Welcome Cross

I

’Tis my happiness below
Not to live without the cross,
But the Saviour’s pow’r to know,
Sanctifying every loss.
Trials must and will befall;
But with humble faith to see
Love inscribed upon them all,
This is happiness to me.

II

God in Isr’el sows the seeds
Of affliction, pain, and toil:
These spring up and choak the weeds
Which would else o’erspread the soil.
Trials make the promise sweet;
Trials give new life to pray’r;
Trials bring me to his feet,
Lay me low and keep me there.

III

Did I meet no trials here,
No chastisement by the way,
Might I not with reason fear,
I should prove a cast-away?
Bastards may escape the rod,
Sunk in earthly vain delight;
But the true-born child of God
Must not, would not, if he might.