01.02. Your Sorrow shall be turned into Joy

"YOUR SORROW SHALL BE TURNED INTO JOY."

(John 16:20) I’VE found a joy in sorrow, A secret balm for pain, A beautiful to-morrow, Of sunshine after rain;

I’ve found a branch of healing Near every bitter spring, A whispered promise stealing O’er every broken string.

I’ve found a glad hosanna For every woe and wail, A handful of sweet manna When grapes of Eshcol fail;

I’ve found a Rock of Ages When desert wells are dry, And after weary stages I’ve found an Elim nigh,— An Elim with its coolness, Its fountains and its shades; A blessing in its fulness, When buds of promise fade.

O’er tears of soft contrition I’ve seen a rainbow light, A glory and fruition, So near, yet out of sight. My Saviour, Thee possessing, I have the joy, the balm, The healing and the blessing, The sunshine and the psalm; The promise for the fearful, The Elim for the faint, The rainbow for the tearful, The glory for the saint.

"Life in love is the noblest life: let that be our conviction; we will abide in this love: let that be our resolve; then God will abide with us: that will be our blessing." —Ranke.

"For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest; until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth." Isaiah 62:1.