NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO. Then Nebuchadnezzar the King was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the King, True, O King. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Daniel iii. 24, 25. [First Morning Lesson, Church of England.] [O God, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee; mercifully grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] WHEN Persecution's torrent blaze Wraps the unshrinking Martyr's head; Who owns the Lord of love and power? Or waves there not around his brow A wand no human arm may wield, His steps to guide, his soul to shield? And when the wicked ones behold Thy favourites walking in thy light, Just as, in fancied triumph bold, * They deem'd them lost in deadly night, How are they free whom we had bound, To screen them from the scorching blast? Even like the Son of God." So cried The Tyrant, when in one fierce flame He knew not, but there are who know: The Father, who his vigil keeps By the sad couch whence hope hath flown, Yet in his heart can mercy own, Still sweetly yielding to the rod, Song of the Three Children, ver. 27. "And made the midst of the furnace as it had been a moist whistling wind, [so that the fire touched them not at all, neither hurt nor troubled them."] The Christian Pastor, bow'd to earth Of souls that will not be redeem'd, These know: on these look long and well, TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. MOUNTAIN SCENERY. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord's controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth. Micah vi. 2. [First Evening Lesson, Church of England.] [O Almighty and most merciful God, of thy bountiful goodness keep us, we beseech thee, from all things that may hurt us; that we, being ready both in body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish those things which thou commandest, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] WHERE is thy favour'd haunt, eternal Voice, Where, undisturb'd by sin and earth, the soul "Tis on the mountain's summit dark and high, "Tis 'mid the strong foundations of the earth, Where torrents have their birth, No sounds of worldly toil ascending there, Lone Nature feels that she may freely breathe, Are heard her sacred tones: the fitful sweep Through wither'd bents-romantic note and clear, The wheeling kite's wild solitary cry, The dashing waters when the air is still, That winds unseen beneath the shaggy fell, Such sounds as make deep silence in the heart, 'Tis then we hear the voice of God within, Pleading with care and sin: "Child of my love! how have I wearied thee? Why wilt thou err from me? Have I not brought thee from the house of slaves, And set my saints before thee in the way, What! was the promise made to thec alone? An heir of glory without grief or pain? There lies thy cross; beneath it meekly bow; Who scornful pass it with averted eye, Raise thy repining eyes, and take true measure The Father of thy Lord can grudge thee nought, And as this landscape broad-earth, sea, and sky,— So all God does, if rightly understood, TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. THE RED-BREAST IN SEPTEMBER. The vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it shall speak and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Habakkuk ii. 3. [First Morning Lesson, Church of England.] [Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people, pardon and peace; that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] THE morning mist is clear'd away, Nor yet th' autumnal breeze has stirr'd the grove, Skirts soberly the tranquil scene, The red-breast warbles round this leafy cove. Sweet messenger of "calm decay," As one still bent to find or make the best, The lesson of sweet peace I read, Rather in all to be resign'd than blest. |