Sandy, he was a farmer’s boy,
Who watched his master’s herd,
Who drove them to the grassy hills,
Where sang each happy bird;
And there long summer days he lay,
And listened with delight,
To nature’s varied calls and songs,
Until the shades of night.
He gathered too the lovely flowers,
That graced the mountain side,
He chased the butterflies and bees,
Knew where the rabbits hide.
The squirrels with their bushy tails,
Perched on the swaying limb,
Looked curious, and just as though
They’d like to talk to him.
One day the sun with withering power,
Its sultry heat displayed,
And to his mind a Scripture came,
Which his whole soul dismayed,
“The elements shall melt with heat,”
Yes, “fervent heat” at that,
He wondered if that hour had come,
There terror stricken sat.
He looked, beheld a storm-cloud black,
With fury soon to burst,
To linger there meant danger sure,
He would not dare the worst;
He knew a shelter ‘neath a rock,
And soon was hidden there,
While lightning, thunder, fierce and wild,
Poured torrents everywhere.
Beneath the shelter of that rock,
Some words he there could trace,
He brushed beside the moss and read,
“Thou art my hiding place.”
He knew from whence those words had come
From God’s own holy Word,
They woke within his mind such thoughts
As his whole being stirred.
His sins, his guilt, his restless heart,
Unsatisfied, and wild
With tears of penitence he kneeled,
By faith became God’s child.
And with a heart now satisfied,
God’s hiding-place He found.
And Jesus Christ his Saviour God,
His sins and woes had drowned.
And Sandy now delighted rose,
The storm had rolled away,
The sun now shone its beams of light,
And brought a cooler day.
And all his sins were now forgiven,
And Christ his heart now filled,
His great salvation, and His love,
His happy heart now thrilled.
ML 10/15/1944