Thursday, December 19, 2013

The shepherds sing; and shall I silent be?

My God, no hymn for Thee?

My soul’s a shepherd too: a flock it feeds

Of thoughts, and words, and deeds.

The pasture is Thy Word, the streams, Thy Grace

Enriching all the place.

Shepherd and flock shall sing, and all my powers

Out-sing the daylight hours.

Then we will chide the sun for letting night

Take up his place and right:

We sing one common Lord; wherefore he should

Himself the candle hold.

I will go searching, till I find a sun

Shall stay, till we have done;

A willing shiner, that shall shine as gladly,

As frost-nipt suns look sadly.

Then we will sing, and shine all our own day,

And one another pay:

His beams shall cheer my breast, and both so twine,

Till ev’n his beams sing, and my music shine.

... George Herbert (1593-1633), The Poetical Works of George Herbert, New York: D. Appleton, 1857, p. 102 (see the book; see also Luke 2:20; Ps. 33:1-4; 98:1-8; 104:33; 119:105; 1 Cor. 15:14; Eph. 5:19-20; Col. 3:16; more at Cheer, Day, Gladness, God, Music, Search, Silence, Song, Worship)

 
Compilation Copyright, 1996-2024, by Robert McAnally Adams,
        Curator, Christian Quotation of the Day,
        with Robert Douglas, principal contributor
Logo image Copyright 1996 by Shay Barsabe, of “Simple GIFs”, by kind permission.
Send comments to curator@cqod.com.

Last updated: 04/14/16

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