With Earnest Longings of the Mind

With ear­nest long­ings of the mind

My God

to Thee I look:

So pants the hunt­ed hart to find

And taste the cool­ing brook.

When shall I see Thy courts of grace

And meet my God again?

So long an ab­sence from Thy face

My heart en­dures with pain.

Temptations vex my wea­ry soul

And tears are my re­past;

The foe in­sults with­out con­trol

And where’s your God at last?

’Tis with a mourn­ful plea­sure now

I think on an­cient days;

Then to Thy house did num­bers go

And all our work was praise.

But why

my soul

sunk down so far

Beneath this hea­vy load?

Why do my thoughts in­dulge des­pair

And sin against my God?

Hope in the Lord

whose migh­ty hand

Can all thy woes re­move

For I shall yet be­fore Him stand

And sing re­stor­ing love.