Had He Asked Us

Had He asked us, well we know,
We should cry 'O spare this blow'
Yes with streaming tears should pray
Lord we love him let him stay.

Robert Stockdale

From the Hymn 'Christ will gather in His own to the', and is the third verse:
Had He asked us, well we know
We should cry, “O spare this blow!”
Yes, with streaming tears should pray,
“Lord, we love him/her, let him/her stay.”

The full hymn:
Christ will gather in His own
To the place where He is gone,
Where their heart and treasure lie,
Where our life is hid on high.

Day by day the voice saith, “Come,
Enter thine eternal home”;
Asking not if we can spare
This dear soul it summons there.

Had He asked us, well we know
We should cry, “O spare this blow!”
Yes, with streaming tears should pray,
“Lord, we love him/her, let him/her stay.”

But the Lord doth naught amiss,
And, since He hath ordered this,
We have naught to do but still
Rest in silence on His will.

Many a heart no longer here,
Ah! was all too inly dear,
Yet, O Love, ’tis Thou dost call,
Thou wilt be our All in all.

The hymn is very beautiful.