Christian Friend: Volume 13, Servants' Rest, The (6:31)


“Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.” (Mark 6: 31)

“ Come ye yourselves apart, an rest awhile;

I would not always have you in the strife

That follows in the track of desert toil,

And fills with care the hours of desert life.

“ Come ye yourself apart, and rest awhile,

Repose thy head upon my loving breast,

Nor fear to leave thy labor and thy toil

To taste the joy of solitude and rest.

“I know thy labor, and will ne’er forget

Aught that is done in faith and love to me;

Fruit shall be borne, and I will never let

One grain be lost throughout eternity.

“ I do not value faithful service less—

My joy ‘twas once in service to be found—

But I would have you know the blessedness

Of leisure and of rest from all around.

H. A. C.