Quarles & Lyte: I am His

Friday, July 3, 2009
    Feast of Thomas the Apostle

Meditation:
    In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
    Like clothing you will change them
    and they will be discarded.
    —Psalm 102:25,26 (NIV)

Quotation:
Long did I toil, and knew no earthly rest,
Far did I rove, and found no certain home;
At last I sought them in His sheltering breast,
Who opes His arms and bids the weary come:
With Him I found a home, a rest divine,
And I since then am His, and He is mine.

The good I have is from His stores supplied:
The ill is only what He deems the best.
He for my friend, I’m rich with naught beside;
And poor without Him, though of all possessed.
Changes may come—I take, or I resign
Content, while I am His, and He is mine.

Whate’er may change, in Him no change is seen,
A glorious Sun, that wanes not, nor declines;
Above the clouds and storms He walks serene,
And on His people’s inward darkness shines;
All may depart—I fret not nor repine,
While I my Saviour’s am, while He is mine.

While here, alas! I know but half His love,
But half discern Him, and but half adore;
But when I meet Him in the realms above,
I hope to love him better, praise Him more,
And feel, and tell, amid the choir divine,
How fully I am His, and He is mine.
    ... J. Quarles (1624-1665) & Henry F. Lyte (1793-1847), Miscellaneous Poems, London: Rivingtons, 1868, p. 75 (see the book)

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I wholly love and praise You.

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