Fourth Sunday in Lent

When the faint and famish'd thousands
Round their Saviour Lord did press,
And He asked, how He might feed them
In the hungry wilderness:

Coldly reasoning, Philip answers
As the rules of sense accord,
Thoughtless that the meek Inquirer
Was the all-providing Lord.

Soon all human schemes confounded
Lay their selfish reasonings by,
And a few poor loaves and fishes
Blest, abundance doth supply —

To remind the Lord's disciples,
That if they to Him be true,
Nought, their utmost need requireth,
Is too hard for Him to do.

Let us take the bright example,
Let us seek Him for Himself,
Ready, for His sake, to trample
On all worldly power or pelf.

Let us freely trust our bodies
Where our souls their safety own,
Mindful that the man-immortal
'Doth not live by bread alone.'

Count not with such selfish caution
What may vex, or what may please:
Art thou earnest? Seek thy Saviour,
Yea! at any cost of ease.

He would rather work a wonder,
Drop from Heav'n itself their food,
Rather than that souls, which trust Him,
Aught should want of needful good.