence be in thy promise stirred, Nor clouds of dark distrust spring up between us and thy word.

Nor let us yet be lifted up by him, the prince of air, To scale presumption's dizzy hight, and left to perish there; Nor on the temple's pinnacle, in our self-righteous pride, Be set for thee to frown upon, and demons to deride.

And O, when pleasure, power, and pomp around our vision swim, And through the soft, enchanting mist, he bids us worship him, Assist us from the reveling sense the sorcerer's spell to break, And tread the arch-apostate down, Redeemer! for thy sake. [Croswell.]