Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SPIRITUAL WORSHIP, by BERNARD BARTON



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SPIRITUAL WORSHIP, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Though glorious, o god! Must thy temple have been
Last Line: Where the fire burns unquench'd on the altar!
Alternate Author Name(s): Quaker Poet
Variant Title(s): Silent Worship
Subject(s): Worship


THOUGH glorious, O God! must thy temple have been
On the day of its first dedication,
When the cherubim's wings widely waving were seen
On high on the ark's holy station;

When even the chosen of Levi, though skill'd
To minister, standing before thee,
Retired from the cloud which the temple then fill'd,
And thy glory made Israel adore thee;

Though awfully grand was thy majesty then,
Yet the worship thy gospel discloses,
Less splendid in pomp to the vision of men,
Far surpasses the ritual of Moses.

And by whom was that ritual for ever repeal'd,
But by Him unto whom it was given
To enter the oracle where is reveal'd
Not the cloud, but the brightness of heaven?

Who having once enter'd, hath shown us the way,
O Lord! how to worship before thee;
Not with shadowy forms of that earlier day,
But in spirit and truth to adore thee;

This, this is the worship the Saviour made known,
When she of Samaria found him
By the patriarch's well, sitting weary alone,
With the stillness of noontide around him.

How sublime, yet how simple, the homage he taught
To her who inquired by that fountain,
If Jehovah at Solyma's shrine would be sought,
Or adored on Samaria's mountain!

Woman, believe me, the hour is near,
When He, if ye rightly would hail Him,
Will neither be worshipp'd exclusively here,
Nor yet at the altar of Salem.

For God is a spirit, and they who aright
Would perform the pure worship He loveth,
In the heart's holy temple will seek, with delight,
That spirit the Father approveth.

And many that prophecy's truth can declare,
Whose bosoms have livingly known it;
Whom God hath instructed to worship him there,
And convinc'd that his mercy will own it.

The temple that Solomon built to his name,
Now lives but in history's story;
Extinquish'd long since is its altar's bright flame,
And vanquish'd each glimpse of its glory.

But the Christian, made by a wisdom divine,
Though all human fabrics may falter,
Still finds in his heart far holier shrine,
Where the fire burns unquench'd on the altar!




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