O cross that raises up my head...

O love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
that in thine ocean depths its flow
may richer, fuller be.

O light that follows all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
my heart restores its borrowed ray,
that in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
may brighter, fairer be.

O joy that seeks for me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
and feel the promise is not vain
that morn shall tearless be.

O cross that raises up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead
and from the ground there blossoms red
life that shall endless be.

George Matheson (1842—1906)