Poems (Shipton)/Fellowship
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FELLOWSHIP.
"Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."—Jer. xxxiii. 3.
"I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory." . . . . "Behold, there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand."—Exodus xxxiii. 18, 21, 22.
My soul is dark and dumb! Why is it, Lord?
Oh, when wilt Thou arise!
And, with the hand my many sins have pierced,
Anoint my longing eyes?
Oh, when wilt Thou arise!
And, with the hand my many sins have pierced,
Anoint my longing eyes?
My heart lies open to Thy searching gaze,
My weakness and my woe,
My sins innumerable, my failing faith,
That only Thou canst know.
My weakness and my woe,
My sins innumerable, my failing faith,
That only Thou canst know.
Why am I sore distressed?—for Thou art nigh,
And I would onward press,
And find some token of a Father's love
E'en in this bitterness.
And I would onward press,
And find some token of a Father's love
E'en in this bitterness.
I asked to share Thy fellowship; to know
More of Thyself, Lord!
And Thou, attentive to my feeble cry,
Hast proved me at my word.
More of Thyself, Lord!
And Thou, attentive to my feeble cry,
Hast proved me at my word.
I thought my soul would overleap with joy,
More of Thyself to see;
I dreamed—to walk in fellowship divine
Could bring but light to me.
More of Thyself to see;
I dreamed—to walk in fellowship divine
Could bring but light to me.
I prayed that I might know Thee more and more,
And all Thy will discern,
And lessons Thou wouldst teach me day by day
Still patiently might learn.
And all Thy will discern,
And lessons Thou wouldst teach me day by day
Still patiently might learn.
I take the cup Thou giv'st; I know Thy voice,
' Twill make my portion sweet.
I asked to share the path that Thou wouldst choose,
And track Thy heavenly feet.
' Twill make my portion sweet.
I asked to share the path that Thou wouldst choose,
And track Thy heavenly feet.
But when on earth no cloudless skies were Thine,
No Eden bloomed for Thee—
But noontide travel, and the midnight watch,
And dark Gethsemane.
No Eden bloomed for Thee—
But noontide travel, and the midnight watch,
And dark Gethsemane.
And shall I only to Emmaus walk
In goodly company,
And shun the woeful watch where Thou didst yearn
For human sympathy?
In goodly company,
And shun the woeful watch where Thou didst yearn
For human sympathy?
Silent I stand before Thee, for the way
Is strange, and steep, and rough;
Is this Thy fellowship, to "share Thy cup"?
Then, Lord, it is enough.
Is strange, and steep, and rough;
Is this Thy fellowship, to "share Thy cup"?
Then, Lord, it is enough.
Thy cup? Ah, Thou hast emptied it for me!
It only touched my lip;
Bat Thou dost grant that taste to every soul
That shares Thy fellowship.
It only touched my lip;
Bat Thou dost grant that taste to every soul
That shares Thy fellowship.
The children's lessons, often sadly conned,
Are seeds for future years,
And bear their bloom and fruit laid up for Thee,
Though watered with our tears.
Are seeds for future years,
And bear their bloom and fruit laid up for Thee,
Though watered with our tears.
The goal is almost won, the river passed,
And Paradise is nigh;
The shadow of Thy hand is o'er me cast,
Guarding me tenderly.
And Paradise is nigh;
The shadow of Thy hand is o'er me cast,
Guarding me tenderly.
Thou art so near to me, I feel Thy hand
Shrouding Thy glory, Lord;
And in the deep cleft of the riven Rock
I see—the Living Word!
Shrouding Thy glory, Lord;
And in the deep cleft of the riven Rock
I see—the Living Word!
Thy mercy and Thy goodness are in Him
Whom I so dimly trace;
God of Glory, in Thy Holy Son
I now behold Thy face!
Whom I so dimly trace;
God of Glory, in Thy Holy Son
I now behold Thy face!