It does us good to consider the return of Jesus Christ. When times are difficult, when life is sorrowful, when we are just plain weary, it does us good to shift our hearts from our circumstances to Christ’s sure and certain return. That’s the purpose of this sweet poem by Reginald Heber. “The Lord shall come,” he assures us…
The Lord will come: the earth shall quake,
The mountains to their centre shake;
And, withering from the vault of night,
The stars shall pale their feeble light.
The Lord shall come! but not the same
As once in lowliness He came,
A silent Lamb before his foes,
A weary man and full of woes.
The Lord shall come! a dreadful form,
With rainbow-wreath and robes of storm,
On cherub wings and wings of wind,
Appointed Judge of all mankind.
Can this be He, who wont to stray
A pilgrim on the world’s high way;
Oppressed by power, and mocked by pride,
The Nazarene—the crucified?
While sinners in despair shall call,
“Rocks hide us; mountains on us fall;”
The saints, ascending from the tomb,
Shall joyful sing, “The Lord is come!”
