Book 3, Hymn 16 · William Cowper · Public-domain words
’Tis my happiness below
Book 3, Hymn 16 · William Cowper
The words
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Stanza 1. ’Tis my happiness belowNot to live without the cross;But the Savior’s pow’r to know,Sanctifying every loss:Trials must and will befall;But with humble faith to seeLove inscribed upon them all,This is happiness to me.
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Stanza 2. God, in Israel, sows the seedsOf affliction, pain, and toil;These spring up, and choke the weedsWhich would else o’erspread the soil:Trials make the promise sweet,Trials give hew life to prayer;Trials bring me to his feet,Lay me low, and keep me there.
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Stanza 3. Did I meet no trials here,No chastisement by the way;Might I not, with reason, fearI 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.
Olney Hymns (1779), Book 3, Hymn 16. William Cowper. Public domain. CCEL transcription with modernized spelling. www.praylock.com/olney-hymns/3-16
About these words
William Cowper lived from 1731 to 1800. These historical words are public domain.
This hymn belongs to the complete three-book collection first published in 1779.
