::R3601 : page 221::

THE TEMPLE GOD IS BUILDING

“Of all the beautiful lessons
With which God’s book is filled,
This one, of wonderful sweetness,
Hath most my being thrilled.
Oh, wonderful care of the Father!
Oh, wonderful love so free!
To know that the Maker of all things
Careth so much for me!

“‘Tis said that the temple, so stately,
That crowned Moriah’s hill,
Was built without sound of hammer,
The toilers working so still.
Far off from the grand foundation
Was all the noise and strain
Of fitting one stone to another,
From base to turret’s fane.

“And when all were brought together,
The stones of every size,
The columns, so strong and graceful,
Each in its place to rise—
They formed so grand a temple
As never before was seen;
So true in its great proportions,
So bright in its glittering sheen.

“Yet there is a greater temple,
And God is he who plans;
Now gath’ring his stones together
For his ‘house not made with hands,’
And each ‘living stone’ will be there,
Which evermore, day by day,
He’s fitting for this great temple,
Which will last for ever and aye.

“Our pains, temptations and perils,
Our sufferings, sighs and tears,
Are God’s chisels, tools and hammers,
Until the Master appears.
Let no one shrink from the process,
Let none of the Lord’s complain;
But wait with a meek submission,
‘Twill not be long nor in vain.”

====================

— July 15, 1905 —