 | The miscellaneous writings of Henry Ware |  |
1. PART I.
THE MORNING SACRIFICE.
Watchman.
The morning dawns. Its first faint beams betray
Th' approaching sun, and bid the sleeping earth
Awake. O'er Olivet
The Mount of Olives was on the east side of the city, directly over against the Temple. Hebron lay to the south, at the distance of about twenty-five miles. One of the priests, here called a watchman for the sake of the scene, was appointed to watch for the first dawning of the day. On its approach he cried, “It is day.” “But is the heaven bright all up to Hebron?” was asked in reply.—
See Lightfoot's “Temple Service.”Tinging the thin clouds with a thousand hues.
It glances on the Temple's golden tiles
And Zion's palace roofs. The mists of night
Rise from the hills, like clouds of early incense,
And heaven's sweet warblers tune their morning hymn.
'Tis time for man to wake, and join the praise.
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The Mount of Olives was on the east side of the city, directly over against the Temple. Hebron lay to the south, at the distance of about twenty-five miles. One of the priests, here called a watchman for the sake of the scene, was appointed to watch for the first dawning of the day. On its approach he cried, “It is day.” “But is the heaven bright all up to Hebron?” was asked in reply.—
See Lightfoot's “Temple Service.”And call the servants of the altar forth.
'Tis light toward Hebron! Send the cry abroad.
Watchmen,
(one after another.)
'Tis light toward Hebron!
Watchman.
How beautiful the morning light
Breaks on the city as it sleeps!
Fair as His love, who, day and night,
His watch o'er favored Israel keeps.
Chorus of Watchmen.
Wake, Zion, wake! and bless the Power
That guards thee in the midnight hour.
Wake, Israel, wake! and homage pay
To Him whose love outshines the day.
Watchman.
See, from their sacred chambers issue forth
The priests. In flowing robes arrayed, they come
To wait around the altars, and renew
The Temple's daily pomp. Jehovah clothe
His servants with salvation! that his saints
May fill these holy courts with shouts of joy.
Priest.
Seven days the people, in their countless tents,—
Spread on the mountain-side and in the vale,
Stretched on the joyous house-tops, street by street,
And in Moriah's sacred courts,—have kept
The holy season. Solemn rite, by day,
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The circling hours; by night, the cloistered halls,
Bright with ten thousand lamps, have echoed back
The shouts and anthems of th' assembled tribes.
The final day has come, the day of chief
And holiest concourse. Let the trumpet sound,—
The consecrated trumpet,—to proclaim
The last, the great day of the festival.
Chorus of Priests and Watchmen.
Welcome the dawning light!
Welcome the joyous day!
Let Jacob's tribes again unite
To celebrate their ancient rite,
And grateful homage pay.
Wave the willow and the palm!
Bow the knee, and chant the psalm!
Throng the holy altar round!
Bid the lofty courts resound!
Priest.
When, from Egyptian bondage driven,
Our fathers sought their promised home,
For many a year offended Heaven
Condemned them in the wild to roam.
No house received their weary forms,
No city knew their way-worn feet;
In tents they braved the winter's storms,
In tents endured the summer's heat.
And now, in Judah's prosperous days,
Oft as the harvest month comes round,
Our humble tents and booths we raise,
And houseless, like our sires, are found.
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Their path o'er Jordan's wave we trace,
Till on these fruitful hills arose
Their heritage and resting-place.
Chorus.
Praise for that fruitful heritage!
Praise for that glorious resting-place!
The home and pride, through every age,
Of Zion's God and Israel's race.
High Priest.
Now let the morning sacrifice begin!
Fire the rich censer! Let the incense rise
In rolling clouds of fragrance, till it fill
The Holy Place, and with the clouds of heaven
Mingle its perfume. Bring the victims forth!
Bid the high altar blaze! And while its fires
Flash upward, brightening all the morning sky,
Ye white-robed Levites,
The music of the Temple was performed by a choir of Levites appointed for that purpose. In the reign of David, that monarch arranged this part of the service with great care, under the direction of three chiefs, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun. Their number at that time was two hundred and eighty-eight, and the accompanying instruments very various. The music began with the morning sacrifice, and continued during the whole time that the burnt-offering was consuming. 1 Chron. xv. 16–22; xxv. 1–7; 2 Chron. v. 11, 12; xxix. 25–28.
