O! can I leave tins gay and glitt’ring world,
In fellowship with Jesus now to roam?
Let every prospect to the winds be hurled,
And seek, alone with Him, the rest to come.
And can I bear reproach, and shame and scorn,
Nor dread to meet e’en poverty’s cold frown?
And in the wilderness, as one forlorn,
With Jesus bear the cross, and seek the crown?
‘Tis hard, to flesh and blood, ‘tis hard to part
With every earthly joy, and all forsake;
To tear each fond affection from the heart,
To follow Jesus, and His cross partake.
But has He not forsaken all for me?
The brightest glories of the throne on high,
To live on earth despised, and on the tree
To bear my sins, to suffer, bleed and die?
Can I reflect upon His sufferings deep?
Can I consider well His shame and woe?
And yet, by trifles vain, be lulled to sleep,
Nor watch with Him, one hour against the foe!
‘Tis but a little while, and then the hour
Of pain and sorrow, shall have passed away;
The’ now the clouds be dark and tempests lower,
Soon comes a cloudless, bright, eternal day.
Till then the world may frown, and men despise,
Through all, my Savior will my soul sustain
The crown in view, the cross before my eyes,
“To me, to live is Christ, to die is gain.”