LSB #760 "What God Ordains Is Always Good"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Romans 8:28, Psalm 92:15, Deuteronomy 32:4, Lamentations 3:19-26

Romans 8:28:  "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

Psalm 92:15:  "to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him."

Deuteronomy 32:4:  "'The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice.  A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.'"

Lamentations 3:19-26:  "19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!  20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.  21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

"22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  24 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.'

"25 The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.  26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD."

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The text is public domain:

1 What God ordains is always good:

His will is just and holy.

As He directs my life for me,

I follow meek and lowly.

My God indeed

In ev'ry need

Knows well how He will shield me;

To Him, then, I will yield me.

2 What God ordains is always good:

He never will deceive me;

He leads me in His righteous way,

And never will He leave me.

I take content

What He has sent;

His hand that sends me sadness

Will turn my years to gladness.

3 What God ordains is always good:

His loving thought attends me;

No poison can be in the cup

That my physicians sends me.

My God is true;

Each morning new

I trust His grace unending,

My life to Him commending.

4 What God ordains is always good:

He is my friend and Father;

He suffers naught to do me harm

Though many storms may gather.

Now I may know

Both joy and woe;

Someday I shall see clearly

That He has loved me dearly.

5 What God ordains is always good:

Though I the cup am drinking

Which savors now of bitterness,

I take it without shrinking.

For after grief

God gives relief,

My heart with comfort filling

And all my sorrow stilling.

6 What God ordains is always good:

This truth remains unshaken.

Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,

I shall not be forsaken.

I fear no harm,

For with His arm

He shall embrace and shield me;

So to my God I yield me.

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Romans 8:28, Psalm 92:15, Deuteronomy 32:4, and Lamentations 3:25 all seem to be combined in the line "What God ordains is always good" at the beginning of each verse, although Romans 8:28 seems to be the most prominent.  Psalm 92:15 and Deuteronomy 32:4 also seem to appear in the second line of the first verse:  "His will is just and holy."

The passage from Lamentations 3 is alluded to at the end of the third verse ("Each morning new / I trust His grace unending, / My life to Him commending.") and more generally in the fifth verse.

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The line "And never will He leave me" in the second verse seems to come ultimately from part of Joshua 1:5:  "'I will not leave you or forsake you.'"

The lines "His hand that sends me sadness / Will turn my years to gladness" at the end of the second verse bear some resemblance to Psalm 30:11:  "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness."

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Each verse begins with the title phrase, and this provides a sense of the steadfastness that's also mentioned in the sixth verse:  "This truth remains unshaken."