Exalt his name for whom these honors rise.
Strike all your strings! Breathe forth your loudest voice!
Wake, timbrel, harp, and lute! wake, psaltery, pipe,
And sackbut! cymbal, drum, and trumpet, wake!
Let Zion hear, and Israel's utmost shore;
Let farthest Gentile catch the sound, and know
That Jacob's God is God of earth and heaven.
Levites.
Glory to God! Bid the glad tribes rejoice!
Let earth and heaven reëcho to their voice!
Down with the idols that usurp his throne!
Exalt Jehovah, King and God alone!
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Praise Him who was, and is, and shall be evermore!
Voice
from among the multitude, (as in soliloquy).
How gloriously to heaven that odorous cloud
Rolls from the altar, brightening in the sun!
How like celestial harmony, that hymn,
Chanted by holy voices, peals along
Th' echoing porches! With the flame and song
Send up thy heart, O Israel, and be blest.
High Priest.
Children of Abraham! to the altar throng,
And add your voices to the Levite choir.
Fresh from the vintage and the harvest field,
Present your annual offering. Bow your souls,
Adoring; while your wives and children kneel,
Uplifting heart and voice in holy joy.
People.
We hear, and we obey.
From all the borders of the land,
Assembled at the call we stand,
And hail the festal day.
Before the altar humbly bowed,
We lift our thousand voices loud,
And grateful homage pay.
Let our anthem reach the skies!
Let our thanks accepted rise!
Voice.
From Carmel's fruitful mountain,
From Hebron's ancient towers,
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From Sharon's vale of flowers,—
People.
We come, we come, the harvest o'er,
To meet in Zion and adore.
Voice.
Lo! Ashur brings his treasures,
Drawn from the heaving main;
And Issachar his measures
Of life-sustaining grain.
People.
The varied gifts of Heaven we bring,
And pay our thanks to Israel's King.
Voice.
Lo! the vineyard's ripe donation!
Lo! the honey from the rock!
Lo! the olive's pure oblation!
Lo! the fleeces of the flock!
People.
Blessing, honor, glory, be,
Lord of life and love, to thee!
Voice.
Like a full, o'erflowing river,
Blessings from on high descend;
Glory to the bounteous Giver!
Glory, till the world shall end!
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Let our anthem reach the skies!
Let our thanks accepted rise!
Woman.
And hark, the sweet voices of Jacob's fair daughters
Join the high chorus of gladness and love;
From the hill-sides of Judah, from Galilee's waters,
They crowd to the courts of their Sovereign above.
Chorus of Women.
From our homes by the hill-side, our rest by the waters,
We crowd to the courts of our Sovereign above;
We bring the full hearts of wives, sisters, and daughters;
We join the high chorus of gladness and love.
All.
Join, every voice, in the rapturous chorus;
Swell the loud anthem of gladness and love;
For the blessings of Heaven spread around us and o'er us,
Shout to the praise of our Sovereign above.
High Priest.
Not unto us, O Lord, is glory due.
We are but dust and sin. The gifts, the grace,
The glory, all are thine. Be thine the praise!
All other gods are idols; human hands
Have made them, human folly serves. Our God,
Jehovah, lives. Earth, heaven, all things, he made;
He rules o'er all supreme. Praise him alone!
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Praise him alone!
Beyond the splendors of the sun,
He reigns eternal, glorious, one,
On no divided throne.
Round that throne what wonders meet!
Clouds, the dust beneath his feet;
Thunder, but his voice; and fire,
Angel of his love, or ire.
Raise the universal song!
Sound it, Zion, first and long!
Hosts of heaven, angelic choirs,
Strike it on your living lyres!
Sea, and earth, and skies, unite,
Sun, and moon, and stars of light!
Praise him, praise, with one accord!
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
| The miscellaneous writings of Henry Ware | |