Devotional Verses Founded on and Illustrative of select Texts of Scripture [by Bernard Barton] |
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A CALL TO BUILD THE LORD'S HOUSE. |
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A CALL TO BUILD THE LORD'S HOUSE.
“Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house to lie waste?”
—Haggai, i. 4.
O ye, who in ceil'd houses live,
Can you, escaping guilt and shame,
Delay unto the Lord to give
A habitation for his name?
Can you, escaping guilt and shame,
Delay unto the Lord to give
A habitation for his name?
If thus the prophet spoke of yore,
Chiding the people's long delay,
Whose hands were slack to build once more
A fabric which should pass away;
Chiding the people's long delay,
Whose hands were slack to build once more
A fabric which should pass away;
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Doth not the Spirit now upbraid,
Though with a voice of love divine,
Hearts as reluctant, or afraid
To rear a holier, purer shrine?
Though with a voice of love divine,
Hearts as reluctant, or afraid
To rear a holier, purer shrine?
To such, the language of the Lord
Is now, “Consider ye your ways!”
Why build ye not, with one accord,
A temple worthy of my praise?
Is now, “Consider ye your ways!”
Why build ye not, with one accord,
A temple worthy of my praise?
My gifts and graces were not meant
Ceil'd houses unto you to give,
Wherein, supinely indolent,
Each one unto himself might live.
Ceil'd houses unto you to give,
Wherein, supinely indolent,
Each one unto himself might live.
I gave them that mine eye might see
Uprear'd, an edifice divine,
And you the living stones should be
To form this glorious house of mine.
Uprear'd, an edifice divine,
And you the living stones should be
To form this glorious house of mine.
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