SERMON ON THE MOUNT.

49

XXVII.

COMMENCEMENT OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.

MATTHEW V. 1-16

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. - Verse 3.

UPON a Syrian mountain's brow
There sat a peasant of the land,
While round him gathered, silent now,
From vale and plain a countless band.
With eager expectation filled,

On his controlling words they hung;
A thousand stormy hearts were stilled,
As rose the accents of his tongue.

From David's old heroic line,

Men said, that peasant prophet rose;
And well they deemed, his voice divine
Would call to vengeance on their foes.
In thought they grasped the bloody sword,
While Rome's dread legions o'er the plain,
Fled from the armies of the Lord,

Or sunk in fight, by thousands slain.

They thought of him in Elah's vale,
Who brought the heathen giant low,*
Of armed Assyria's frantic wail,

At the dark angel's midnight blow.t
Of Judas, lion of the fight,

And his bold brethren's deathless name,
Who tamed the Macedonian might,
And lit anew the altar's flame. ‡

But hark, the prophet! "Blest are they
The poor in spirit, peaceful, meek,
Who good for others' ill repay,

And righteousness and mercy seek.
Blest are the mourners; blest are those
Who bleed from persecution's rod;
For calm in heaven shall they repose;
The pure in heart shall see their God."

They turn away with mournful brow;
Their hopes of power and vengeance cease.
Stern Israel cannot learn to bow

To thy mild sceptre, Prince of Peace!
Yet dost thou reign; no earthly throne
Confines thee to its scanty sway;

But age on age shall be thine own,
Earth's thousand tribes thy laws obey.

* 1 Samuel xvii.

† 2 Kings xix. 35.

#1 Maccabees iii. 1 ; iv. 38.

RETURNING GOOD FOR EVIL.

51

XXVIII.

RETURNING GOOD FOR EVIL.

MATTHEW V. 17-48.

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. Verse 44.

Nor by thy lips alone,

Blest Saviour! was thy law of love declared,
But in thy life of gentleness it shone,
When even thy foes in thy compassion shared.

When on the cross of shame

The bitterness of death thy spirit wrung,

Then from thy lips what words of mercy came, What gentle pleading melted from thy tongue!

Yet on thy law of love,

In admiration blent with doubt we gaze,
And fear lest human strength too feeble prove
To that majestic height our souls to raise.

But thou hast gone before;

That height of holiness 't was thine to climb,
And we, the pupils of thy sacred lore,

Can we not emulate thy love sublime?

And if to thee the strife

Was less, through union with the God of love,
Over our humbler path of common life
Hovers, as over thee, the heavenly dove.

What we must bear below,

How light to all that thou, our Lord, hast borne, The thorny crown, the scourge, the cross of woe, And thy relentless foemen's bitter scorn.

Lord! thou canst make us strong!

Control the proud heart; bend the stubborn will; May we, when injured, meekly bear the wrong, And make our good victorious over ill!

WHERE is thy dwelling-place, Eternal One?
In vain we search the illimitable heaven;
For never yet the brightness of thy throne
Was to the sight of favored mortals given.

The humblest lily of the field displays

1;

Thy bounty, and reveals thy matchless skill But when our thoughts to thee we strive to raise, The mighty Artist is in secret still.

Within our hearts we know thee; there are springs
Oft rising, that attest our Father's grace;

But though we mark the current's wanderings,
Vainly we seek the hidden source to trace.

God, who in secret seest us! In the hour
Of solitude, do thou thyself reveal.
Led by thy love, and awed before thy power,

Grant us the presence of our God to feel.