Welcome Cross

'Tis my happiness below

Not to live without the cross,

But the Saviour's power 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.

God in Israel sows the seeds

Of affliction, pain, and toil;

These spring up and choke the weeds

Which would else o'erspread the soil:

Trials make the promise sweet,

Trials give new life to prayer;

Trials bring me to His feet,

Lay me low, and keep me there.

The Complete Poetical Works of William Cowper,esq.
By William Cowper
Published by D. Appleton & company, 1854
Original from the University of Michigan
Digitized Nov 23, 2005

And

Olney Hymns

By Rev. John Newton
with William Cowper and other hymnodists

Book III, #16
W. Oliver, London, 1779
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/newton/olneyhymns.html