HE surely was a God of love,
And knew our feeble frame,
Who taught us that the way to prove
Our meetness for the realms above,
Was still to follow Him who came
To live in lowliness and shame.
Few are the gifts the world e'er brought
To those who toiled the most;
And these were gained by patient thought,
By genius or by valour bought,
Of days and nights and years the cost,
Whose value's only known when lost.
Nor gives the world; it does but lend,
Till death reclaims the loan;
Then poor and naked in our end
To sin's hard wages we must bend,
Till dust at last rejoins its own,
And before God we stand alone.
But, whilst to few it is assigned
Some treasure here to gain,
The simplest child, the weak in mind,
The poor, the impotent, the blind,
The lowest here, in want and pain,
With Christ a heavenly crown may gain.
"Who would in Heaven the first be found, (Hear the Redeemer speak,)
Still let him yield to all around
As one in lowly service bound;
E'en as the lost I came to seek,
The Son of Man, to serve the weak."
O Lord, this lowly spirit give,
The gift is only thine;
That ever I may duly strive
For others, not myself, to live;
That blest e'en here in things divine,
I may at length in glory shine.
Christ's Entry into Jerusalem.
SEE the lowly Saviour ride,
Not with pomp of worldly pride;
Nor with such array and state
As on earthly monarchs wait;
But with circumstance to show
One to whom all kings must bow;
For Prophets only meet were thought
Such an advent to have taught,
And now to prove them from on high
Hear the crowds assembled cry,
Hosannahs loud to David's Son,
Hosannah in the highest.
See the people round him pressed,
Not nobles clad with purple vest,
But the poor to whom he preached,
And those whose souls his word had reached
The lame who cast his crutch away,
The blind to whom he'd given the day;
The dumb whom he had made to speak,
The halt, the impotent, and weak;
All who in his saving Name
Had seen their sickness cured, proclaim
Hosannahs loud to David's Son,
Hosannah in the highest.
Behold him to the temple go
And tables of exchange o'erthrow;
Cleansing thus that holy place
From the profane and godless race,
Who his Father's house had made
A place of traffic and of trade;
See him take a scourge of cords
And drive them thence with bitter words,
Whilst that praise might perfect be,
Hear the children sing with glee,
Hosannahs loud to David's Son,
Hosannah in the highest.
Oh! enter, Lord, my heart within,
And make it clean from every sin;
That still it may a temple be
Where thou mayst deign to dwell with me ;
A temple where shall praise be given
For mercies shown and sins forgiven;
A temple where shall prayer be made
For strength, for guidance, and for aid;
That with thy saints redeemed of yore
I too in grateful song may pour
Hosannahs loud to David's Son,
Hosannah in the highest.
The King's Marriage Feast.
HEAR the martial music sound,
See the crowd thick gathering round;
For all the nobles of the land,
At their monarch's high command,
Have come his banquet hall to grace
Each to take his honoured place.
The statesman there in courtly vest,
The ermined judge, the mitred priest,
And many a duke, and earl, and lord,
And there some hero, whose strong sword,
And many a deed in battle fight,
'Mongst titled lords has given him right.
All have come from far and near,
Partakers of their monarch's cheer;
Not a guest is absent there
Invited to that royal fare;
From end to end that banquet hall
Is filled at the monarch's call.
Behold not far yon turret grey,
'Midst yew-tree shade scarce meets the day;
Its gothic porch and old carved door,
With rude inscription sculptured o'er;
Its mullioned windows all declare
That quiet place a house of prayer.
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