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النشر الإلكتروني

Be patient, though the sea be made
Before him like a desert, dry,—
Though Bashan languish, Carmel fade,
And flowers of Lebanon may die;
Yet slow to anger is the Lord,
A tower of strength His name ador'd.

The Lord is good: He still remains,
As in the ancient days of old,
When doubt, or fear, or trouble reigns,
A strong, a safe, a stedfast Hold;
When hearts are faint, and eyes are dim,
He knoweth them that trust in Him.

GETTING TO THE WATCH-TOWER.

'I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved."— Habakkuk, ii. 1.

OH, were this waiting, watching frame
Yet more and more the Christian's aim;
Yet more and more his inward eye
The Saviour's kingdom should descry.

Yet more and more his inward ear
Of holiest oracles should hear;

Yet more and more his heart should feel
What God will only there reveal.

'Tis not by running to and fro,
The language of the Lord we know;
On the lone watch-tower of the heart
His truth he will himself impart.

There must the Christian watch and pray, Waiting to hear what God shall say; There be instructed to reply

When he shall be reprov'd on high.

But thou hast watch'd and waited there,
And found no answer unto prayer;
To thee the vision will not come,
To thee the Oracle is dumb.

What said the Lord unto the seer,
Who thus resolv'd in holy fear?
The vision, for a time deferr'd,
Shall in the end be seen and heard.

Oh, let not, then, thy faith be weak,
For, in the end, its voice shall speak,
And in the Lord's appointed time

That voice shall teach thee truths sublime.

THE LUKEWARM THREATENED.

"And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, the Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil."-Zephaniah, i. 12.

ZION's children, sunk in ease,
From your dang'rous rest awaken;
Spirits, settled on your lees,

By the Lord ye shall be shaken.

Say not in your hearts "from God
Good or ill no more proceedeth,

What the paths by mortals trod,

He, the Lord, no longer heedeth."

Know ye, that the time draws nigh,
When the Lord, his power revealing,
Hearts will search, and reins will try,
Unto each in turn appealing.

He Jerusalem will search

By his own illumination,

He will visit yet his church,

Proving every man's foundation.

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Shall the trumpet sound in Zion; You too, settled on your lees,

Shall be rous'd by Judah's lion.

For that trumpet will reveal

Joy or woe for endless ages, And that lion will unseal

Life's or death's eventful pages.

A CALL TO BUILD THE LORD'S HOUSE.

"Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and

this house to lie waste?"-Haggai, i. 4.

O YE, who in ceil'd houses live,

Can you, escaping guilt and shame,

Delay unto the Lord to give

A habitation for his name?

If thus the prophet spoke of yore,
Chiding the people's long delay,

Whose hands were slack to build once more
A fabric which should pass away;

Doth not the Spirit now upbraid, Though with a voice of love divine, Hearts as reluctant, or afraid

To rear a holier, purer shrine?

Is now,

To such, the language of the Lord
"Consider ye your ways!"
Why build ye not, with one accord,
A temple worthy of my praise?

My gifts and graces were not meant
Ceil'd houses unto you to give,
Wherein, supinely indolent,

I

Each one unto himself might live.

gave them that mine eye might see Uprear'd, an edifice divine,

And

you

the living stones should be

To form this glorious house of mine.

H

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