THE VOICE OF THE GUIDE.
By Margaret E. Sangster
WALKING through an unknown region—
Tangled thicket, brier, and thorn,
Weaving barriers dark and legion,
Shadows on the face of morn;
Noontide hid in brooding tempests,
Nightfall coming cold and gray;
Lord, we thank Thee for the promise,
Starlike in Thy Word to-day! Give us listening ears to hear it,
Give us faith to follow on
Tho the clouds, unrifted, cover
All the glory of the sun.
"Thou shalt hear a voice behind thee!"
Do we, waiting as we pray,
Sweet from heaven discern its cadence—
"Tread with courage, this the way"? Lord, so many thoughts beset us;
Lord, so many whispers press
On the silence of the spirit,
Pilgrim in this wilderness;
Only as Thy voice commands us,
Only as our hearts obey,
We are safe, and sure of reaching
Home, at ending of the way. Lord, when we are worn and weary,
Lord, when faith is weak and faint,
Give us then, we pray, to hear Thee,
Hush the moaning of complaint.
"Thou shalt hear a voice behind thee!"
Starlike beams the word to-day;
And we listen, and we journey,
God Himself our strength and stay.
—Margaret E. Sangster.