Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.
Frederick William Faber 181463The Will of God
Faber-FrI
And all thy ways adore;
To every day I live, I seem
To love thee more and more.
Of our Saviour’s toils and tears;
Thou wert the passion of his heart
Those three and thirty years.
A special love of thee,
A love to lose my will in his,
And by that loss be free.
The plans of wily men;
When simple hearts outwit the wise,
Oh, thou art loveliest then.
Upon the church full oft,
And then how easily thou turn’st
The hard ways into soft.
Hast set thine unseen feet;
I cannot fear thee, blessed will!
Thine empire is so sweet.
Like prison walls to be,
I do the little I can do,
And leave the rest to thee.
My heart is ever gay;
I run no risk, for, come what will,
Thou always hast thy way.
For all my cares are thine:
I live in triumph, Lord! for thou
Hast made thy triumphs mine.
From grief can set me free,
Hope finds its strength in helplessness,
And gayly waits on thee.
Its end can never miss,
For men on earth no work can do
More angel-like than this.
Thou glorious will, ride on!
Faith’s pilgrim sons behind thee take
The road that thou hast gone.
To him no chance is lost;
God’s will is sweetest to him, when
It triumphs at his cost.
And unbless’d good is ill;
And all is right that seems most wrong,
If it be his sweet will.