Verse 1
’Tis my happiness below
Not to live without the cross; (Matt. 10:38, Matt. 16:24, Mark 8:34, Mark 10:21, Luke 9:23)
But the Savior’s pow’r to know, (Phil. 3:10)
Sanctifying every loss:
Trials must and will befall; (Ps. 34:19, I Pet. 1:6-7)
But with humble faith to see
Love inscribed upon them all,
This is happiness to me.
Verse 2
God, in Israel, sows the seeds
Of affliction, pain, and toil; (Jer. 31:27-28)
These spring up, and choke the weeds
Which would else o’erspread the soil:
Trials make the promise sweet, (Heb. 12:5-11, Ps. 119:67, Ps. 119:71)
Trials give new life to prayer;
Trials bring me to his feet, (II Cor. 12:9-10)
Lay me low, and keep me there.
Verse 3
Did I meet no trials here,
No chastisement by the way;
Might I not, with reason, fear
I should prove a cast–away: (Heb. 12:5-11, Deut. 8:5, I Cor. 9:27)
Worldlings* may escape the rod, (Heb. 12:5-11)
Sunk in earthly, vain delight;
But the true–born child of GOD, (Heb. 12:5-11)
Must not, would not, if he might.
Verse 4
’Tis my happiness below
Not to live without the cross;
But the Savior’s pow’r to know,
Sanctifying every loss:
Trials must and will befall;
But with humble faith to see
Love inscribed upon them all,
This is happiness to me.
* Cowper originally used an archaic word for illegitimate child which has since become used almost exclusively as a profanity.