I Look Not Back

I look not back; God knows the fruit­less efforts

The wast­ed hours

the sin­ning

the re­grets.

I leave them all with Him who blots the re­cord

And gra­cious­ly for­gives

and then for­gets.

I look not for­ward; God sees all the fu­ture

The road that

short or long

will lead me home

And He will face with me its ev­ery tri­al

And bear for me the bur­dens that may come.

I look not round me; then would fears as­sail me

So wild the tu­mult of earth’s rest­less seas

So dark the world

so filled with woe and ev­il

So vain the hope of com­fort and of ease.

I look not in­ward; that would make me wretch­ed;

For I have naught on which to stay my trust.

Nothing I see save fail­ures and short­com­ings

And weak en­dea­vors

crumb­ling in­to dust.

But I look up—in­to the face of Je­sus

For there my heart can rest

my fears are stilled;

And there is joy

and love

and light for dar­kness

And per­fect peace

and ev­ery hope ful­filled.