Baxter

LORD, IT BELONGS NOT TO MY CARE

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Lord, it belongs not to my care
Whether I die or live;
To love and serve Thee is my share,
And this Thy grace must give.

If life be long, I will be glad,
That I may long obey;
If short, yet why should I be sad
To welcome endless day?

Christ leads me through
       no darker rooms
Than He went through before;
He that unto God’s kingdom comes
Must enter by this door.

Then I shall end my sad complaints
And weary sinful days,
And join with the triumphant saints
That sing my Savior’s praise.

My knowledge of that life is small,
The eye of faith is dim;
But ‘tis enough that Christ
       knows all,
And I shall be with Him.

About the writer: Richard Baxter, a Puritan minister and voluminous author of the seventeenth century, wrote the devotional masterpiece Call to the Unconverted and his Saint’s Everlasting Rest. At 25 he entered the ministry and was appointed to the parish of Kidderminster (1640). Here he remained until “for conscience’ sake” he, along with many other Nonconformist clergy, was driven out by the “Act of Uniformity” passed in 1662. He ceased to preach but was caught holding family prayers “with more than four persons.” He was arrested and imprisoned for six months. When released he lived in retirement until 1672 when the “Act of Indulgence” gave him liberty to preach and to publish again.

Key Verse: Trust in the LORD always, for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock. –Isaiah 26:4

Baxter, Richard

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Richard Baxter (1615-1691), a Puritan minister and voluminous author of the seventeenth century, wrote the devotional masterpiece Call to the Unconverted and his Saint’s Everlasting Rest. At 25 he entered the ministry and was appointed to the parish of Kidderminster (1640). Here he remained until “for conscience’ sake” he, along with many other Nonconformist clergy, was driven out by the “Act of Uniformity” passed in 1662. He ceased to preach but was caught holding family prayers “with more than four persons.” He was arrested and imprisoned for six months. When released he lived in retirement until 1672 when the “Act of Indulgence” gave him liberty to preach and to publish again. He refused to be silenced by the authorities and preached the Gospel despite the personal costs he paid.