ZION.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.—Psalm l. 2.
For the Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for His habitation.—Psalm cxxxii. 13.
Behold I lay in Zion a stumbling-stone and rock of offence; and whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.—Romans, ix. 33.
Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God!
He, whose word cannot be broken,
Formed thee for His own abode.
On the rock of ages founded,
What can shake Thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
Thou may’st smile at all Thy foes.
Saviour, if of Zion’s city
I through grace a member am,
Let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in the name.
Fading is the worldling’s pleasure,
All his boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys, and lasting treasure,
None but Zion’s children know.
Newton.
Keep thou Zion-ward thy face,
Ask in faith the aid of grace,
Use the strength which grace shall give,
Die to self, in Christ to live.
Bernard Barton.
Go, walk about Zion and measure the length,
Her walls and her bulwarks mark well;
Contemplate her palaces, glorious in strength,
Her towers and their pinnacles tell.
Then say to your children:—“Our stronghold is tried,
This God is our God to the end;
His people for ever his counsels shall guide,
His arm shall for ever defend.”
James Montgomery.
By Babylon’s proud stream we sate,
And tears gushed quick from every eye,
When our own Zion’s fallen state
Came rushing to our memory;
And there, the willow-groves among,
Sorrowing, our silent harps we hung.
For there our tyrants in their pride,
Bade Judah raise the exulting strain,
And our remorseless spoilers cried,
“Come breathe your native hymns again.”
Oh, how in stranger climes can we
Pour forth Jehovah’s melody?
When thou, loved Zion, art forgot,
Let this unworthy hand decay;
When Salem is remembered not,
Mute be these guilty lips for aye!
Yea, if in transport’s livelier thrill,
Thou, Zion, art not dearer still!
Thomas Dale.
He who slumbereth not, nor sleepeth,
His ancient watch around us keepeth;
Still sent from His creating hand,
New witnesses for truth shall stand—
New instruments to sound abroad
The Gospel of a risen Lord;
To gather to the fold once more
The desolate and gone astray,
The scattered of a cloudy day,
And Zion’s broken walls restore.
J. G. Whittier.
The Lord shall comfort Zion,
Her places waste restore,
And, of her silent wilderness,
Make Eden bloom once more;
His garden she shall then become,
And worthy of His choice,
Gladness and thanks in all her smiles,
And music in her voice.
W. G. Simms.