I bow my forehead to the dust,
I veil mine eyes for shame,
And urge, in trembling self distrust,
A prayer without a claim.
No offering of mine own I have,
Nor works my faith to prove;
I can but give the gifts He gave,
And plead His love for love.
I dimly guess, from blessings known,
Of greater out of sight;
And, with the chastened psalmist, own
His judgments too are right.
And if my heart and flesh are weak
To bear an untried pain,
The bruiséd reed He will not break,
But strengthen and sustain.
I know not what the future hath
Of marvel or surprise,
Assured alone that life and death
His mercy underlies.
And so beside the silent sea
I wait the muffled oar;
No harm from Him can come to me
On ocean or on shore.
I know not where His islands lift
Their fronded palms in air;
I only know I cannot drift
Beyond His love and care;
And Thou, O Lord, by Whom are seen
Thy creatures as they be,
Forgive me if too close I lean
My human heart on Thee.
About the writer: John Greenleaf Whittier, commonly known as the “Quaker Poet,” was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1807. Beginning life as a farm boy and village shoemaker, and with only a limited education, he entered the profession of journalism in 1828. He became that year editor of the American Manufacturer and, in 1830, editor of the New England Review. In 1836 he became Secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society and editor of its official publication, the Freeman. In his religious poems, he always magnified the goodness and love of God for humanity and the need for Christian charity. From 1824 until his death in 1892 he wrote and published poems singly in periodicals and collectively in book form. From these poems about 75 hymns have been made by selecting verses of religious and devotional sentiments.
Key Verse: I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance. –Job 42:6