849
L. M.
A pillar of cloud by day, etc.
Exodus 13:21.
When Israel, of the Lord beloved,
Out from the land of bondage came,
Her father’s God before her moved,
An awful Guide, in smoke and flame.
2 By day, along th’ astonished lands
The cloudy pillar glided slow;
By night Arabia’s crimsoned sands
Returned the fiery column’s glow.
3 Thus present still, though now unseen,
O Lord, when shines the prosperous day,
Be thoughts of thee a cloudy screen,
To temper the deceitful ray.
4 And O, when gathers on our path,
In shade and storm, the frequent night,
Be thou long-suffering, slow to wrath,
A burning and a shining light.
Sir W. Scott.