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SUCH are the parting words that Jesus said,
When, on the eve of His deep agony,
He saw the objects of His love dismayed:
Words that breathe out His heart's deep sympathy.
He knew what lay before Him; felt it all,
As none, but He Himself, could feel or know,
When wave to wave, and deep to deep, did call,
And all the waterspouts and goods of woe
O'erwhelmed His soul, when He, the Victim, died:
Was ever love than His in hotter furnace tried?
His Father's glory was His first great aim;
For that He came to live-for that to die;
And for His flock He bore the curse and shame,
To bring them to His Father's house on high:
And, when He saw the sorrowing looks of those
Who, taught of God, to Him had fondly cleaved,
He spake not of His own fast-gathering woes,
But sought to cheer them, as they sadly grieved;
And what He said to them, He says to thee,
" Let not your heart be troubled, trust in Me:
“I know the world I leave you in: I came
Not to condemn, or judge it, but to save;
But it has turned My glory into shame;
For all My love, its hatred only gave.
Scorn and reproach, the dungeon and the stake,
If ye are faithful to My name and word,
Shall be the cup ye drink of for my sake;
The fellowship of suffering with your Lord:
I overcame, and you shall conquerors be;
Let not your heart be troubled, trust in Me.”
He knows the tempter's wiles; how he deceived
Man, when he stood in nature's perfectness:
He fell, because he Satan's lie believed;
How can we stand in our own feebleness?
He hated innocence, and sought to make
Man like himself, as wretched and as vile;
His slave and sin's (for if we God forsake,
And call that freedom, we become his spoil):
But against us, whom grace divine sets free,
His hatred burns with full malignity.
He knows thy heart-that treacherous, feeble heart
Which Peter trusted in, when Peter fell;
He fully knows how weak and frail thou art,
Thy path beset with all the snares of hell!
Thou canst not know thy future's joys or woes;
Thou canst not see thy way a step before;
Yet may thy heart in quiet peace repose,-
For Jesus knows it all, and loves thee more
Than tongue can tell; and lo! He says to thee,
"Let not thy heart be troubled, trust in Me:
“I am the Lamb that bore thy sins away;
Peace, perfect peace, I give thee, through My blood.
I am thy light, to guide thee all thy way,
Safe through this world of darkness, home to God:
I am thy Shepherd, what then canst thou want,
The living Bread, the living waters thine?
Let not thy hands hang down, or knees grow faint,
I have redeemed thee, loved thee; thou art mine. '
A little while,' and I will come. for thee:
Let not thy heart be troubled, trust in Me."