Poems Author:Frances Ridley Havergal Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE MINISTRY OF SONG. PRELUDE. AMID the broken waters of our ever-restless thought, Oh, be my verse an answering gleam from higher radiance caught; Th... more »at where through dark o'erarching boughs of sorrow, doubt, and sin, The glorious Star of Bethlehem upon the flood looks in, Its tiny trembling ray may bid some downcast vision turn To that enkindling Light, for which all earthly shadows yearn. Oh, be my verse a hidden stream, which silently may flow Where drooping leaf and thirsty flower in lonely valleys grow; And often by its shad)' course to pilgrim hearts be brought The quiet and refreshment of an upward - pointing thought.; Till, blending with the broad bright stream of sanctified endeavor, God's glory be its ocean home, the end it seeketh ever. THE MINISTRY OF SONG. IN God's great field of labor All work is not the same ; He hath a service for each one Who loves His holy name. And you, to whom the secrets Of all sweet sounds are known, Rise up ! for He hath called you To a mission of your own. And, rightly to fulfill it, His grace can make you strong, Who to your charge hath given The Ministry of Song. Sing to the little children, And they vill listen well; Sing grand and holy music, For they can feel its spell. Tell them the tale of Jephthah ; Then sing them what he said,— " Deeper and deeper still," and watch How the little cheek grows red, And the little breath comes quicker : They will ne'er forget the tale, Which the song has fastened surely, As with a golden nail. 0 I remember, late one evening, How the music stopped, for, hark 1 Charlie's nursery door was open, He was calling in the dark : "Oh, no ! I am not frightened, And I do not want a light; But I cannot sleep for thin...« less