COURT.
Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest, and causest to approach unto Thee, that he may dwell in Thy courts.—Psalm lxv. 4.
Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.—Psalm xcii. 13.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.—Psalm c. 1, 4.
It shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.—Isaiah, xxxiv. 13.
Gaze but upon the house where man doth live,
With flowers and verdure to adorn his way;
Where all the creatures due obedience give;
The winds to sweep his chambers every day;
The clouds to wash his rooms, the ceiling gay
With glittering stars, that night’s dark empire brave;
If such an house God to another gave,
How shine those splendid courts He for Himself will have?
And if a heavy cloud, opaque at night,
In which the sun may seem embodied,
Deprived of all its dregs we see so white,
Burning in liquid gold its watery head,
Or round with ivory edges silvered;
What lustre supereminent will He
Lighten on those who shall his sunshine see
In that all-glorious court, in which all glories be.
Giles Fletcher.
Quivering fears, heart-tearing cares,
Anxious sighs, untimely tears.
Fly, fly to courts;
Fly to fond worldlings’ sports,
Where strain’d sardonic smiles are glossing still,
And grief is forced to laugh against her will;
Where mirth’s but mummery;
And sorrows only real be!
Sir Walter Raleigh.