ACROSTICAL PARAPHRASE.
Our Lord and King, Who reign’st enthroned on high,
Father of Light! mysterious Deity!
Who art the great I AM, the last, the first,
Art righteous, holy, merciful, and just.
In realms of glory, scenes where angels sing,
Heaven is the dwelling-place of God our King.
Hallowed Thy name, which doth all names transcend,
Be Thou adored, our great Almighty Friend;
Thy glory shines beyond creation’s bound;
Name us ’mong those Thy choicest gifts surround.
Thy kingdom towers beyond Thy starry skies;
Kingdom Satanic falls, but Thine shall rise.
Come let Thine empire, O Thou Holy One,
Thy great and everlasting will be done.
Will God make known his will, his power display?
Be it the work of mortals to obey.
Done is the great, the wondrous work of love;
On Calvary’s cross he died, but reigns above;
Earth bears the record in Thy holy word.
As heaven adores Thy love, let earth, O Lord;
It shines transcendent in the eternal skies,
Is praised in heaven—for man, the Saviour dies.
In songs immortal, angels laud his name;
Heaven shouts with joy, and saints his love proclaim
Give us, O Lord, our food, nor cease to give
Us needful food on which our souls may live!
This be our boon to-day and days to come,
Day without end in our eternal home.
Our needy souls supply from day to day;
Daily assist and aid us when we pray;
Bread though we ask, yet, Lord, Thy blessings lend.
And make us grateful when Thy gifts descend.
Forgive our sins, which in destruction place
Us, the vile rebels of a rebel race;
Our follies, faults, and trespasses forgive,
Debts which we ne’er can pay, nor Thou receive.
As we, O Lord, our neighbor’s faults o’erlook,
We beg Thou ’d’st blot ours from Thy memory’s book.
Forgive our enemies, extend Thy grace
Our souls to save, e’en Adam’s guilty race.
Debtors to Thee in gratitude and love,
And in that duty paid by saints above,
Lead us from sin, and in thy mercy raise
Us from the tempter and his hellish ways.
Not in our own, but in His name who bled,
Into Thine ear we pour our every need.
Temptation’s fatal charm help us to shun,
But may we conquer through Thy conquering Son;
Deliver us from all that can annoy
Us in this world, and may our souls destroy.
From all calamities that man betide,
Evil and death, O turn our feet aside,—
For we are mortal worms, and cleave to clay,—
Thine ’tis to rule, and mortals to obey.
Is not thy mercy, Lord, forever free?
The whole creation knows no God but Thee.
Kingdom and empire in Thy presence fall;
The King eternal reigns the King of all.
Power is Thine—to Thee be glory given,
And be thy name adored by earth and heaven.
The praise of saints and angels is Thy own;
Glory to Thee, the Everlasting One.
Forever be Thy holy name adored.
AMEN! Hosannah! blessed be the Lord.
TRIFLING OF BIBLE COMMENTATORS.
Dr. Gill, in his Expository, seriously tells us that the word ABBA read backwards or forwards being the same, may teach us that God is the father of his people in adversity as well as in prosperity.