Lord, it belongs not to my care

516 St. Agnes. C. M.

1 Lord, it belongs not to my care
   whether I die or live:
   To love and serve Thee is my share,
   And this Thy grace must give.

2 If life be long, I will be glad
   That I may long obey:
   If short, yet why should I be sad
   To soar to endless day.

3 Christ leads me through no darker rooms
   That He went through before;
   He that into God's kingdom comes
   Must enter by this door.

4 Come, Lord, when grace hath made me meet
   Thy blessed face to see;
   For if Thy work on earth be sweet,
   What will Thy glory be?

5 My knowledge of that life is small:
   The eye of faith is dim;
   But 'tis enough that Christ knows all
   And I shall be with Him.
                         Richard Baxter
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
I wasn't aware that Richard Baxter wrote any hymns, but it appears he wrote about two dozen, this being the most popular one, occurring about 240 hymnals. The American Lutheran Hymnal omits our verse 2 and inserts a different verse later:

4 There shall we end our sad complaints
   And weary, sinful days;
   And join with the triumphant saints
   That sing Jehovah's praise.

</idle musing>