University of Virginia Library

598.

[Above what we can ask or hope]

Above what we can ask or hope,
The God of grace delights to give,
To fill the empty vessels up:
And when we grace for grace receive,
Enough in Christ remains behind,
To fill the souls of all mankind.
Long as our faith's capacity
Is stretch'd to' admit the blessing given,
We drink the streaming Deity,
And gasp for larger draughts of heaven!
But when we lose our emptiness,
The oil, the joy, the Spirit stays!

191

Empty us then, most gracious Lord,
And keep us always empty here,
Till Thee, according to Thy word,
We see upon the clouds appear,
Thy glorious fulness to reveal,
And all Thy saints for ever fill.