Poems by the late John Bethune With a sketch of the author's life, by his brother |
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ON THE RETURN OF THE JEWS. |
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| II. |
 | Poems by the late John Bethune |  |
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ON THE RETURN OF THE JEWS.
Oh! when shall the exiles of Judah return,
In the land of their fathers again to sojourn?
And when shall that country, so barren and lorn,
Again overflow with its honey and corn?
And when shall the pipe, and the song of the bard,
On the soft sunny valleys of Bethl'em be heard?
Or the fishers of Judah at evening awake
The echoes that sleep round Gennesaret's lake,
With an anthem of glory to Him whom the pride
Of their fathers rejected and crucified?
In the land of their fathers again to sojourn?
And when shall that country, so barren and lorn,
Again overflow with its honey and corn?
And when shall the pipe, and the song of the bard,
On the soft sunny valleys of Bethl'em be heard?
Or the fishers of Judah at evening awake
The echoes that sleep round Gennesaret's lake,
With an anthem of glory to Him whom the pride
Of their fathers rejected and crucified?
We know not, alas! but the word of the Lord
Assures us the wand'rers shall yet be restored;
And we doubt not his power the lost Hebrews to save,
And gather them back to the land which He gave,
Though the bramble and thorn luxuriantly grow
Where the flowers of the fig-tree in spring wont to blow;
Though its hills are deserted, uncultured its plain,
What was fruitful before may be fruitful again.
When the breath of the Lord on the wilderness blows,
Its bleakness shall blossom as fresh as the rose;
And He, who their sires through the wilderness led,
Can convert ev'n the mountain of Horeb to bread,
And again make Idumè and Lebanon pour
Their spices and incense, and Ophir its ore;
Till the temples of Salem to Jesus arise,
Outshining the first in their glory and size.
That God, who divided the sea for the feet
Of their fathers, and pour'd down the manna for meat;
Who, when blacken'd and scorch'd by the burning sunbeams,
Relieved them from death with miraculous streams;
Who, to shield them from foes, and their hearts to inspire,
Directed their march with a pillar of fire,—
That God, for his wandering people, once more
To the land can its milk and its honey restore.
Assures us the wand'rers shall yet be restored;
And we doubt not his power the lost Hebrews to save,
And gather them back to the land which He gave,
Though the bramble and thorn luxuriantly grow
Where the flowers of the fig-tree in spring wont to blow;
Though its hills are deserted, uncultured its plain,
What was fruitful before may be fruitful again.
When the breath of the Lord on the wilderness blows,
Its bleakness shall blossom as fresh as the rose;
And He, who their sires through the wilderness led,
Can convert ev'n the mountain of Horeb to bread,
And again make Idumè and Lebanon pour
Their spices and incense, and Ophir its ore;
Till the temples of Salem to Jesus arise,
Outshining the first in their glory and size.
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Of their fathers, and pour'd down the manna for meat;
Who, when blacken'd and scorch'd by the burning sunbeams,
Relieved them from death with miraculous streams;
Who, to shield them from foes, and their hearts to inspire,
Directed their march with a pillar of fire,—
That God, for his wandering people, once more
To the land can its milk and its honey restore.
Oh! brightly the dawn of that morning shall rise,
Uniting the songs of the earth and the skies,
When the exiles of Judah to Judea shall come,
And again be rejoiced with a land and a home—
When the harp, which so long on the willow hath hung,
To the music of Zion again shall be strung,
And the nations their incense and offerings shall bring
To that nation which then shall rejoice with its king;
When He, who of old was rejected and slain,
With his saints in the cities of Salem shall reign.
Uniting the songs of the earth and the skies,
When the exiles of Judah to Judea shall come,
And again be rejoiced with a land and a home—
When the harp, which so long on the willow hath hung,
To the music of Zion again shall be strung,
And the nations their incense and offerings shall bring
To that nation which then shall rejoice with its king;
When He, who of old was rejected and slain,
With his saints in the cities of Salem shall reign.
Oh! glorious the sight of their gathering shall be,
From the ends of the earth, from the desert and sea,
Returning from lands where in exile they roved,
To the home of their sires—to the land which they loved.
