Sunday, December 18, 2022

I Know Not What The Future Hath

 

"It shall be said in that day, "Behold our God upon Whom we have
waited and hoped, that He might save us!  This is the Lord, we have 
waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation."
(Isaiah 25:9)


Seaside Stone Nativity
Juan Manuel Cisneros, artist
Ventura, California


I know not what the future hath

Of marvel or surprise,

Assured alone that life and death

God's mercy underlies.

And if my heart and flesh are weak

To bear an untried pain,

The bruised reed He will not break,

But strength and sustain.


No offering of my own I have,

Nor works my faith to prove;

I can but give the gifts He gave,

And plead His love for love.


And so beside the silent sea

I wait for muffled oar;

No harm from Him can come to me

On ocean or on shore.


I know not where His islands lift

Their fronded palms in air;

I only know I cannot drift

Beyond His love and care.



"I know Not What The Future Hath"
From the poem,  "The Eternal Goodness"
(1867)

John Greenleaf Whittier
(1807-1892)

 Known as "America's Quaker poet"
nearly 200 hymns have been
inspired by his work.




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