I could not abandon there
To start my day without a care,
To waive his counsel in that book,
Left closed beside my bedside nook.
I would not rise with prayerless glee,
Entrusting daily tasks to me.
I could not live to Idly coast
If God’s beauty pleased me most.
I would not leave my mouth closed tight
While sun and stars are shining bright,
And then neglect the countless ways
Creation shouts his endless praise.
How could my thoughts think naught of him,
Who made and cares for life and limb?
His works ne’er shunned from coast to coast,
If God’s beauty pleased me most.
I’d not content my life in self,
Or in a trinket on a shelf.
I would not long for earthly greed,
Nor place in man my highest need.
I could not worry more for me,
To wonder where my life could be,
Nor in my own success to toast,
If God’s beauty pleased me most.
There would be no delight in sin,
Nor beauty found in lust within.
I’d not exchange for what is true,
To long for what the wicked do,
And neither call an evil, good,
To stand on ground where Adam stood.
I’d ne’er then grieve the Holy Ghost,
If God’s beauty pleased me most.
But in the mercy of the cross,
Where beauty now discards its dross,
I’d see the glory of my King,
Invest in Him my everything,
To live in sanctifying love,
And render all to God above,
For Christ would be my only boast,
If God’s Beauty pleased me most.