Poem by William Cowper

Olney Hymn 38. Looking Upwards in a Storm

    God of my life, to Thee I call,
    Afflicted at Thy feet I fall;
    When the great water-floods prevail,
    Leave not my trembling heart to fail!

    Friend of the friendless and the faint,
    Where should I lodge my deep complaint,
    Where but with Thee, whose open door
    Invites the helpless and the poor!

    Did ever mourner plead with Thee,
    And Thou refuse the mourner's plea?
    Does not the word still fix'd remain,
    That none shall seek Thy face in vain?

    That were a grief I could not bear,
    Didst Thou not hear and answer prayer:
    But a prayer-hearing, answering God
    Supports me under every load.

    Fair is the lot that's cast for me;
    I have an Advocate with Thee;
    They whom the world caresses most
    Have no such privilege to boast.

    Poor though I am, despised, forgot,
    Yet God, my God, forgets me not:
    And he is safe, and must succeed,
    For whom the Lord vouchsafes to plead. 

1. Olney Hymn 4. Jehovah-Nissi. The Lord My Banner
2. See Where the Thames, the Purest Stream
3. An Ode, on Reading Mr. Richardson's History of Sir Charles Grandison
4. Olney Hymn 24. Prayer for Children
5. An Apology for Not Showing Her What I Had Wrote

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