Stability

There is a change in all below;
Nought sure beneath the sky:

There is a change in all below;
Nought sure beneath the sky:
Suns rise and set, tides ebb and flow,
And man but lives to die.

Our joys and sorrows, hopes and fears,
Still course each other on:
A blessing in our path appears
We grasp, and it is gone!

No drop of honey, but a sting
Within it lies concealed;
No hour that passes, but its wing
Away some good has wheeled.

The joyous sun that lights today
But clouds tomorrow’s sky:
The stars but shine to fall away;
The world but lives to die.

And let them pass each earthly thing
While, Lord, ’tis mine to stand
On Thy eternal word, and cling
To Thy almighty hand.

Though sun and moon should sink in gloom,
Thy promise ne’er declines:
Dissolving worlds but leave Thee room
To work Thy vast designs.

Linked to Thy truth I hold me up,
Though earth from ‘neath me slide:
And take content whatever cup
Thy wisdom may provide.

Bitter or sweet, I little heed:
All, all is sweet to me,
While I my title clearly read
To joys at last with Thee.

Henry Francis Lyte