Why should the dread of sin­ful man
Ensnare and vex my soul?
O for that for­ti­tude which can
My ev­ery fear con­trol.

Shall I of­fend a ho­ly God,
And sac­ri­fice my peace,
To shun a mor­tal’s threat­en­ing rod;
A friend or two to please?

Hard is the task, I must con­fess,
Where du­ty thus con­fines;
Nor can my soul es­cape dis­tress
Though she to God in­clines.

Fain would I please both friends and foes,
And fol­low peace with all,
Nor to one frown my­self ex­pose,
But where ’tis du­ty’s call.

I must ob­ey the God I love,
Though all the world con­temns;
One smile from Him I prize above
The rich­est earth­ly gems.

Hark, O my soul, me­thinks I hear
Jehovah’s aw­ful voice—
“Fear not, thou worm, for I am near,
I will de­fend thy choice.

“While mor­tal men re­vile and frown,
I’ll smile up­on thy soul;
And thou shalt tread the Tempt­er down,
While I his rage con­trol.

Trust thou in My al­migh­ty name,
Nor let thy faith be weak;
Thy soul shall ne’er be put to shame
Whilst thou My glo­ry seek.

Lord, I re­sign me to Thy will,
Thy wis­dom I adore!
I yield to Thee—Thy word ful­fill,
And let me doubt no more.