`This poem was written by the late Rev. A. Donald Magaw.

RETROSPECT

“And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee…” Deuteronomy 8:12

He was better to me than all my hopes,
He was better than all my fears,
He made a bridge of my broken works
And a rainbow of my tears.
The billows that guarded my sea-girth path
But carried my Lord on their crest.
When I dwell on the days of my wilderness march
I can lean on His love for the rest.
He emptied my hands of their treasured store
And His covenant love revealed.
There was not an ache in my broken heart
But the balm of His breath had healed.
Oh, tender and true was the chastening sore
That in all wisdom taught and tried
Till the soul that He sought was trusting in Him
And nothing on earth beside.
There is light for me on the trackless wild
As the wonders of old I trace
When the God of the whole earth went before
To search me a resting place.
Has He changed for me? He changes not!
He will bring me by some new way
Through fire and flood and each crafty foe
As safely as yesterday.
And if to warfare He calls me forth
He buckles my armor on.
He treats me with love as I trust in Him
For battles His sword hath won.
Oh, sure and true is the way He leads
To the glories of His great day
As the soul that He loved has learned from Him
The glory of His blessed way.
Never a watch on the dreariest halt
But some promise of love endears.
I read from the past that my future shall be
Far better than all my fears.
Like the golden pot of the wilderness bread
Laid up with the blossoming rod
All safe in the Ark, with the Law of the Lord,
Is the covenant care of my God

Rev. A. Donald Magaw (1914-1994)

The poem “Retrospect” was written by Rev. A. Donald Magaw back in the early 1940’s.

Dad was involved in a terrible motor vehicle accident that left him legally blind. The doctors gave him very little hope that he would ever see again. Prayer worked once again, dad, through a miracle of God’s grace, regained his sight. Shortly after this he wrote the poem “Retrospect”.
Dad held the copyright to the poem but always specified that any of his work could be freely copied and distributed for the “glory of God” provided that no profit was made from his work. This poem may freely be copied and distributed for the work of God.

God bless,

Pastor Don Magaw