How oft I murmur and repine

Verse 1

How oft I grumble and repine, With blessings in my hand; There’s nothing here can satisfy, Nor gold, nor house, nor land.

Verse 2

Sometimes the Lord bestows on me, His fretful child, a toy, On which I raise my prospects high, And look for certain joy.

Verse 3

But soon there’s something intervenes; I’ve something else in view; The former mercy is forgot, And I want something new.

Verse 4

Oh! this unstable heart of mine Is like the troubled sea; The more I have, the more I want; When shall I settled be?

Verse 5

I know this wretched world can’t fill This anxious soul of mine; O could I to my Father’s will My soul, my all resign!

Verse 6

Sometimes, alas! I think I can; I’ll trust the world no more; But when I meet some little cross, I’m fretful as before.

Verse 7

Why am I captivated thus, By such poor trifling toys? Alas! how oft this wretched world Annoys my better joys!

Verse 8

I want to trust, but cannot trust, A God of providence; Although he bless from day to day, I’m full of diffidence.

Verse 9

When troubles roll in thick and fast, Ah! then my faith gives way; Sometimes I think I cannot stand, No, not another day.

Verse 10

Sometimes, like Ephraim, I rebel, I cannot bear the yoke; I kick and murmur at the rod, And shrink at every stroke;

Verse 11

But when my Father smiles again, Then what a fool am I! ’Tis then, like Ephraim, I repent, And smite upon my thigh.

Verse 12

Like him I mourn, like him I cry, “Lord, hold me with thy hand; And draw me by thy special grace; Hold up, and I shall stand.”