Since I believe

Scazons

Since I believe in God the Father Almighty,

Man's Maker and Judge, Overruler of Fortune,

'Twere strange should I praise anything and refuse Him praise,

Should love the creature forgetting the Creator,

Nor unto Him in suff'ring and sorrow turn me:

Nay how could I withdraw me from His embracing?

But since that I have seen not, and cannot know Him,

Nor in my earthly temple apprehend rightly

His wisdom and the heav'nly purpose eternal;

Therefore will I be bound to no studied system

Nor argument, nor with delusion enslave me,

Nor seek to please Him in any foolish invention,

Which my spirit within me, that loveth beauty

And hateth evil, hath reprov'd as unworthy:

But I cherish my freedom in loving service,

Gratefully adoring for delight beyond asking

Or thinking, and in hours of anguish and darkness

Confiding always on His excellent greatness.