I.
The Scene of the Psalm.
"Where is thy favour'd haunt, Eternal Voice,
The region of Thy choice,
Where, undisturb'd by sin and earth, the soul
Owns Thine entire control?
'Tis on the mountain's summit dark and high,
Where storms are hurrying by:
'Tis 'mid the strong foundations of the earth,
Where torrents have their birth.
No sounds of worldly toil ascending there
Mar the full burst of prayer;
Lone nature feels that she may freely breathe,
And round us and beneath
Are heard her sacred tones: the fitful sweep
Of winds across the steep,
The dashing waters where the air is still,
From many a torrent rill—.
Such sounds as make deep silence in the heart
For thought to do her part."
"The spot was so attractive to me, as well as the view of the surrounding country so charming, that I had great difficulty in tearing myself away from it. In the foreground, at my feet, was the Jordan flowing through its woods of tamarisks. On the other side rose gently the plain of Beisan surmounted by the high tell of that name. In the distance were the mountains of Gilboa—the whole stretch of which is seen, even as far as ancient Jezreel."—Van de Velde's Travels in Syria and Palestine, vol. ii. p. 355.