O Lord, my best desire fulfill,
And help me to resign
Life, health, and comfort to Thy will,
And make Thy pleasure mine.

Why should I shrink at Thy command,
Whose love forbids my fears'
Or tremble at the gracious hand
That wipes away my tears'

No, rather let me freely yield
What most I prize to Thee;
Who never hast a good withheld,
Or wilt withhold, from me.

Thy favour, all my journey through,
Thou art engaged to grant;
What else I want, or think I do,
‘Tis better still to want.

Wisdom and mercy guide my way,
Shall I resist them both'
A poor blind creature of a day,
And crush’d before the moth!

But ah! my inward spirit cries,
Still bind me to Thy sway;
Else the next cloud that veils the skies
Drives all these thoughts away.

Olney Hymns, William Cowper, from Cowper’s Poems, Sheldon & Company, New York