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The Old Pathway

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 12, 1906

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 83, No. 28.

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The Old Pathway

By Horatius Bonar

FAR down the ages now, Her journey well-nigh done, The pilgrim church pursues her way, In haste to reach the crown.
The story of the past Comes up before her view; How well it seems to suit her still, Old, and yet ever new.
’Tis the same story still Of sin and weariness, Of grace and love still flowing down To pardon and to bless.
’Tis the old sorrow still, The brier and the thorn; And ’tis the same old solace yet— The hope of coming morn.
No wider is the gate, No broader is the way, No smoother is the ancient path That leads to light and day.
No lighter is the load Beneath whose weight we cry, No tamer grows the rebel flesh, No less our enemy.
No sweeter is the cup, Nor less our lot of ill; ’Twas tribulation ages since, ’Tis tribulation still.
No greener are the rocks, No fresher flow the rills, No roses in the wilds appear, No vines upon the hills.
. . . .
No slacker grows the fight, No feebler is the foe, No less the need of armor tried, Of shield and spear and bow.
Nor less we feel the blank Of earth’s still absent King, Whose presence is of all our bliss The everlasting spring.
Thus onward still we press, Through evil and through good, Through pain and poverty and want, Through peril and through blood.
Still faithful to our God, And to our Captain true, We follow where he leads the way, The kingdom in our view.
— Horatius Bonar.