Devotional Verses Founded on and Illustrative of select Texts of Scripture [by Bernard Barton] |
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SOLOMON'S TEMPLE. |
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53
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE.
“And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the
holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the
priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the
glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.”
—1 Kings, viii. 10, 11.
With what magnificence sublime
To outward sense in ancient time
Thy temple, Lord! appeal'd;
When thus, descending from on high,
The glory of thy majesty
Was veil'd—and yet reveal'd.
To outward sense in ancient time
Thy temple, Lord! appeal'd;
When thus, descending from on high,
The glory of thy majesty
Was veil'd—and yet reveal'd.
Well may some moods of thought be known
When to that pomp, for ever flown,
We turn our mental gaze,
And mourn the splendour of the past
Should now no sun-like glory cast
On these degenerate days!
When to that pomp, for ever flown,
We turn our mental gaze,
And mourn the splendour of the past
Should now no sun-like glory cast
On these degenerate days!
54
The thought forbid:—teach us to see
A temple, Lord! more worthy thee,
Which thou would'st now prepare
Within the heart by grace divine;
Oh! guide us to that inner shrine,
That we may worship there.
A temple, Lord! more worthy thee,
Which thou would'st now prepare
Within the heart by grace divine;
Oh! guide us to that inner shrine,
That we may worship there.
Not all the skill, not all the cost,
Nor rites of Levi's sacred host
Which then adorn'd thy fane,
Could more availing power impart
Than the poor, contrite humble heart
May now from Jesus gain.
Nor rites of Levi's sacred host
Which then adorn'd thy fane,
Could more availing power impart
Than the poor, contrite humble heart
May now from Jesus gain.
On Sinai's consecrated hill,
As in that pile,—dark clouds were still
Around thy presence bright;
But in the temple of the soul
The broken heart, by thee made whole,
Shall worship thee in light!
As in that pile,—dark clouds were still
Around thy presence bright;
But in the temple of the soul
The broken heart, by thee made whole,
Shall worship thee in light!
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