TWILIGHT MUSINGS | AdventAI

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 11, 1873

TWILIGHT MUSINGS.

’Twas evening—the day-king had set in the west, All nature was wearied and sinking to rest; A spirit of sadness my spirit enthralled, And I saw not the beauty the sunset unfurled.

I sat till the twilight had deepened and gone, The mantle of night round the earth had been thrown; All nature was hushed save the sighing of trees, Or the low murmuring stream disturbed by the breeze.

Bright stars glittered round those homes of the blest, But a phantom had won me—that phantom—unrest; I had searched for a treasure, but earth had no power To give what Christ bought in Gethsemane’s bower

I had sought midst the gay and the noble of earth, But found not the pearl—that treasure of worth— I had asked of the sages and learned men of God, But they said ’twas not found on all the green sod.

Then I asked of my soul, Is this all of life, These vain empty toys, this contention and strife? In this world is there, then, not an aim nor a goal That will bring rest and peace to this sin-shadowed soul?

And a voice from the gloom, a voice sweet and low, Was wafted to me, “Soul, thy work thou shalt know; My fields are all ripened, the reapers are few, Thy work shall be gleaning—be faithful and true.

“In the heat of the day thou shalt toil, but faint not, I have promised to shield thee, thou’lt ne’er be forgot; Thy long-sought-for treasure on earth shall be given, ’Tis peace here, like a river, in eternity, Heaven.

“When temptation assails, and thou art cast down, Then think of the rest, of the robe and the crown, Think, too, how I suffered and died on the tree Redemption to purchase—thee from sin to set free.”

Then I said, “Lord, thy bidding I’ll evermore do, The crown and the cross ever keeping in view; With thy love in my heart and peace flowing on, I’ll watch, toil, and pray, till I hear thy ‘well done.’” —Sel.