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The Poetical Works of Walter C. Smith

... Revised by the Author: Coll. ed.

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[Be still, and know He doeth all things well]
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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[Be still, and know He doeth all things well]

“Commune with your own heart upon Your bed, and be still.”—Ps. iv. 4.

Be still, and know He doeth all things well,
Working the purpose of His holy will,
And if His high designs He do not tell,
Till He accomplish them, do thou be still.
Why should'st thou strive and fret and fear and doubt,
As if His way, being dark, must bode thee ill?
If thine own way be clearly pointed out,
Leave Him to clear up His, and be thou still.
Was ever yet thy trust in Him misplaced?
And hoping in Him, did He not fulfil
The word on which He causèd thee to rest,
Though not as thou had'st thought, perchance? Be still.
What if the road be rough which might be smooth?
Is not the rough road best for thee, until
Thou learn, by patient walking in the truth,
To trust and hope in God, and to be still?
A little faith is more than clearest views;
Would'st thou have ocean like a babbling rill?
God without mystery were not good news;
Wrestle not with the shadows, but be still.
Be still, and know that He is God indeed
Who reigns in glory on His holy hill,
Yet once upon the Cross did hang and bleed,
And heard the people raging—and was still.