To lay the soul that loves him low, <br />Becomes the Only–wise: <br />To hide beneath a veil of woe, <br />The children of the skies. <br /> <br />Man, though a worm, would yet be great; <br />Though feeble, would seem strong; <br />Assumes an independent state, <br />By sacrilege and wrong. <br /> <br />Strange the reverse, which, once abased, <br />The haughty creature proves! <br />He feels his soul a barren waste, <br />Nor dares affirm he loves. <br /> <br />Scorned by the thoughtless and the vain, <br />To God he presses near; <br />Superior to the world's disdain, <br />And happy in its sneer. <br /> <br />Oh welcome, in his heart he says, <br />Humility and shame! <br />Farewell the wish for human praise, <br />The music of a name! <br /> <br />But will not scandal mar the good <br />That I might else perform? <br />And can God work it, if he would, <br />By so despised a worm? <br /> <br />Ah, vainly anxious!—leave the Lord <br />To rule thee, and dispose; <br />Sweet is the mandate of his word, <br />And gracious all he does. <br /> <br />He draws from human littleness <br />His grandeur and renown; <br />And generous hearts with joy confess <br />The triumph all his own. <br /> <br />Down, then, with self–exalting thoughts; <br />Thy faith and hope employ, <br />To welcome all that he allots, <br />And suffer shame with joy. <br /> <br />No longer, then, thou wilt encroach <br />On his eternal right; <br />And he shall smile at thy approach, <br />And make thee his delight.<br /><br />William Cowper<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/god-hides-his-people/
