Hymn: Give to the winds thy fears

Give to the winds thy fears,
Hope, and be undismayed;
God hears thy sighs, and counts thy tears,
God shall lift up thy head.

Through waves, and clouds, and storms,
He gently clears the way:
Wait thou His time; so shall this night
Soon end in joyous day.

Still heavy is thy heart?
Still sink thy spirits down?
Cast off the weight, let fear depart,
And every care be gone.

What though thou rulest not?
Yet heaven, and earth, and hell,
Proclaim God sitteth on the throne,
And ruleth all things well.

Leave to His sovereign sway,
To choose and to command;
So shalt thou, wondering, own His way,
How wise, how strong His hand!

Far, far above thy thought,
His counsel shall appear,
When fully He the work hath wrought,
That caused thy needless fear.

Paul Gerhardt

This hymn is from J. C. Ryle’s little book Spiritual Songs, published in 1849, when he was rector of Helmingham, Suffolk. The hymns Ryle selected were not found in the most common hymnbooks of the day.

Suggested tune: Dennis (“Blest be the tie that binds”).

Download a .pdf file of the hymnal.