Come now ye trials that lie but just ahead

Come now ye trials that lie but just ahead
Come and soothe amidst where sadness hath fed
Thy torture is but as the tossing at sea
Thy glory but yet a mystery

Fear not I what thee can do
Fear not I what thee can take
Whether in heart, or hand, or earthquake
For thee are but sweet revelation
Of the work which lies within

When all within
Is but beaten and battered
By sin
This skin doth shrink and shrivel inside
Till there is nothing in which to confide
But you

For you have brought the trial
Tis you who brings triumph in tribulation
Where ere this dismal destination
You forever shall remain
Through sorrow and in pain

Thy joy within
Shall obtain in me
Some gladness
And soften what sadness
Would steal me away

How long the night before the dawn
How far the sea till it is gone
What universe or planet
Can plummet thy summit

Thy heavens are but glorious rays
That oft and always give thee praise
They shine amidst the darkest of places
And bring warmth to all by thy good graces

Though one should strive in vain
To run from thee
None shall surely obtain such "victory"
Though all paths by man be chosen
Their steps of thine composing

And none can know
Where they shall go
But life is in them
Would take thee in
To forgive their sin
And fill them

The soul in sorrow
Doth breathe brighter tomorrow
When it rests in thy love
When it flies on the wings of the dove

For all life's journeys
That lie ahead
All paths and pilgrimages untread
Begin and end at thy command

For tis you who breathed expanse into existence
Before existence had a name
Gave birth thee too thy starry hosts
For who other of them can boast

Time and space
Are within thy grace
And none shall live
Apart from thy mercy thee give

And so in all that doth here exist
May it be transfixed
In thy treasure
Of life
Of joy without measure
For thine and thine alone's
Great pleasure

-Joshua Lee Foist