OH! would ye taste of God’s good land
Where plenty ever floweth?
Oh! would ye take from God’s full Hand
The gifts His grace bestoweth?
Behold! it is to you He speaks,
His promises fulfilling;
You are the very ones He seeks,
Who first of all are willing.
I’ve one thing else He stipulates
Ere you may gain the blessing,
Obedience and for this He waits,
Its urgent need impressing.
Then, willing and obedient, take
God’s wonderful salvation,
And He will cleanse your souls, and make
Of you a new creation.
Obedience is to set no store
By false hopes—few or many:
It is to use the open door,
Nor seek beside it any.
It is to haste unto the Fount
To every sinner given,
Where scarlet stains beyond all count
Grow white as snow wind-driven.
But if ye still refuse to hear
The Voice that long has pleaded,
And should that outstretched Hand appear
In vain, and all unheeded—
Then are ye rebels, and must die
When God’s sharp sword awaketh:
Nor can His ears regard your cry
When judgment overtaketh.
WINIFRED A. IVERSON.