The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery Collected and Revised by the Author |
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WISDOM OF PRAYER. |
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 | The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery |  |
WISDOM OF PRAYER.
“O Thou that hearest prayer, unto Thee shall all
flesh come.”—Ps. lxv. 2.
Why should the reas'ning sceptic dare
To stand between the Godhead and our prayer?
A mental antichrist, too oft
Madly presuming mind will soar aloft,
And from Jehovah's nature draw
A reason why we should reject his law,—
That all who would Heaven's pardon claim
Must clasp that mercy in Emmanuel's name.
To stand between the Godhead and our prayer?
A mental antichrist, too oft
Madly presuming mind will soar aloft,
And from Jehovah's nature draw
A reason why we should reject his law,—
That all who would Heaven's pardon claim
Must clasp that mercy in Emmanuel's name.
God is not changed by hearing prayer,
But would be changed, if our petitions were
By Him unheard; Whose page inspired
Hath said, “For this My Throne shall be enquired.”
Thus, end and means together meet
When bows the sinner at Heaven's mercy-seat:
To this God's changeless purpose tends,
And with His glory our salvation blends.
But would be changed, if our petitions were
By Him unheard; Whose page inspired
Hath said, “For this My Throne shall be enquired.”
Thus, end and means together meet
When bows the sinner at Heaven's mercy-seat:
To this God's changeless purpose tends,
And with His glory our salvation blends.
97
Avaunt! ye hell-breathed doubts, away!
Morn, noon, and night, let true adorers pray;
Precept, and promise, doctrine,—all
To this vast privilege our being call.
No saint in earth, or heaven is found,
Who did not in such glorious work abound;
His prayer, whatever path he trod,
Drew God to man, and lifted man to God.
Morn, noon, and night, let true adorers pray;
Precept, and promise, doctrine,—all
To this vast privilege our being call.
No saint in earth, or heaven is found,
Who did not in such glorious work abound;
His prayer, whatever path he trod,
Drew God to man, and lifted man to God.
Prayer conquers scene, and space, and time,
Entreats no temple, and demands no clime,
But, like an omnipresent charm
Can shield the saints from all corrupting harm;
Howe'er remote from genial home
The surging waves of life may bid them roam.
Oft riven Friendships pray afar,
Each thrilling each, beneath some alien star.
Entreats no temple, and demands no clime,
But, like an omnipresent charm
Can shield the saints from all corrupting harm;
Howe'er remote from genial home
The surging waves of life may bid them roam.
Oft riven Friendships pray afar,
Each thrilling each, beneath some alien star.
Elijah, Moses, Jonah, pray'd;
And how those heroes of The Spirit sway'd
Nature, and Providence, and Man!—
As though the movements of almighty plan,
However fathomless they were,
Hung on the breathings of a human prayer;
Or else, that He whose will is law,
Were sway'd in heaven, by what on earth he saw.
And how those heroes of The Spirit sway'd
Nature, and Providence, and Man!—
As though the movements of almighty plan,
However fathomless they were,
Hung on the breathings of a human prayer;
Or else, that He whose will is law,
Were sway'd in heaven, by what on earth he saw.
And mark, thou prayerless Thing of dust!
If doubt thy God, and reason be thy trust,
How Abram, that Elect of heaven
To whom the Church's promises were given,
With sixfold intercession bent
Before His wrath, Th' enthroned Omnipotent!
And, when the bolt was almost hurl'd,
By prayer held back His thunders from the world.
If doubt thy God, and reason be thy trust,
How Abram, that Elect of heaven
To whom the Church's promises were given,
With sixfold intercession bent
Before His wrath, Th' enthroned Omnipotent!
And, when the bolt was almost hurl'd,
By prayer held back His thunders from the world.
But oh! if pure example can
Melt the cold mind of antichristian man,
Behold it, in the Saviour mild,
The God in flesh, the manhood undefiled:
For He, by whom the worlds were made,
In the hush'd midnight on the mountains pray'd,
And wintry stars from their high spheres
Blent their cold radiance with His awful tears!
Melt the cold mind of antichristian man,
Behold it, in the Saviour mild,
The God in flesh, the manhood undefiled:
For He, by whom the worlds were made,
In the hush'd midnight on the mountains pray'd,
And wintry stars from their high spheres
Blent their cold radiance with His awful tears!
Here let us pause: His finite will
Before the Infinite of heaven did fall;
Though spotless, Christ was human still,
And ceased not on His Father-God to call.
And what but heartless sin will dare
To doubt that He is moved by mighty prayer?—
My Saviour wept, and watch'd, and pray'd;
Be each unhallow'd thought by that o'ersway'd.
Before the Infinite of heaven did fall;
Though spotless, Christ was human still,
And ceased not on His Father-God to call.
And what but heartless sin will dare
To doubt that He is moved by mighty prayer?—
My Saviour wept, and watch'd, and pray'd;
Be each unhallow'd thought by that o'ersway'd.
And this, when worlds shall disappear,
Will rock to slumber each tempestuous fear;
All pangs without, all pains within
Yield to its spell; and each tyrannic sin
Is vanquish'd by believing prayer,
Which proves God greater than our greatest care:
And deep will be his hallow'd rest
Who drops his burden on Emmanuel's breast.
Will rock to slumber each tempestuous fear;
All pangs without, all pains within
Yield to its spell; and each tyrannic sin
Is vanquish'd by believing prayer,
Which proves God greater than our greatest care:
And deep will be his hallow'd rest
Who drops his burden on Emmanuel's breast.
| The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery | |