Baxter: Lord, it belongs not to my care

Filed Under Ave atque vale, Christian Living, Holiness, Puritans, Tragedy, Worship

Here’s some potent verse from English Puritan pastor Richard Baxter (1615-1691), who is generally better know for his prose than his poetry:

Lord, it belongs not to my care,
Whether I die or live;
To love and serve thee is my share,
And this thy grace must give.

If life be long, I will be glad
That I may long obey;
If short, yet why should I be sad
To soar to endless day?

Christ leads me through no darker rooms
Than he went through before;
He that unto God’s kingdom comes
Must enter by this door.

Come, Lord, when grace has made me meet
Thy blessed face to see;
For if thy work on earth be sweet,
What will thy glory be?

Then shall I end my sad complaints,
And weary, sinful days,
And join with the triumphant saints
That sing Jehovah’s praise.

My knowledge of that life is small,
The eye of faith is dim;
But ’tis enough that Christ knows all,
And I shall be with him.