Hymn: “What Various Hindrances We Meet” by William Cowper

What va­ri­ous hin­dranc­es we meet
In com­ing to a mer­cy seat;
Yet who that knows the worth of pray­er
But wish­es to be oft­en there?

Prayer makes the dark­ened cloud with­draw;
Prayer climbs the lad­der Ja­cob saw,
Gives ex­er­cise to faith and love,
Brings ev­ery bless­ing from above.

Restraining pray­er, we cease to fight;
Prayer makes the Christ­ian’s ar­mor bright,
And Sa­tan trem­bles when he sees
The weak­est saint up­on his knees.

While Mo­ses stood with arms spread wide,
Success was found on Is­ra­el’s side;
But when through wea­ri­ness they failed,
That mo­ment Ama­lek pre­vailed.

Have you no words? Ah, think again;
Words flow apace when you com­plain
And fill your fel­low crea­ture’s ear
With the sad tale of all your care.

Were half the breath thus vain­ly spent
To heav’n in sup­pli­ca­tion sent,
Your cheer­ful song would oft­en­er be
“Hear what the Lord has done for me!”

Listen to the message “The Soldier’s Weapons”

The lyrics for this hymn are in the public domain and may be shared or reproduced without obtaining permission.