Devotional Verses Founded on and Illustrative of select Texts of Scripture [by Bernard Barton] |
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THE SEED OF THE KINGDOM. |
 | Devotional Verses |  |
101
THE SEED OF THE KINGDOM.
“They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy.”
—Psalm, cxxvi. 5.
Bless'd promise, standing sure through all
The cares and griefs of time,
Well may the heart 'mid these recall
Thy changeless truth sublime.
The cares and griefs of time,
Well may the heart 'mid these recall
Thy changeless truth sublime.
Of vice each rank and noxious weed
Requires but shallow earth,
The kingdom's pure and precious seed
Demands a deeper birth.
Requires but shallow earth,
The kingdom's pure and precious seed
Demands a deeper birth.
The flower of worldly joy but rears
Its bloom where sunshine glows,
But sown in grief, and fed by tears,
The vine immortal grows.
Its bloom where sunshine glows,
But sown in grief, and fed by tears,
The vine immortal grows.
That vine of which the living Root
Is Christ—the Crucified,
In whom each branch that beareth fruit
Must livingly abide.
Is Christ—the Crucified,
In whom each branch that beareth fruit
Must livingly abide.
102
This only grows where grace hath first
Prepar'd and sown the ground,
Where love divine its shoots hath nurs'd,
And faith has fenc'd it round.
Prepar'd and sown the ground,
Where love divine its shoots hath nurs'd,
And faith has fenc'd it round.
And they whose hearts have thus been till'd,
Sown, planted—Lord, by thee,
Shall own thy gracious word fulfill'd,
And thy salvation see.
Sown, planted—Lord, by thee,
Shall own thy gracious word fulfill'd,
And thy salvation see.
Their hopes, though check'd by frequent fears,
No doubts shall e'er destroy,
But the bless'd seed, first sown in tears,
Their souls shall reap in joy.
No doubts shall e'er destroy,
But the bless'd seed, first sown in tears,
Their souls shall reap in joy.
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