1. He leads us on by paths we did not know.
Upward He leads us, tho' our steps be slow;
Tho' oft we faint and falter on the way,
Tho' storms and darkness oft obscure the day,
Yet, when the clouds are gone,
We know He leads us on.
2. He leads us on thro' all the' un-quiet years;
Past all our dream-land hopes, and doubts, and fears
He guides our steps; thro' all the tangled maze
Of losses, sorrows, and o'er-clouded days
We know His will is done,
And still He leads us on.
3. And soon or late the rugged field of strife
Shall catch the sunlight that transfigures life;
The heart shall win the discipline of pain,
And know the struggle has not been in vain;
Its doubts and fears shall cease,
And Christ will bring it peace.
Source: The New Christian Hymnal #295
First Line: | He leads us on by paths we did not know |
Title: | He Leads Us On |
Author: | Hiram O. Wiley (1865) |
Language: | English |
Refrain First Line: | But when the clouds are gone |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
He leads us on By paths we did not know. [God's Guidance.] This appears in Our Home beyond the Tide (Glasgow, 1878, p. 84), a little book compiled by Ellen E. Miles, where it is given as Anon. It is in various recent hymnals, and sometimes, as in the Methodist Free Church Hymns, 1889, No. 509, marked as "Count Zinzendorf, about 1750. Translated in Hymns from the Land of Luther." We have failed to find any trace of it in Miss Borthwick's works. It seems to be the composition of a Unitarian who desired to write a companion hymn to Miss Borthwick's version from Zinzendorf, "Jesus, still lead on" (p. 589, ii.). In the Unitarian 1873 Supplement to their Sunday School Hymn Book, it begins, "God leads us on," &c. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.]
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)