Songs Old and New :: :: University of Virginia Library

Silence in heaven and earth!
The hush of love or fear!
His voice the Highest sendeth forth,
The still small voice is here.
The world's hoarse murmurs under,
Its loudest din above,
It speaketh not in thunder,
But in words, and the tone is love.
It calls, and a gift it offers;
To whom are those words addressed?
“Come, ye that are heavy-laden,
And I will give you rest.”

Ye that have toiled in vain
Till strength and hope have fled,
And lavished the years that come not again
For that which is not bread;

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Ye who are toiling now,
Weary in heart and limb,
With a strength each day more low,
And a hope each day more dim;
Weary in soul and spirit,
Toiling with hearts oppressed;
“Come to Me all that labour,
And I will give you rest.”

Is guilt unpardoned there
With heavy hand and strong,
The weight in the air of measureless fear,
Or of hope deferrëd long?
The sorrow which freezeth tears
With the force of a sudden blow,
The long, dull pressure of weary years
Bowing you silently low?
Many the burdens and hard
Wherewith the heart is pressed:
“Come all that are heavy-laden,
And I will give you rest.”

The world has many a promise
To beguile the blithe and young;
But to you the world is honest,
It has ceased to promise, long.

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Wealth, pleasures, fame, successes,
The world has store of these,—
For you it no cure professes,
It offers you no ease.
But Christ has an arm almighty
And a balm for the faintest breast:
“Come, ye that are heavy-laden,
And I will give you rest.”

Would ye fain among the sleepers,
In dust your tired heads bow?
The rest He gives is deeper,
And He will give it now.
No dull oblivious pain
In the lull of pain repressed,
But all your hearts to steep
In perfect and conscious rest,—
Rest that shall make you strong
To serve among the blest:
“Come, all that are heavy-laden,
And I will give you rest.”

The rest of a happy child
Led by the Father on,
Feeling His smile, and reconciled
To all that He has done;

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Of one who can meekly bend
'Neath the yoke of the Lord who died;
Of a soldier who knows how the fight will end
With a Leader true and tried;
The rest of a subject heart,
Of its best desires possessed:
“Come, ye that are heavy-laden,
And I will give you rest.”

Rest from sin's crushing debt
In the blood which Christ has shed;
From the pang of vain regret
In the thought that He has led.
Rest in His perfect love,
Rest in His tender care;
Rest in His presence for you above,
In His presence with you here.
Rest in Him, slain and risen,
The Lamb, and the Royal Priest:
“Come all that are heavy-laden,
And I will give you rest.”