Poems (Frances Elizabeth Browne)/On the miracle at Mount Horeb
ON THE MIRACLE AT MOUNT HOREB.
"Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink."—Exodus xvii. 6.
Great is the Lord, and great his power!
His mercy great,—mighty to save!
On Horeb did his glory shine,
Gushed from the rock the rolling wave.
At his divine, omnipotent command,
His rod the prophet took,—
O, wondrous act of the Almighty's hand!—
Forth issued from the flint a bubbling brook;
Nature the God of nature's fiat hears;
What once seemed adamant, a stream appears.
His mercy great,—mighty to save!
On Horeb did his glory shine,
Gushed from the rock the rolling wave.
At his divine, omnipotent command,
His rod the prophet took,—
O, wondrous act of the Almighty's hand!—
Forth issued from the flint a bubbling brook;
Nature the God of nature's fiat hears;
What once seemed adamant, a stream appears.
His chosen people faint with thirst,
A dreadful, lingering death in view;
Exhausted in the wilderness,
Their Maker saw, and pitied too.
Anguish, and pain, and deep despair
Seized every tortured soul.
"Ye are the objects of my tenderest care;
Fear not, my people!—be ye whole!
Smite thou the rock!" Jehovah said.
A river flowed, as Moses prompt obeyed.
A dreadful, lingering death in view;
Exhausted in the wilderness,
Their Maker saw, and pitied too.
Anguish, and pain, and deep despair
Seized every tortured soul.
"Ye are the objects of my tenderest care;
Fear not, my people!—be ye whole!
Smite thou the rock!" Jehovah said.
A river flowed, as Moses prompt obeyed.
Type of that spiritual Rock
Which after ages should behold,
From whence a stream should issue forth,
Refreshing the chief Shepherd's fold,
That Rock was Christ,—that saving stream
Was life, and health, and peace,
Which all his church derive from him;—
That stream shall never cease.
"Smite thou the Rock," Jehovah said,
And Pilate all unconsciously obeyed.
Which after ages should behold,
From whence a stream should issue forth,
Refreshing the chief Shepherd's fold,
That Rock was Christ,—that saving stream
Was life, and health, and peace,
Which all his church derive from him;—
That stream shall never cease.
"Smite thou the Rock," Jehovah said,
And Pilate all unconsciously obeyed.