opprest,
A kindly helping hand,
And bear aloft that sacred cross,
Bright from the distant years,
And say for Christ’s and Simon’s sake,
We’ll wipe away your tears.
For years of sorrow, toil and pain
We’ll bring you love and light,
And in the name of Christ our Lord
We’ll make your pathway bright.
That seamless robe shall yet enfold
The children of the sun,
Till rich and poor and bond and free
In Christ shall all be one.
And for his sake from pride and scorn
Our spirits shall be free,
Till through our souls shall sound the words
He did it unto me.
Deliverance
Rise up! rise up! Oh Israel,
Let a spotless lamb be slain;
The angel of death will o’er you bend
And rend your galling chain.
Sprinkle its blood upon the posts
And lintels of your door;
When the angel sees the crimson spots
Unharmed he will pass you o’er.
Gather your flocks and herds to-night,
Your children by our side:
A leader from Arabia comes
To be your friend and guide.
With girded loins and sandled feet
Await the hour of dread,
When Mizraim shall wildly mourn
Her first-born and her dead.
The sons of Abraham no more
Shall crouch ’neath Pharoah’s hand,
Trembling with agony and dread,
He’ll thrust you from the land.
And ye shall hold in unborn years
A feast to mark this day,
When joyfully the fathers rose
And cast their chains away.
When crimson tints of morning flush
The golden gates of day,
Or gorgeous hue of even melt
In sombre shades away,
Then ye shall to your children teach
The meaning of this feast,
How from the proud oppressor’s hand
Their fathers were released,
And ye shall hold through distant years
This feast with glad accord,
And children’s children yet shall learn
To love and trust the Lord.
Ages have passed since Israel trod
In triumph through the sea,
And yet they hold in memory’s urn
Their first great jubilee.
When Moses led the ransomed hosts,
And Miriam’s song arose,
While ruin closed around the path
Of their pursuing foes.
Shall Israel thro’ long varied years
These memories cherish yet,
And we who lately stood redeemed
Our broken chains forget?
Should we forget the wondrous change
That to our people came,
When justice rose and sternly plead
Our cause with sword and flame?
And led us through the storms of war
To freedom’s fairer shore,
When slavery sank beneath a flood
Whose waves were human gore.
Oh, youth and maidens of the land,
Rise up with one accord,
And in the name of Christ go forth
To battle for the Lord.
Go forth, but not in crimson fields.
With fratricidal strife,
But in the name of Christ go forth
For freedom, love and life.
Go forth to follow in his steps,
Who came not to destroy,
Till wastes shall blossom as the rose,
And deserts sing for joy.
Simon’s Feast
He is coming, she said, to Simon’s feast,
The prophet of Galilee,
Though multitudes around him throng
In longing his face to see.
He enters the home as Simon’s guest,
But he gives no welcome kiss;
He brings no water to bathe his feet—
Why is Simon so remiss?
The prophet’s face is bright with love,
And mercy beams from his eye;
He pities the poor, the lame and blind,
An outcast, I will draw nigh.
If a prophet, he will surely know
The guilt of my darkened years;
With broken heart I’ll seek his face,
And bathe his feet with my tears.
No holy rabbi lays his hand
In blessing on my head;
No loving voice floats o’er the path,
The downward path I tread.
Unto the Master’s side she pressed,
A penitent, frail and fair,
Rained on his feet a flood of tears.
And then wiped them with her hair.
Over the face of Simon swept
An air of puzzled surprise;
Can my guest a holy prophet be,
And not this woman despise?
Christ saw the thoughts that Simon’s heart
Had written upon his face,
Kindly turned to the sinful one
In her sorrow and disgrace.
Where Simon only saw the stains,
Where sin and shame were rife,
Christ looked beneath and saw the germs
Of a fair, outflowering life.
Like one who breaks a galling chain,
And sets a prisoner free,
He rent her fetters with the words,
“Thy sins are forgiven thee.”
God be praised for the gracious words
Which came through that woman’s touch
That souls redeemed thro’ God’s dear Son
May learn to love him so much;
That souls once red with guilt and crime
May their crimson stains outgrow;
The scarlet spots upon their lives
Become whiter than driven snow.
Endnotes
-
See this case, as touchingly related, in Oliver Twist, by Dickens. ↩
-
The Temperance Band. ↩
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