GOD of my fathers! holy, just, and good!
My God! my Father! my unfailing Hope!
Jehovah let the incense of my praise,
Accepted, burn before thy mercy seat,
And in thy presence burn, both day and night.
Maker! Preserver! my Redeemer! God!
Whom have I in the heavens but Thee alone?
On earth, but Thee, whom should I praise, whom love?
For Thou hast brought me hitherto, upheld
By thy omnipotence; and from thy grace,
Unbought, unmerited, though not unsought-
The wells of thy salvation, hast refreshed
My spirit, watering it, at morn and even ;
And, by thy Spirit, which thou freely givest
To whom thou wilt, hast led my venturous song,
Over the vale and mountain tract, the light
And shade of man; into the burning deep
Descending now, and now circling the mount,
Where highest sits Divinity enthroned;
Rolling along the tide of fluent thought,
The tide of moral, natural, divine;
Gazing on past and present, and again,
On rapid pinion borne, outstripping Time,
In long excursion, wandering through the groves
Unfading, and the endless avenues,
That shade the landscape of Eternity;
And talking there with holy angels met,
And future men, in glorious vision seen!
Nor unrewarded have I watched at night,
And heard the drowsy sound of neighbouring sleep.
New thought, new imagery, new scenes of bliss
And glory, unrehearsed by mortal tongue,
Which, unrevealed, I, trembling, turned and left,
Bursting at once upon my ravished eye,—
With joy unspeakable have filled my soul,
And made my cup run over with delight:
Though in my face the blasts of adverse winds,
While boldly circumnavigating man,
Winds seeming adverse, though perhaps not so,
Have beat severely; disregarded beat,
When I, behind me, heard the voice of God,
And his propitious Spirit say, Fear not!
God of my fathers! ever present God!
This offering, more, inspire, sustain, accept;
Highest, if numbers answer to the theme;
Best answering, if thy Spirit dictate most.
Jehovah! breathe upon my soul; my heart
Enlarge; my faith increase; increase my hope;
My thoughts exalt; my fancy sanctify,
And all my passions, that I near thy throne
May venture, unreproved; and sing the day,
Which none unholy ought to name, the Day
Of Judgment! greatest day, passed or to come!
Day! which,-deny me what thou wilt, deny
Me home, or friend, or honourable name,—
Thy mercy grant, I, thoroughly prepared,
With comely garment of redeeming love,
May meet, and have my Judge for Advocate.
Come, Gracious Influence, Breath of the Lord! And touch me trembling, as thou touched the man,
Greatly beloved, when he in vision saw,
By Ulai's stream, the Ancient sit; and talked
With Gabriel, to his prayer swiftly sent,
At evening sacrifice. Hold my right hand,
Almighty! hear me, for I ask through Him,
Whom thou hast heard, whom thou wilt always hear,
Thy Son, our interceding.Great High Priest !
Reveal the future, let the years to come
Pass by, and open my ear to hear the harp
The prophet harp, whose wisdom I repeat,
Interpreting the voice of distant song ;-
Which thus again resumes the lofty verse,
Loftiest, if I interpret faithfully
The holy numbers which my spirit hears.
Thus came the day, the Harp again began,
The day that many thought should never come,
That all the wicked wished should never come,
That all the righteous had expected long;
Day greatly feared, and yet too little feared,
By him who feared it most; day laughed at much
By the profane, the trembling day of all
Who laughed; day when all shadows passed, all dreams;
When substance, when reality commenced;
Last day of lying, final day of all
Deceit, all knavery, all quackish phrase;
Ender of all disputing, of all mirth
Ungodly, of all loud and boasting speech;
Judge of all judgments, Judge of every judge,
Adjuster of all causes, rights and wrongs;
Day oft appealed to, and appealed to oft
By those who saw its dawn with saddest heart;
Day most magnificent in Fancy's range,
Whence she returned, confounded, trembling, pale,
With overmuch of glory faint and blind;
Day most important held, prepared for most,
By every rational, wise, and holy man ;
Day of eternal gain, for worldly loss;
Day of eternal loss, for worldly gain;
Great day of terror, vengeance, wo, despair;
Revealer of all secrets, thoughts, desires;
Rein-trying, heart-investigating day,
That stood between Eternity and Time,
Reviewed all past, determined all to come,
And bound all destinies for evermore;
Believing day of unbelief; great day,
That set in proper light the affairs of earth,
And justified the Government Divine;
Great day!-what can we more? what should we more?—
Great triumph day of God's incarnate Son!
Great day of glory to the Almighty God!
Day! whence the everlasting years begin
Their date, new era in eternity,
And oft referred to in the song of heaven!
Thus stood the apostate, thus the ransomed stood, Those held by justice fast, and these by love, Reading the fiery scutcheonry, that blazed On high, upon the great celestial bow: "As ye have sown, so shall ye reap this day." All read, all understood, and all believed, Convinced of judgment, righteousness, and sin.
Meantime the universe throughout was still.
The cape, above and round about, was calm;
And motionless, beneath them, lay the Earth,
Silent and sad, as one that sentence waits,
For flagrant crime;-when suddenly was heard,
Behind the azure vaulting of the sky,
Above, and far remote from reach of sight,
The sound of trumpets, and the sound of crowds,
And prancing steeds, and rapid chariot wheels,
That from four quarters rolled, and seemed in haste,
Assembling at some place of rendezvous;
And so they seemed to roll, with furious speed,
As if none meant to be behind the first.
Nor seemed alone: that day, the golden trump,
Whose voice, from centre to circumference
Of all created things, is heard distinct,
God had bid Michael sound, to summon all
The hosts of bliss to presence of their King;
And, all the morning, millions infinite,
That millions governed each, Dominions, Powers,
Thrones, Principalities, with all their hosts,
Had been arriving, near the capital,
And royal city, New Jerusalem,
From heaven's remotest bounds. Nor yet from heaven
Alone came they, that day. The worlds around,
Or neighbouring nearest on the verge of night,
Emptied, sent forth their whole inhabitants.
All tribes of being came, of every name,
From every coast, filling Jehovah's courts.
From morn till mid-day, in the squadrons poured
Immense, along the bright celestial roads.
Swiftly they rode, for love unspeakable,
To God, and to Messiah, Prince of Peace,
Drew them, and made obedience haste to be
Approved. And now, before the Eternal Throne,—
Brighter, that day, than when the Son prepared
To overthrow the seraphim rebelled,-
And circling round the mount of Deity,
Upon the sea of glass, all round about,
And down the borders of the stream of life,
And over all the plains of Paradise,
For many a league of heavenly measurement,
Assembled, stood the immortal multitudes,
Millions, above all number infinite,
The nations of the blessed. Distinguished each,
By chief of goodly stature blazing far;
By various garb, and flag of various hue
Streaming through heaven from standard lifted high—
The arms and imagery of thousand worlds.
Distinguished each, but all arrayed complete,
In armour bright, of helmet, shield, and sword;
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