The Cyber Hymnal ‎#1795

1795. Give to the Winds Thy Fears

1. Give to the winds thy fears,
Hope and be undismayed.
God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears,
God shall lift up thy head.

2. Through waves and clouds and storms,
He gently clears thy way;
Wait thou His time; so shall this night
Soon end in joyous day.

3. Still heavy is thy heart?
Still sinks thy spirit down?
Cast off the world, let fear depart
Bid every care begone.

4. What though Thou rulest not;
Yet heaven, and earth, and hell
Proclaim, God sitteth on the throne,
And ruleth all things well.

5. And whatsoe’er Thou will’st,
Thou dost, O King of kings;
What Thine unerring wisdom chose,
Thy power to being brings.

6. Leave to His sovereign sway
To choose and to command;
So shalt thou, wondering, own that way,
How wise, how strong this hand.

7. Far, far above thy thought,
His counsel shall appear,
When fully He the work hath wrought,
That caused thy needless fear.

8. Thou seest our weakness, Lord;
Our hearts are known to Thee;
O lift Thou up the sinking hand,
Confirm the feeble knee!

9. Let us in life, in death,
Thy steadfast truth declare,
And publish with our latest breath
Thy love and guardian care.

Text Information

• First Line: Give to the winds thy fears
• Title: Give to the Winds Thy Fears
• German Title: Befiehl du deine Wege
• Author: Paul Gerhardt (1656)
• Translator (from German): John Wesley
• Meter: SM
• Language: English
• Source: Praxis Pietatis Melica, 1656; John Wesley's Collection, 1737
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: On February 9, 1796, Zachary Macaulay sent some books to Miss Mills, whom he afterwards married. He says, 'The small hymn-book was my companion in hunger and nakedness and distress. We must no doubt make many allowances for the peculiarities of Methodism; but on the whole, as the frequent marks of approbation will show you, it pleases me much. One of them, beginning, Give to the winds thy fears, has often cheered my mind as I viewed the desolation caused by the French visit.' This refers to the invasion at Sierra Leone, of which he was then governor. Telford, p. 295. Alternate tunes: DIADEMATA, George J. Elvey, 1868; SOUTHPORT, Rev. J. Davies, before 1890; ST. BRIDE, Samuel Howard, 1762

Tune Information

• Name: FESTAL SONG
• Composer: William Howard Walter (1872)
• Meter: SM
• Incipit: 51535 65671 76523
• Key: B♭ Major
• Source: Episcopal Hymnal with Tunes Old and New, by John Ireland Tucker, 1872
• Copyright: Public Domain