Hymns

Hymn: When we cannot see our way

When we cannot see our way,
Let us trust, and still obey;
He who bids us forward go,
Cannot fail the way to show.

Though the sea be deep and wide,
Though a passage seem denied;
Fearless let us still proceed,
Since the Lord vouchsafes to lead.

Though it seems the gloom of night,
Though we see no ray of light;
Since the Lord Himself is there,
’Tis not meet that we should fear.

Night with Him is never night,
Where He is, there all is light;
When He calls us, why delay?
They are happy who obey.

Be it ours then, while we’re here,
Him to follow without fear!
Where He calls us, there to go,
What He bids us, that to do!

Thomas Kelly

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: Buckland (“Forty days and forty nights”).

Download a .pdf file of the hymnal.

And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.’

Exodus 14:15

Author

  • Daniel J. Sparks

    An Anglican minister, teacher, speaker, and writer, Daniel has served as a parish pastor, military chaplain, and hospital chaplain, and bishop. He is editor of Confessing Anglicans.