Believing against hope

784 L. M.
In hope, believing against hope.

AWAY, my unbelieving fear!
   Fear shall in me no more have place ;
   My Saviour doth not yet appear,—
   He hides the brightness of his face:
   But shall I therefore let him go,
   And basely to the tempter yield?
   No, in the strength of Jesus, no,
   I never will give up my shield.

2 Although the vine its fruit deny
   Although the olive yield no oil,
   The with’ring fig-trees droop and die,
   The fields elude the tiller’s toil,—
   The empty stall no herd afford,
   And perish all the bleating race,
   Yet will I triumph in the Lord,-
   The God of my salvation praise.

3 In hope, believing against hope,
   Jesus, my Lord, my God, I claim;
   Jesus, my strength, shall lift me up;
   Salvation is in Jesus’ name.
   To me he soon shall bring it nigh;
   My soul shall then outstrip the wind;
   On wings of love mount up on high,
   And leave the world and sin behind.
                         Charles Wesley
                        Methodist Episcopal hymnal (1870 edition)

<idle musing>
Not every day that you find a hymn built around Habakkuk 3! This hymnal has 1148 hymns in it, and this is the only one that is listed for Hab 3. I checked my copy of The Book of Hymns, and they list only one also, "Sometimes a Light Surprises," by William Cowper, but it's built more around Matt 6:25–34 than it is Hab 3.
</idle musing>