Why Should I Complain?

I

When my Saviour, my Shepherd, is near,
How quickly my sorrows depart?
New beauties around me appear,
New spirits enliven my heart:
His presence gives peace to my soul,
And Satan assaults me in vain;
While my Shepherd his power controls
I think I no more shall complain.

II

But, alas! what a change do I find,
When my Shepherd withdraws from my sight!
My fears all return to my mind,
My day is soon changed into night;
Then Satan his efforts renews
To vex and ensnare me again;
All my pleasing enjoyments I lose,
And can only lament and complain.

III

By these changes I often pass through
I am taught my own weakness to know;
I am taught what my Shepherd can do,
And how much to his mercy I owe:
It is he that supports me through all;
When I faint he revives me again;
He attends to my pray’r when I call,
And bids me no longer complain.

IV

Wherefore then should I murmur and grieve,
Since my Shepherd is always the same,
And has promised he never will leave
The soul that confides in his name?
To relieve me from all that I fear,
He was buffeted, tempted, and slain;
And at length he will surely appear,
Though he leaves me awhile to complain.

V

While I dwell in an enemy’s land,
Can I hope to be always in peace?
’Tis enough that my Shepherd’s at hand,
And that shortly this warfare will cease:
For ere long he will bid me remove
From this region of sorrow and pain,
To abide in his presence above,
And then I no more shall complain.