He Sat to Watch o’er Customs Paid

He sat to watch o’er cus­toms paid

A man of scorned and hard­en­ing trade;

Alike the sym­bol and the tool

Of for­eign mas­ters’ hat­ed rule.

But grace with­in his breast had stirred;

There need­ed but the time­ly word;

It came

true Lord of souls! from Thee

That roy­al sum­mons

Fol­low Me.

Enough

when Thou wert pass­ing by

To hear Thy voice

to meet Thine eye;

He rose

re­spons­ive to the call

And left his task

his gains

his all.

O wise ex­change! with these to part

And lay up trea­sure in Thy heart;

With two­fold crown of light to shine

Amid Thy serv­ants’ fore­most line!

Come

Sav­ior

as in days of old;

Pass where the world has strong­est hold

And faith­less care and self­ish greed

Are thorns that choke the ho­ly seed.

Who keep Thy gifts

O bid them claim

The stew­ard’s

not the own­er’s name;

Who yield all up for Thy dear sake

Let them of Mat­thew’s wealth par­take.