The Anvil of God's Word

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 20, 1916

The Anvil of God's Word

LAST even I stood before a blacksmith's door, And heard the anvil ring its vesper chime; Then, looking in, I saw upon the floor Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.

"How many anvils have you had," said I, "To wear and batter all these hammers so?" "Just one," he answered; then, with twinkling eye, "The anvil wears the hammer out, you know."

And so the Bible, anvil of God's word, For ages skeptic blows have beat upon; And though the noise of Paine, Voltaire, was heard, The anvil is unworn—the hammers gone.

Apprentice blows of ignorance, forsooth, May awe with sound, and blinding sparks death-whirled; The Master holds and turns the iron, his truth, And shapes it as he wills, to bless the world.

— Selected.