God of the earnest heart,
The trust assured and still,
Thou who our strength forever art,—
We come to do Thy will!
Upon that painful road
By saints serenely trod,
Whereon their hallowing influence flowed,
Would we go forth, O God!
’Gainst doubt and shame and fear
In human hearts to strive,
That all may learn to love and bear,
To conquer self, and live;
To draw Thy blessing down,
And bring the wronged redress,
And give this glorious world its crown,
The spirit’s Godlikeness.
No dreams from toil to charm,
No trembling on the tongue;—
Lord, in Thy rest may we be calm,
Through Thy completeness, strong!
Thou hearest while we pray;
O deep within us write,
With kindling power, our God, to-day,
Thy word,—“On earth be light!”
Source: A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion (15th ed.) #592
Johnson, Samuel, M.A, was born at Salem, Massachusetts, Oct. 10, 1822, and educated at Harvard, where he graduated in Arts in 1842, and in Theology in 1846. In 1853 he formed a Free Church in Lynn, Massachusetts, and remained its pastor to 1870. Although never directly connected with any religious denomination, he was mainly associated in the public mind with the Unitarians. He was joint editor with S. Longfellow (q. v.) of A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, Boston, 1846; the Supplement to the same, 1848; and Hymns of the Spirit, 1864. His contributions to these collections were less numerous than those by S. Longfellow, but not less meritorious. He died at North Andover, Massachusetts, Feb. 19, 1882. His hymns were thus contr… Go to person page >
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