Rev. Asa Mahan, D.D.

Chapter 2

"YOUR SORROW SHALL BE TURNED INTO JOY."

(John xvi. 20.)

I'VE found a joy in sorrow,

A secret balm for pain,

A beautiful to-morrow,

Of sunshine after rain;

I've found a branch of healing

Near every bitter spring,

A whispered promise stealing

O'er every broken string.

I've found a glad hosanna

For every woe and wail,

A handful of sweet manna

When grapes of Eshcol fail;

I've found a Rock of Ages

When desert wells are dry,

And after weary stages

I've found an Elim nigh,-

An Elim with its coolness,

Its fountains and its shades;

A blessing in its fulness,

When buds of promise fade.

O'er tears of soft contrition

I've seen a rainbow light,

A glory and fruition,

So near, yet out of sight.

My Saviour, Thee possessing,

I have the joy, the balm,

The healing and the blessing,

The sunshine and the psalm;

The promise for the fearful,

The Elim for the faint,

The rainbow for the tearful,

The glory for the saint.

"Life in love is the noblest life: let that be our conviction; we will abide in this love: let that be our resolve; then God will abide with us: that will be our blessing." -Ranke.

"For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest; until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth." ISIAH xlii. I.