79. Rest of the Saints Above

S.M.
by J.N. Darby, 1845
1
Rest of the saints above,
 
Jerusalem of God,
 
Who in thy palaces of love,
 
Thy golden streets have trod?
“And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.” (Revelation 14:13)
“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Revelation 21:2)
“And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.” (Revelation 21:10)
“And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.” (Revelation 21:21)
2
To me thy joy to tell,
 
Those courts secure from ill,
 
Where God Himself vouchsafes to dwell,
 
And every bosom fill.
“And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.” (Revelation 21:27)
“And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” (Revelation 21:3)
3
Who shall to me that joy
 
Of saint-thronged courts declare;
 
Tell of that constant sweet employ
 
My spirit longs to share?
4
That rest secure from ill
 
No cloud of grief e’er stains,
 
Unfailing praise each heart doth fill,
 
And love eternal reigns.
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)
5
The Lamb is there, my soul — 
 
There God Himself doth rest,
 
In love divine diffused through all
 
With Him supremely blest.
“And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” (Revelation 21:23)
6
God and the Lamb — ’tis well
 
I know that source divine
 
Of joy and love no tongue can tell,
 
Yet know that all is mine.
7
And see, the Spirit’s power
 
Has ope’d the heavenly door,
 
Has brought me to that favored hour
 
When toil shall all be o’er.
8
There on the hidden bread
 
Of Christ — once humbled here — 
 
God’s treasured store — forever fed,
 
His love my soul shall cheer.
9
Called by that secret name
 
Of undisclosed delight,
 
(Blest answer to reproach and shame)
 
Graved on the stone of white.
10
There in effulgence bright,
 
Savior and Guide, with Thee
 
I’ll walk, and in Thy heavenly light
 
Whiter my robe shall be.
11
There in th’ unsullied way
 
Which His own hand hath dressed,
 
My feet press on where brightest day
 
Shines forth on all the rest.
12
But who that glorious blaze
 
Of living light shall tell,
 
Where all His brightness God displays,
 
And the Lamb’s glories dwell?
13
(There only to adore,
 
My soul its strength may find,
 
Its life, its joy forevermore,
 
By sight nor sense defined.)
14
God and the Lamb shall there
 
The light and temple be,
 
And radiant hosts forever share
 
The unveiled mystery.
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