Is. xxxiii. 17.
Glorious
and solemn hour,
Thus
at last to
stand,
All
behind us the great desert,
All
before, the
land!
Past
the shadow of the valley,
Past
the weary
plain;
Past
the rugged mountain pathway,
Ne'er
to be
again.
And
before us, ever stretching
In
its golden
sheen,
Lies
the fair, the blessed country
Where
our hearts have
been--
Where
our hearts have been whilst wandering
Through
the desert
bare;
For
the soul's adored, beloved One,
He
abideth
there.
Clad
in love and glory stands He
On
that glowing
shore,
There
to speak the blessed welcome,
All
our journeyings
o'er.
Now
at last our eyes behold Him,
At
His feet we
fall;
Two
and three have we adored Him,
Now
are gathered
all.
All
His saints from all the ages,
Every
clime and
tongue,
All
together now we worship
In
a faultless
song.
In
the song no discord troubles
And
no weakness
mars,
Sound
we loud His Name beloved
Far
beyond the
stars.
That
blest song, first sung in glory
By
His lips
divine,
Now,
in chorus deep and endless
All
his ransomed
join.
Glorious
and solemn hour,
On
the verge to
stand
Of
that endless day of worhsip,
Of
that blessed
land!
Not
our sorrow we remember,
All
is lost in
bliss--
But
our shame gives deeper sweetness
To
the Father's
kiss.
Shame--that
all that desert journey
Nothing
more could
prove
Than
the marvels of His patience,
How
divine His
love.
Tale
of weakness, sin, and folly,
Tale
of wandering
feet--
Tale
of strength, and grace, and wisdom,
Victory
complete.
Sin
and death and Satan trodden
'Neath
those feet at
length,
In
the glory of His triumph,
Greatness
of His
strength.
Solemn
hour--thus on the margin
Of
that wondrous
day,
When
the former things have vanished,
Old
things passed
away.
Nothing
but Himself before us,
Every
shadow
past--
Sound
we loud our word of witness,
For
it is the
last.
One
last word of solemn warning
To
the world
below--
One
loud shout, that all may hear us
Hail
Him ere we
go!
Once
more let that Name be sounded
With
a trumpet
tone--
Here,
amidst the thickening darkness,
Then,
before the
throne.
G. W.