261.  Fully The Lord’s

1
Shall I, for fear of feeble man,
Refrain from showing God’s great plan?
Under a cover hide my light,
While thousands grope in cheerless night?

2
Shall I, for this world’s mean renown,
Regard a mortal’s smile or frown?
How then could I my trial stand?
Or what excuse could I command?

3
Lord, I would loyal prove to thee!
Let thy reproaches fall on me;
To spend my days in thine employ
Shall be my chiefest earthly joy.

4
O! what are all earth’s gilded toys
Compared with heav’n’s eternal joys?
Or even to the feast now spread,
For pilgrims through the desert led?

5
O! sweeter far the wilderness,
With all its bleak, wild barrenness,
Than all the city’s pomp and pride
Without my heav’nly Friend and Guide!

6
Its manna is a foretaste sweet
Of heav’nly bounty all complete;
Its cloudy pillar, guiding light,
Are earnests of the future bright.

7
This path I therefore humbly tread
In footprints of our living Head,
In hope rejoicing as I go
In him who leads and loves me so.