Methinks I can hear their loud shout of delight,
As the mountains of Israel arise to their sight:
Methinks I can see their light step as they pass,
In peaceful array, on the untrodden grass;
While each hill which they meet, and each plain they behold,
Tells them tales of their prophets and heroes of old—
Of the words which they spake, and the foes they o'erthrew—
Of the triumphs they sung, and the champions they slew—
And the brook, gently gliding along by their path,
Recalls the defeat of the hero of Gath.
But now shall the triumphs of Judah excel
Her triumphs of old, when her enemies fell;
And her glory surpass all the splendour which shone
On the palace and temple of Solomon.
Now the sound of contention and battle shall cease,
For the Prince whom she owns is the Monarch of Peace;
And sweetly at evening and morning her flocks
Shall whiten her valleys and mantle her rocks,
And, bleating, exult in their strength and their speed,
For their lambkins no more by the altar shall bleed
No smoke shall ascend from her kids or her kine,
For her King hath already atoned for her sin:
And the dews shall descend, and the sunbeams shall fall,
To gladden their pastures, and fatten their stall.
And the multiplied flocks, and the fructified soil,
Shall richly reward the attendance and toil
Of the long banish'd wand'rers, whose hearts shall rejoice
In the love of their God and land of their choice.
All their sorrows and suff'rings their hearts shall forget,
As they gaze on the beauties of Mount Olivet;
And, under the shade of their cedars and palms,
Salute their Redeemer with anthems and psalms.
Their tears and their sorrows—their shame and their loss—
Shall all be repaid at the foot of the Cross;
Where the Jew and the Gentile their Saviour shall meet,
And pour forth their love, like a stream, at his feet.
From the ends of the earth, from the desert and sea,
Returning from lands where in exile they roved,
To the home of their sires—to the land which they loved.
Methinks I can hear their loud shout of delight,
As the mountains of Israel arise to their sight:
126
In peaceful array, on the untrodden grass;
While each hill which they meet, and each plain they behold,
Tells them tales of their prophets and heroes of old—
Of the words which they spake, and the foes they o'erthrew—
Of the triumphs they sung, and the champions they slew—
And the brook, gently gliding along by their path,
Recalls the defeat of the hero of Gath.
But now shall the triumphs of Judah excel
Her triumphs of old, when her enemies fell;
And her glory surpass all the splendour which shone
On the palace and temple of Solomon.
Now the sound of contention and battle shall cease,
For the Prince whom she owns is the Monarch of Peace;
And sweetly at evening and morning her flocks
Shall whiten her valleys and mantle her rocks,
And, bleating, exult in their strength and their speed,
For their lambkins no more by the altar shall bleed
No smoke shall ascend from her kids or her kine,
For her King hath already atoned for her sin:
127
To gladden their pastures, and fatten their stall.
And the multiplied flocks, and the fructified soil,
Shall richly reward the attendance and toil
Of the long banish'd wand'rers, whose hearts shall rejoice
In the love of their God and land of their choice.
All their sorrows and suff'rings their hearts shall forget,
As they gaze on the beauties of Mount Olivet;
And, under the shade of their cedars and palms,
Salute their Redeemer with anthems and psalms.
Their tears and their sorrows—their shame and their loss—
Shall all be repaid at the foot of the Cross;
Where the Jew and the Gentile their Saviour shall meet,
And pour forth their love, like a stream, at his feet.
Oh! soon may the exiles of Judah return,
In the land of their fathers again to sojourn;
And soon may that country, so barren and lorn,
Again overflow with its honey and corn;
And soon may the sceptre to it be restored,
For then every heart shall be fill'd with the Lord.
In the land of their fathers again to sojourn;
And soon may that country, so barren and lorn,
Again overflow with its honey and corn;
And soon may the sceptre to it be restored,
For then every heart shall be fill'd with the Lord.
From the east end of the Wilderness you enter the famous Valley of Elah, where Goliah was slain by the Champion of Israel. Its appearance answers exactly to the description in Scripture. Tradition is not required to identify this spot. Nature has stamped it with everlasting features of truth. The brook still flows through it in a winding course from which David took the smooth stones.—Crane's Letters from the East.
| Poems by the late John Bethune | |