"We arrived at a certain place where the mountains betwixt which we were traveling opened out into a huge, wide, and very fair valley, and beyond this valley appeared the Mount of God, Sinai. This is a very extensive valley, lying under the side of the Mount of God. This is the huge and wide valley in which the children of Israel sojourned in those days, when Saint Moses ascended into the Mount of God and was there forty days and forty nights. This is the valley in which the calf was made; the place is shown to this day, for a great stone stands fixed to the very spot. As you go round about the mountain it appears to be one, though when you get within it there are many; but the whole is called the Mount of God, especially the one on whose summit is the place where the glory of God descended, as it is written; and it is in the middle of them all; and while all these mountains that are in the group are more glorious than I had ever expected to see, yet this one in the middle is so much higher than all the others, that when we approached it, straightway all these mountains which had appeared to us so glorious seemed but as little hills."--From the very interesting Diary of Saint Sylvia of Aquitaine, who about the year 385 made a pilgrimage to the East. This diary, which is one of the earliest "travel books" ever written, has only recently been discovered.
| THE HOUSE OF THE LORD |
How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out unto the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found her an house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, My King, and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: They will be still praising thee. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; In whose heart are the high ways to Zion. Passing through the valley of Weeping they make it a place of springs; Yea, the early rain covereth it with blessings. They go from strength to strength, Everyone of them appeareth before God in Zion. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer: Give ear, O God of Jacob. Behold, O God our shield, And look upon the face of thine anointed. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. [{96}] I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and a shield: The Lord will give grace and glory: No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. |
| --Psalm 84. |
| A PLEA FOR MERCY |
Lord, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, Thou hast covered all their sin. Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: Thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. Turn us, O God of our salvation, And cause thine indignation toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? Wilt thou not quicken us again: That thy people may rejoice in thee? Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, And grant us thy salvation. I will hear what God the Lord will speak: For he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: But let them not turn again to folly. Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; That glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth springeth out of the earth; And righteousness hath looked down from heaven. Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; And our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before him; And shall make his footsteps a way to walk in. |
| --Psalm 85. |
| THE CRY OF THE NEEDY |
Bow down thine ear, O Lord, and answer me; For I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul; for I am godly: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. Be merciful unto me, O Lord; For unto thee do I cry all the day long. Rejoice the soul of thy servant; For unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, And plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer; And hearken unto the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee; For thou wilt answer me. There is none like unto thee among the gods, O Lord; Neither are there any works like unto thy works. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; And they shall glorify thy name. For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: Thou art God alone. Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: Unite my heart to fear thy name. I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart; [{99}] And I will glorify thy name for evermore. For great is thy mercy toward me; And thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest pit. O God, the proud are risen up against me, And the congregation of violent men have sought after my soul, And have not set thee before them. But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion and gracious, Slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy and truth. O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; Give thy strength unto thy servant, And save the son of thine handmaid. Shew me a token for good; That they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed, Because thou, Lord, hast helped me, and comforted me. |
| --Psalm 86. |
| THE PRAISE OF ZION |
His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion More than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon as among them that know me: Behold, Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia: This one was born there. Yea, of Zion it shall be said, This one and that one was born in her; And the Most High himself will establish her. The Lord will count, when he writeth up the peoples, This one was born there. They that sing as well as they that dance shall say, All my fountains are in thee. |
| --Psalm 87. |