“When gathering clouds around I view”

Sir Robert Grant (1779–1838)

WHEN gathering clouds around I view,

And days are dark, and friends are few,

On Him I lean, who, not in vain,

Experienced every human pain;

He sees my wants, allays my fears,

And counts and treasures up my tears.

If aught should tempt my soul to stray

From heavenly wisdom’s narrow way,

To fly the good I would pursue,

Or do the sin I would not do,—

Still He who felt temptation’s power

Shall guard me in that dangerous hour.

If wounded love my bosom swell,

Deceived by those I prized too well,

He shall His pitying aid bestow

Who felt on earth severer woe,

At once betrayed, denied, or fled,

By those who shared His daily bread.

If vexing thoughts within me rise,

And sore dismayed my spirit dies,

Still He who once vouchsafed to bear

The sickening anguish of despair

Shall sweetly soothe, shall gently dry,

The throbbing heart, the streaming eye.

When sorrowing o’er some stone I bend,

Which covers what was once a friend,

And from his voice, his hand, his smile,

Divides me for a little while;

Thou, Saviour, mark’st the tears I shed,

For Thou didst weep o’er Lazarus dead.

And oh, when I have safely past

Through every conflict but the last,

Still, still unchanging, watch beside

My painful bed, for Thou hast died;

Then point to realms of cloudless day,

And wipe the latest tear away.