“Child of My love, lean hard,
And let Me feel the pressure of thy care;
I know thy burden, child. I shaped it;
Poised it in Mine Own hand; made no proportion
In its weight to thine unaided strength,
For even as I laid it on, I said,
‘I shall be near, and while she leans on Me,
This burden shall be Mine, not hers;
So shall I keep My child within the circling arms
Of My Own love.’
Here lay it down, nor fear
To impose it on a shoulder which upholds the government of worlds.
Yet closer come: Thou art not near enough.
I would embrace thy care;
So I might feel My child reposing on My breast.
Thou lovest Me? I knew it.
Doubt not then;
But Loving Me, lean hard.”
This poem was included in the devotion from Streams in the Desert devotional. Of course it brought to mind that sweet old hymn from my childhood, and the song resonates in my mind today. I can trust those arms to hold me up, I can lean in hard, depending on His strength for the day, the hour, even the moment of trial.
“Safe and secure from all alarm. Leaning, Leaning, Leaning on the everlasting arms”
“Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?” (S. of Sol. 8:5).
New Things 