Should I restrain the Spirit’s course

1 Should I restrain the Spirit’s course
For fear of man so feeble?
Though Satan’s hosts are raging here,
Should I not be more faithful?
Awed by a mortal’s frown, shall I
Conceal the Word of God Most High?

2 Should praise of man be more to me
Than God’s most blessed favor?
And though man might reject His word,
The Truth remains forever;
Unchanging, sure, it does impart
A comfort to the poor in heart.

3 O Lord, behold the frown of them
Who still reject Thy mercy!
Could I attain a blessed end,
If I would now forsake Thee?
And could I live with Thee on high
If Jesus Christ I would deny?

4 Shall I to please the blinded throng
Withhold Thy word so truthful?
Or thus to soothe the ears of men
Of their reproach be mindful,
To gain earth’s gilded joys, or flee
The cross endured, my Lord, by Thee?

5 What then is he whose scorn I dread,
Whose wrath or hate dismaying?
It is but mortal man I know,
His frown I am not fearing.
He is an heir of death, a slave
To sin, a bubble on the wave!

6 Yea, let men rage; my God is still
My refuge and my tower.
I shall arise to my reward,
Awakened by His power,
Since in all pain Thy tender love
Will still a consolation prove.

7 O, may I seek the souls who stray
And save them from destruction,
And through Thy holy love still lead
Them to Thy congregation.
May pray’rs and pleadings penetrate
To warn them of their lost estate.

8 The mortal man may quite disown
And speak in bold derision
Against my labors and my name;
Yet blest is my condition.
The love of God dispels the fear
And makes my faith in Him more dear.


Source: Zion's Harp: a collection of hymns and songs for the Apostolic Christian Church of America #113