" My Father... gave them me."John 10:2929My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. (John 10:29). ".. Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father... We have been planted together in the likeness of his death."-Romans. 6:4, 5.
Exodus. 3:1.
WHILE the outward fair creation
With its Maker's works doth shine,
We behold a garden planted,
Veiling mysteries divine:
Thus, that solitude in Midian,
Ere Jehovah's ways begin,
Shadows, too, a precious secret
To the heart that enters in:
Every shepherd superseded-
" One," the Shepherd only seen.
Far beyond the rule of Pharaoh,
Tasting Grace's soundless deep,
By the streams of purpose-blessing,
Jesus tends the Father's sheep.
In that desert of rejection,
Listening only to His voice,
Lying down amid His pastures,
In His presence they rejoice;
Knowing well the hand that blesses
The beloved ones of His choice.
Given to the Heir of counsel
Ere the course of time began,
Finding in' Himself their portion,
Buried from the world and man:
All the Father's love revealing
To the captives of His spoils,
All the Shepherd's joy expending
On the treasure of His toils;
Rescued from the great destroyer,
And the serpent's deadly coils.
In the rest the Father gave Him
Ere His outward fame doth swell,
Hidden from the scene external,
There He is " content to dwell."
Banished by " His own," He knows them
In that garden love hath framed,
Glory of the grace disclosing
Where one costly pearl He claimed,—
Waiting now, in hope, with Jesus—
Hope that maketh not ashamed.
There they fill His heart with gladness,
While His patience follows them,
Ere, in bright Jehovah-glory,
He receives that priceless gem.—(Ex. 18)
Meekness, gentleness, and mercy,
Are the desert walls that guard
In the reign of grace, well proving
Power divine to life eternal
Their's—" through Jesus Christ our Lord."