463
12s.
The house of the Lord.
You may sing of the beauty of mountain and dale,
Of the silvery streamlets and flowers of the vale;
But the place most delightful this earth can afford,
Is the place of devotion, the house of the Lord.
2 You may boast of the sweetness of day’s early dawn,
Of the sky’s softening graces when day is just gone;
But there’s no other season or time can compare,
With the hour of devotion, the season of prayer.
3 You may value the friendships of youth and of age,
And select for your comrades the noble and sage;
But the friends that most cheer me on life’s rugged road,
Are the friends of my Master, the children of God.
4 You may talk of your prospects, of fame, or of wealth,
And the hopes that oft flatter the favorites of health;
But the hope of bright glory, of heavenly bliss—
Take away every other, and give me but this.
5 Ever hail, blessed temple, abode of my Lord!
I will turn to thee often, to hear from his word;
I will walk to thine altar with those that I love,
And rejoice in the prospects revealed from above.
W. Hunter.