Verse 1
If Christ to try our faith ordain,
The cruel heart of faithless man
To nature’s bent he leaves;
And then the persecuting foe,
Let loose his enmity to show,
Our flesh or spirit grieves.
Verse 2
But when our Lord intends to chear
His poor, afflicted confessor,
He doth the hate remove,
And soften’d then for his design,
Soldiers’ and heathens hearts incline
To gentleness and love.
Verse 3
Entreated with humanity,
Jesus, thy love’s effect we see,
Thine interposal own,
In enemies, or strangers kind
The favour of our God we find,
And praise our God alone.