Honey though the bee prepares

The words

1. 1

   Stanza 1. Honey though the bee prepares,An envenomed sting he wears;Piercing thorns a guard composeRound the fragrant blooming rose.

2. 2

   Stanza 2. Where we think to find a sweet,Oft a painful sting we meet:When the rose invites our eye,We forget the thorn is nigh.

3. 3

   Stanza 3. Why are thus our hopes beguiled?Why are all our pleasures spoiled?Why do agony and woeFrom our choicest comforts grow?

4. 4

   Stanza 4. Sin has been the cause of all!’Twas not thus before the fall:What but pain, and thorn, and sting,From the root of sin can spring?

5. 5

   Stanza 5. Now with every good we findVanity and grief entwined;What we feel, or what we fear,All our joys embitter here.

6. 6

   Stanza 6. Yet, through the Redeemer’s love,These afflictions blessings prove;He the wounding stings and thorns,Into healing med’cines turns.

7. 7

   Stanza 7. From the earth our hearts they wean,Teach us on his arm to lean;Urge us to a throne of grace,Make us seek a resting place.

8. 8

   Stanza 8. In the mansions of our KingSweets abound without a sting;Thornless there the roses blow,And the joys unmingled flow.

Olney Hymns (1779), Book 1, Hymn 56. John Newton. Public domain. CCEL transcription with modernized spelling. www.praylock.com/olney-hymns/1-56