To hear this poem presented in church with an introduction and devotional challenge, please click here:
Quietness And Confidence
I come to Thee, O Lord, to-night,
A glad and trustful child;
Thy light has made my darkness light,
Thy love my heart beguiled.
I came to Thee by sin oppressed,
Now many years ago;
And I have found that perfect rest
Thou only canst bestow.
My hand is placed in Thine, my Lord,
Thou canst not lead me wrong;
I stay my soul upon Thy word,
My pilgrim-way along.
Some call our life a wilderness,
A desert dark and drear;
To me this life is nothing less
Than Heaven begun down here.
They surely cannot know the grace
Which from Thy presence flows,
Which makes the solitary place
To blossom as the rose.
They cannot know the joy there is,
Which I have claimed as mine;
The joy – nay, more, the perfect bliss,
In this great love of Thine.
Oh! Thou, who to the mire and clay
Hast stooped for one like me;
Thou who hast washed my sins away,
When nailed to Calv’ry’s tree;
Oh! set their feet upon the Rock
Who wander from Thee still;
At their dull hearts, oh, louder knock,
And bend the stubborn will.
Thou who hast put the glad new song
Within my mouth to praise,
Oh! let me all my way along,
Fresh Ebenezers raise.
And let my life more wholly be
Conformed to Thy pure word,
That those who are observing me
May glorify my Lord.
E. J. Carr
From Hand In Hand With Jesus, And Other Poems
Published 1877
Psalms 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
Isaiah 30:7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.
Isaiah 30:15 For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
Isaiah 30:18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
For another poem by this same author, please visit this page:
The Fulness Of Jesus