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6
FAITH.
Oh! Saviour come to me,
I grope and cannot see:—
Tempestuous darkness gathers fast around:
O! let Thy garments white
Flash forth their heavenly light;—
Oh! let me hear Thee speak one sweet consoling sound.
I grope and cannot see:—
Tempestuous darkness gathers fast around:
O! let Thy garments white
Flash forth their heavenly light;—
Oh! let me hear Thee speak one sweet consoling sound.
For “Faith,” I hear them say—
“Faith is the only way
That leads from earth to Heaven, from man to Christ:
The holy men of old
Are gathered in God's fold—
Their lives availed them nought—faith, faith alone sufficed.”
“Faith is the only way
That leads from earth to Heaven, from man to Christ:
The holy men of old
Are gathered in God's fold—
Their lives availed them nought—faith, faith alone sufficed.”
“Ah! what is Faith?” I cry—
Cold, cold is the reply,
The chillness of despair grows round me as they speak:
So hard and dead a thing
Seems Faith—this Spirit's wing,
That opens Heaven to man, humble, and poor, and weak.
Cold, cold is the reply,
The chillness of despair grows round me as they speak:
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Seems Faith—this Spirit's wing,
That opens Heaven to man, humble, and poor, and weak.
Yet—for the words were Thine—
Faith only is divine,
Faith only makes for life and saves from sin and death:—
Wakens a spark of God
In the cold, clayey clod;—
Tell me—I pant to know—my Saviour, what is Faith?
Faith only is divine,
Faith only makes for life and saves from sin and death:—
Wakens a spark of God
In the cold, clayey clod;—
Tell me—I pant to know—my Saviour, what is Faith?
Oh! surely grace to see
The things that really be
With eyes undimmed by mists of earthly birth:
To gaze above where'er
The sky of clouds is bare,
And see the light of Heaven flooding the darkened earth.
The things that really be
With eyes undimmed by mists of earthly birth:
To gaze above where'er
The sky of clouds is bare,
And see the light of Heaven flooding the darkened earth.
Oh! surely strength to hear
God's voice serene and clear
Speak in the soul, and hearing to fulfil;—
To bow to His behest,—
To know that He knows best,—
To crush each rebel lust, each narrow stubborn will.
God's voice serene and clear
Speak in the soul, and hearing to fulfil;—
To bow to His behest,—
To know that He knows best,—
To crush each rebel lust, each narrow stubborn will.
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Oh! surely yearning love,
Lifting of hearts above,
Hunger for Heaven in souls enthralled by sense:
Scorn of all earthly care,
Dumb agonizing prayer,
Passionate longing, speechless, vast, intense.
Lifting of hearts above,
Hunger for Heaven in souls enthralled by sense:
Scorn of all earthly care,
Dumb agonizing prayer,
Passionate longing, speechless, vast, intense.
That were a fiery flow,
Fresh, molten, fierce, aglow,
That were a faith to lift man, lead him on;
Awhile it fills and feeds
The moulds of human creeds,
Then hardens and grows cold:—the fire, the force is gone.
Fresh, molten, fierce, aglow,
That were a faith to lift man, lead him on;
Awhile it fills and feeds
The moulds of human creeds,
Then hardens and grows cold:—the fire, the force is gone.
The overflow is blent
With sand, and idly spent:
The hard metallic casts break not, though vainly strong:
An ever-flowing tide,
A channel deep and wide,
Deep'ning and widening as it flows along,—
With sand, and idly spent:
The hard metallic casts break not, though vainly strong:
An ever-flowing tide,
A channel deep and wide,
Deep'ning and widening as it flows along,—
This only sweeps the soul
To where the great waves roll,
Down to the endless ocean of God's grace;
The true God-given river
Must glide and glide for ever,
Never be lulled to sleep, arrested, fixed in place.
To where the great waves roll,
Down to the endless ocean of God's grace;
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Must glide and glide for ever,
Never be lulled to sleep, arrested, fixed in place.
Works save not—it is said;
Faith without works is dead:
We prate of faith and works, not knowing what we say:
Faith only saves from death:—
Ay, but the living faith
Lives in each thought, each word, each action of each day.
Faith without works is dead:
We prate of faith and works, not knowing what we say:
Faith only saves from death:—
Ay, but the living faith
Lives in each thought, each word, each action of each day.
It is an atmosphere
That bathes us ever near,
Lighting the meanest moment of our lives:
Breathed in at every breath,
Brightest in gloom of death,
Nearest whene'er the soul imprisoned, pants and strives.
That bathes us ever near,
Lighting the meanest moment of our lives:
Breathed in at every breath,
Brightest in gloom of death,
Nearest whene'er the soul imprisoned, pants and strives.
Though works be manifold,
The inner life is told
In them, in them revealed to faint and finite eyes:
Ay, and this inner soul
Is one unparted whole,
Unparted as the blue and over-arching skies.
The inner life is told
In them, in them revealed to faint and finite eyes:
Ay, and this inner soul
Is one unparted whole,
Unparted as the blue and over-arching skies.
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Oh! then in each good deed,—
Whate'er the doer's creed,—
We catch a moment's glimpse of Faith's eternal flame:
Ah! Jesus—am I right?—
Thy love is infinite—
Thou dwellest e'en with those who call not on Thy name.
Whate'er the doer's creed,—
We catch a moment's glimpse of Faith's eternal flame:
Ah! Jesus—am I right?—
Thy love is infinite—
Thou dwellest e'en with those who call not on Thy name.
What though they never kneel
In prayer to Thee, yet feel
Thy fire within, and manfully do right:
Thine eyes behold a prayer,
Silent yet surely there,
In strong self-sacrifice, dumb yearning after light.
In prayer to Thee, yet feel
Thy fire within, and manfully do right:
Thine eyes behold a prayer,
Silent yet surely there,
In strong self-sacrifice, dumb yearning after light.
“Oh! but Faith brings repose;
Peace from its presence flows;”
Men say with folded hands in tranquil apathy,
“For Christ's sake God will bless,
Sit still and acquiesce.”
Jesus, if this be Faith, far, far be Faith from me.
Peace from its presence flows;”
Men say with folded hands in tranquil apathy,
“For Christ's sake God will bless,
Sit still and acquiesce.”
Jesus, if this be Faith, far, far be Faith from me.
I doubt not Faith through love
Lifts high the heart above
The stormy flow of waves of worldly care:—
Breathes in profoundest peace,
Makes hourly troubles cease,
Compassing world-worn hearts with calm and stormless air.
Lifts high the heart above
The stormy flow of waves of worldly care:—
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Makes hourly troubles cease,
Compassing world-worn hearts with calm and stormless air.
This on its earthward side;
But Faith must be our guide
From earth to Heaven, if Faith indeed be blest;
And here man's Faith must be,
A lifelong agony,
One vast unbroken sigh of infinite unrest.
But Faith must be our guide
From earth to Heaven, if Faith indeed be blest;
And here man's Faith must be,
A lifelong agony,
One vast unbroken sigh of infinite unrest.
Ah! but my words are weak,
Do thou my Saviour speak,
Speak to my soul as thy lips only can:
Lord! what is Faith? I cry—
Is this thy sweet reply?
“My living presence in the heart of man.”
Do thou my Saviour speak,
Speak to my soul as thy lips only can:
Lord! what is Faith? I cry—
Is this thy sweet reply?
“My living presence in the heart of man.”
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