Hence all thy groans and travail pains, Hence, till thy God return, In wisdom's ear thy blithest strains, FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. And Simon answering said unto Him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net : and when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes, and their net brake. St. Luke v. 5. 66 THE livelong night we've toiled in vain, "But at thy gracious word "I will let down the net again : "Do thou thy will, O Lord!" So day by day and week by week, In sad and weary thought, They muse, whom God hath set to seek For not upon a tranquil lake Our pleasant task we ply, Where all along our glistening wake Where rippling wave and dashing oar Sweet thoughts of peace, ye may not last : Calls us from where ye soar so fast For wildest storms our ocean sweep:- Might hold and oft the thankless deep Full many a dreary anxious hour, We watch our nets alone In drenching spray, and driving shower, And hear the night-bird's moan : At morn we look, and nought is there; Who then from pining and despair There is a stay-and we are strong; Our Master is at hand, To cheer our solitary song, And guide us to the strand, By blameless guile or gentle force, As when He deign'd to teach (The lode-star of our Christian course) Upon this sacred beach. Should e'er thy wonder-working grace Triumph by our weak arm, Let not our sinful fancy trace Aught human in the charm: To our own nets ne'er bow we down, The angels, while our draught they own, Or, if for our unworthiness Toil, prayer, and watching fail, b Habakkuk i. 16. unto their drag. c St. Matth. xiii. 49. They sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord and Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin: thou shalt not die. 2 Samuel xii. 23. WHEN bitter thoughts, of conscience born, With sinners wake at morn, When from our restless couch we start, Where is the spell to charm those mists away, One stedfast thought, that God is there. These are thy wonders, hourly wrought", Thou Lord of time and thought, Lifting and lowering souls at will, d See Herbert's Poems, p. 160. |