The Remembrancer: 1896, Servant Forever, The: Part 1 (21:5-6)
An old hymn slightly altered.)
Sweet to ponder o'er His footsteps,
All the service of His love;
And adoringly remember,
Grace 'twas brought Him from above!
Learn His love beside the manger,
Learn it on the stormy wave,
By the well, and in the garden-
Learn it by the Cross and grave.
Yet not only in remembrance
Do we watch that stream of love;
Still a mighty torrent flowing
From the throne of God above.
Still a treasure that's uncounted,
Still a story half untold,
Unexhausted and unfathom'd,
Fresh as in the days of old.
Christ, at God's right hand, unwearied
By our self-will and our sin,
Day by day, and hour by hour,
Welcoming each wand'rer in;
On His heart amidst the glory,
Bearing all our grief and care,
Ev'ry burden, ere we feel it,
Weighed and measured in His prayer.
Fragrant thus, with priestly incense,
Each distress, each sorrow tells
Thoughts that fill the heart of Jesus
In the glory, where He dwells.
All His love, His joy, His glory,
By His Spirit here made known,
Whilst that Spirit speaks the sorrows
Of His saints before the throne.
He, of old the Man of Sorrows,
Pleads before the Father's face,
Knowing all the needed solace,
Claiming all the needed grace.
We, so faithless and oft weary,
Serving with impatient will;
He unwearied in our service,
Gladly ministering still.
Girded with the golden girdle,
Shining as the mighty sun,
Still His pierced hands will finish
All His work of love begun.
On the night of His betrayal,
In the glory of the throne,
Still, with faithful patience, washing
All defilement from His own.
When the Father's house resoundeth
With the music and the song;
When the bride in glorious raiment
Sees the One who loved so long.
Then for new and blessed service
Girt afresh, will He appear,
Stand and serve, before His angels,
Those who waited for Him here.
He who led them through the desert,
Watch'd and guided day by day,
Turn'd the flinty rocks to water,
Made them brooks beside the way-
He will bring them where the fountains
Fresh and full spring forth above,
Still, throughout the endless ages,
Serving in the joy of love.