In silence, ere that storm begin, Pray only that thine aching heart, Snatch'd sudden from th' avenging rod, How wilt thou then look back, and smile d Jeremiah xlv. 4, 5. The Lord saith thus: Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land. And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not, for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord; but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest. TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. And looking up to Heaven, He sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. St. Mark vii. 34. THE Son of God in doing good Was fain to look to heaven and sigh: And shall the heirs of sinful blood Seek joy unmix'd in charity? He look'd to heaven, and sadly sigh'd- The joy of Heaven-accepted prayer? So o'er the bed where Lazarus slept O'erwhelming thoughts of pain and grief Over his sinking spirit sweep ;— "What boots it gathering one lost leaf "Out of yon sere and wither'd heap, "Where souls and bodies, hopes and joys, “All that earth owns or sin destroys, "Under the spurning hoof are cast, "Or tossing in th' autumnal blast ?" The deaf may hear the Saviour's voice, The laggard soul, that will not wake, No eye but His might ever bear To gaze all down that drear abyss, Because none ever saw so clear The shore beyond of endless bliss: The giddy waves so restless hurl'd, The vex'd pulse of this feverish world, He views and counts with steady sight, Used to behold the Infinite. But that in such communion high What then shall wretched sinners do, When in their last, their hopeless day, Sin, as it is, shall meet their view, Lord, by thy sad and earnest eye, When Thou didst look to heaven and sigh; Thy voice, that with a word could chase The dumb, deaf spirit from his place; As thou hast touch'd our ears, and taught That would make fast our bonds again. From idle words, that restless throng, And haunt our hearts when we would pray, From pride's false chime, and jarring wrong, Seal thou my lips, and guard the way : For Thou hast sworn, that every ear, Willing or loth, thy trump shall hear, And every tongue unchained be To own no hope, no God, but Thee. |