Oh shall I, when in you bright sphere
Know fully all Thy pathway here—
Those footsteps to my heart so dear—
Lord Jesus?
Wilt Thou not then re-touch, re-trace—
In glory's light, that path of grace,—
For me, while gazing on Thy face,
Lord Jesus?
Will it not be Thy joy to show
The secrets of Thy life of woe,—
Clothed in the love that brought Thee low?
Those walks and ways, each act and word,
Which oft my inmost soul have stirred,
Penn'd by Thy Spirit in Thy word:—
Those works and deeds none wrought in vain—
But which " unwritten " must remain,
Because " the world could not contain "
Their fullness.
Those thirty years, when few could see
Thy life; its meaning, none but He
Who all His pleasure found in Thee;
Whose eye did Thy daily walk perceive-
Whose heart its fragrance did receive-
'Whose bosom Thou didst never leave,
Thy Father's.
Those after years,—so brief—so great
When Thou on needy man didst wait,.
Low bending to his lost estate:
And standing forth for God alone
His heart's deep fullness to make known,
Naught claiming:—though 'twas all Thine own.
The sorrow which Thy spirit knew
In finding none who cared (or few,),
For all heaven's wealth,—nor deemed it true.
The deep, deep solitude of thought—
Rich in its treasures, all unsought
By those Thou wouldst with life have bought:
The full unbroken peace and rest
Thy lowly spirit e'er possessed,
While man's rude turmoil round Thee pressed:
The joy in which man found no part,
Forever welling in Thy heart
In Him whose grace Thou wouldst impart.
Communion which had ne'er begun
Between the Father and His Son,
Eternal, with no break, save—one.
That awful break! which made Thee cry
In wonder and amazement—" Why."
So new,—so strange,—and then,—to die!
But well we know the reason " Why,"
Lord Jesus!
Who hut Thyself could have stepp'd in
To that dread gap, to bear our sin,
Whom all Thy grace had failed to win?
But hush I no tongue can tell the tale,
All human words and thoughts must fail,
No mortal eye can pierce that veil.
I know not now one thousandth part
Of those past sorrows of Thy heart:
But when I see Thee as Thou art,—
And with Thee in God's glory shine,—
Shall I not share His joy, and Thine,—
And know the Hidden Manna mine,
Lord Jesus!
Freed from all else, on Thee to gaze
And study Thee through endless days
While sounding forth Thy matchless praise
Lord Jesus!