The Sanctuary A Companion in Verse for the English Prayer Book. By Robert Montgomery |
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St. Matthew the Apostle.
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 | The Sanctuary |  |
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St. Matthew the Apostle.
“Jesus ------ saw a man named Matthew, sitting at the receipt
of custom; and he saith unto him, follow me.”
—Gospel for the Day.
Lost in the gloom of life's tempestuous sea
How anchorless the shipwreck'd heart must be,
Unless by faith 'tis fasten'd on The Lord
Who walks the waves, and rules them by His word.
How anchorless the shipwreck'd heart must be,
Unless by faith 'tis fasten'd on The Lord
Who walks the waves, and rules them by His word.
Here is that creed, which glorifies their lot—
Saints cannot live where christian love breathes not!
And Christ, by omnipresent grace, is found
Where Duty leads, and makes it hallow'd ground.
Saints cannot live where christian love breathes not!
And Christ, by omnipresent grace, is found
Where Duty leads, and makes it hallow'd ground.
Those peopled solitudes, loud cities vast,
If there by heaven thy cross of life be cast,
O thought divine! the aching soul to bless,—
The Lord is with thee, in thy loneliness.
If there by heaven thy cross of life be cast,
O thought divine! the aching soul to bless,—
The Lord is with thee, in thy loneliness.
Yet little dream they, who in village-calm
Drink the free gales of freshness or of balm,
Or the blue magic of o'erarching skies
Delight to mirror on their grateful eyes,—
Drink the free gales of freshness or of balm,
Or the blue magic of o'erarching skies
Delight to mirror on their grateful eyes,—
How oft some town-worn victims inly long
To hear the woodland chant a breezy song;
Or wind and wander through embowering glade
Where the green twilight sheds a cooling shade.
To hear the woodland chant a breezy song;
Or wind and wander through embowering glade
Where the green twilight sheds a cooling shade.
But, Christ knows best, what cross his saints require
Who like Himself to be, on earth aspire,
And guards their doom, and guides their devious ways,
And watches o'er them with unwearied gaze.
Who like Himself to be, on earth aspire,
And guards their doom, and guides their devious ways,
And watches o'er them with unwearied gaze.
The hush of Nature seems a holy thing,—
But, deathless Man a deeper lore may bring;
Nor can mute landscapes be with meaning fraught
Like the stern wisdom crowded streets have brought:
But, deathless Man a deeper lore may bring;
Nor can mute landscapes be with meaning fraught
Like the stern wisdom crowded streets have brought:
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And myriads in the dust and din of strife
Rest on the vision of that inner-life
Th' elect of God (unknown to sense) enjoy,
And live serene amid the world's alloy.
Rest on the vision of that inner-life
Th' elect of God (unknown to sense) enjoy,
And live serene amid the world's alloy.
But he who, summon'd from the haunted Lake,
Rose at the word, and for Emanuel's sake
Shook from his soul with spiritual disdain
What wordlings call a glory and their gain,—
Rose at the word, and for Emanuel's sake
Shook from his soul with spiritual disdain
What wordlings call a glory and their gain,—
Teaches to-day, what sacrifice can do,
When to The Lord our pulse of love beats true;
While in that publican, let Pity learn
That none are outcasts, when to God they turn.
When to The Lord our pulse of love beats true;
While in that publican, let Pity learn
That none are outcasts, when to God they turn.
Oh! for a heart, which, like St. Matthew, leaves
That mammon-world whose vice the Spirit grieves;—
Flies from the golden martyrdom of wealth
And finds in poverty true peace and health.
That mammon-world whose vice the Spirit grieves;—
Flies from the golden martyrdom of wealth
And finds in poverty true peace and health.
When base expediency, like Naaman, bends
In Rimmon's temple for apostate ends,
Earth calls it, providence!—but with God 'tis crime,
Which makes eternity succumb to time.
In Rimmon's temple for apostate ends,
Earth calls it, providence!—but with God 'tis crime,
Which makes eternity succumb to time.
Christ is the Income of celestial hearts
When the vain world with its vile gold departs;
And man's true riches in The Spirit are,—
Comfort and calm, with purity and prayer.
When the vain world with its vile gold departs;
And man's true riches in The Spirit are,—
Comfort and calm, with purity and prayer.
Yet need we not from throng'd abodes to fly;
If Duty calls—then God himself is nigh!
Nor pine in fancy for monastic cell,
But take our cross, and try to bear it well.
If Duty calls—then God himself is nigh!
Nor pine in fancy for monastic cell,
But take our cross, and try to bear it well.
Heaven shines on earth, when souls by faith can see
The lustres of reveal'd eternity
Reposing softly on that secret path,
Whose winding still the Saviour's footprint hath.
The lustres of reveal'd eternity
Reposing softly on that secret path,
Whose winding still the Saviour's footprint hath.
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