What Pleases God

I was looking up a certain poem I remember learning once.  It took me a while to find the exact version, since apparently Paul Gerhardt wrote things in German so there are a number of different renderings and translations and such.  So, in case you too were looking for this obscure but most helpful, wise poem, I will stick it here in my blog to assist your search :)

Perhaps it will bless you as it has me.

WHAT PLEASETH GOD
What pleaseth God with joy receive;
Though storm-winds rage and billows heave
And earth’s foundations all be rent,
Be comforted; to thee is sent

What pleaseth God.
God’s will is best; to this resigned,
How sweetly rests the weary mind!
Seek, then, this blessed conformity,
Desiring but to do and be

What pleaseth God.
God’s thoughts are wisest; human schemes
Are vain delusions, idle dreams;
Our purposes are frail and weak;
With earthly mind we seldom seek

What pleaseth God.
God is the holiest; and his ways
Are full of kindness, truth, and grace;
His blessing crowns our earnest prayer,
While worldlings scorn, and little care

What pleaseth God.
God’s is the truest heart; his love
Nor time, nor life, nor death, can move;
To those his mercies daily flow,
Whose chief concern it is to know

What pleaseth God.
Omnipotent he reigns on high
And watcheth o’er thy destiny;
While sea, and earth, and air produce
For daily pleasure, daily use,

What pleaseth God.
He loves his sheep, and when they stray
He leads them back to wisdom’s way;
Their faithless, wandering hearts to turn,
Gently chastising, till they learn

What pleaseth God.
He knows our every need, and grants
A rich supply to all our wants;
No good withholds from those whose mind
Is bent with earnest zeal to find

What pleaseth God.
Then let the world, with stubborn will,
Its earthborn pleasures follow still;
Be this, my soul, thy constant aim,
Thy riches, honor, glory, fame,

What pleaseth God.
Should care and grief thy portion be,
To thy strong refuge ever flee;
For all his creatures but perform,
In peace and tumult, calm and storm,

What pleaseth God.
Faith lays her hand on God’s rich grace,
And hope gives patience for the race;
These virtues in thy heart enshrined,
Thy portion thou wilt surely find,

What pleaseth God.
In heaven thy glorious portion is;
There is thy throne, thy crown, thy bliss;
There shalt thou taste, and hear, and see,
There shalt thou ever do and be,

What pleaseth God.
Paul Gerhardt.


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