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Shall I, for fear of feeble man,
Refrain from showing God's great plan?
Under a cover hide my light,
While thousands grope in cheerless night?
Shall I, for this world's mean renown,
Regard a mortal's smile or frown?
How then could I my trial stand?
Or what excuse could I command?
Lord, I would loyal prove to thee!
Let thy reproaches fall on me;
To spend my days in thine employ
Shall be my chiefest earthly joy.
O! what are all earth's gilded toys
Compared with heav'n's eternal joys?
Or even to the feast now spread,
For pilgrims through the desert led?
O! sweeter far the wilderness,
With all its bleak, wild barrenness,
Than all the city's pomp and pride
Without my heav'nly Friend and Guide!
Its manna is a foretaste sweet
Of heav'nly bounty all complete;
Its cloudy pillar, guiding light,
Are earnests of the future bright.
This path I therefore humbly tread
In footprints of our living Head,
In hope rejoicing as I go
In him who leads and loves me so.