They that Know my Sorrow

They that know my sorrow add a spark to the fire of my heart
When they ask me: How is thy beloved more precious than another love?
Praises and dark sayings fail to tell of Him;
He is all desirable; His majesty cannot be sought out;
Therefore do I clothe myself with terrors at His flight.
Ah, pity me, and speak unto the heart so moved,
Or comfort me; for how endure love and separation?
And His name is within me—like fire in my reins,
Bound within my heart, shut up in my bones:
And they rebuke me—they that despise my statutes—
And they reproach me when I seek to serve Him,
And they revile me when I give glory to His
They think to set me far, O God, from Thy service:
But my suffering and oppression are better than Thine estrangement;
My portion and my pleasure, the sweet fruit of Thy law.
Let my right hand forget—if I stand not before Thee;
Let my tongue cleave—if I desire aught but Thy law.
Lo, in mine ears the sound of Thy praise—
The Red Sea and Sinai are witnesses to Thy greatness:
How shall my thoughts dwell on any but Thee?
My heart and mine eyes will not suffer my feet to slip,
For this, the Lord, is One; there is none beside Him.