"GLORY TO THE RIGHTEOUS!"

Hear the vast repentant throng

Singing as they march along

Their triumphant happy song, 

"Glory to the Righteous!"

Hear them coming from the east,

Saints, whose souls have been released

To enjoy Jehovah's feast,

"Glory to the Righteous!"

Hear them coming from the west,

Saints of God who have been blest

To enjoy Jehovah's rest,

"Glory to the Righteous!"

Hear them come from the world's end,

And praises that ascend

To their Master and their Friend,

"Glory to the Righteous!"

Home in winter

THE MOUNT OF OLIVES

Where did He spend the hours of that last night?

The Mount of Olives where He had valued life

And with His Father had joy that was divine;

Gethsemane: there His will must collide

With Satan's will to swerve Him from the right.

Yet if there lay before Him hours of strife

And grief more fierce that any can indite

His soul recoiled but Christ would not resile.

The enemy might try each thwart device:

He could not touch the dignity of Christ.

Before fire touched the offering in the types

The water proved the sacrifice refined.

Bertie, our neighbour, in the winter

THE MOUNT OF OLIVES

On this ascent David
Wept; but on this summit
David worshipped; and here
His friend Hushai met him.

All others going home
Jesus was here: alone,
But not alone, enjoying
The company of His Father.

The coigne afforded the Christ
A view of Jerusalem; a point
To which could come for prophecy
Four of His disciples.

In this vicinity Jesus found
The ass and colt; here
He was acclaimed; from here
He descended, and wept.

Having sung a hymn He led
To the place of anguished breath;
To the place of agony foreseen
Where the Father's will enthralled.

Next see a triumphing troop,
Disciples, returning from the Mount
Of Olive where they have observed
The ascension of their risen Lord.

And Messiah's feet will stand
On the Mount of Olives when He
Goes out to fight; this Mount shall

Be His people's way of escape.

More in Dalkeith Country Park 

Jane works at an outdoor nursery here.

 

DEUTERONOMY 21

 One has been found                            We have found

Slain, in the land; who                        A heifer never

Is the slayer?                                       Subject to man’s will.

 

Measure with the reed;                       Bring it to the watercourse

Is that the nearest city,                        Which has its spring

Jerusalem?                                           Beyond the will of man.

 

Measure more closely                          Take the heifer

The line stretches to                            To the flowing watercourse

Heart and conscience.                         Break its neck there.

 

                                    The blood of Jesus

                                    Is the only atonement

                                    For the sin that shed it.

Dalkeith Country Park in Autumn

Mortem non gustabunt

 

The ardent love which Laeda’s offspring showed,
The twins she bore through Jupiter’s deceit,
Fails when compared with love with which Christ glowed:
He’s God and Man, whose purity’s complete.
If the beloved Pollux shared with Castor,
His brother, life, the gain was qualified,
If one lived for the other death was master:
If one arose, one perished with the tide.

But life which is beyond death’s might and main
Christ gains, and also gives to the elect.
The living praise: His death won’t be in vain:
Don’t be lost, through His victory’s effect.

For deep in hell there is a place secreted
For everything by which you were defeated.

Another Elizabeth Weston; comment on translation would be appreciated!

Mortem non gustabunt

Non fratres inter tantus fuit ardor amantes,

Quos decepta tulit Laeda furore Jovis:         which deceived took Laeda with fury Jove

Quanto hominum mitis flagrabat amore Redemptor,

Qui Deus, & puro corpore purus homo est.

Mutate enim Pollux charo cum Castore vitam

Fratre suam; certa conditione tamen.

Alter ut alterius moriatur orogine vitae:

Dumque hic surgite quis, ille feratur aquis.

At vitam, alterius Christus sine morte perennem

Obtinet, Electis & dat habere suis.

Vivus ovat; non te mors illius ergo fefellit:

Ne pereas, sed eas per supera, ille perit.                 

Omnia qui te eum victurus secula, solus                 

Expertem stygiae te facit esse plagae.

O CHRIST MY HOPE

In you, O Christ my Hope, my hopes depend;

Amid confusing wickedness, defend;

I do not trust in images or art,

For nothing can be certain on man’s part.

My Hope, Thou art mine own, through rock and fire:

I’ll cross the seas, if that’s what you require;

Your arms will even overcome the sea,

Wherever your command to me may be.

Elizabeth Jane Weston (c.1581-1612)

This is my version of the following.  Any clarification of the Latin would be appreciated.

In Symbolam Westoniae Auctoris

Spes mea Christus

In te, Christe, mihi spes derivata recumbit; 

Sed ne confundant me mala tot, fer opem: 

Non ego imaginibus confido, ne arte; salutis, 

Quam spero, certae nil mihi praestat homo. 

Tu spes, tu mea res, Meus es, per saxa per ignes:

Si vis esse, sequar per freta: se esse jubes 

Per freta; freta tuo munimine vinco: petitis 

Certa, vel hic, summi vel patris aede tui.

JEHOSHEBA

 

2 Kings 11: 2

True faithfulness preserved the royal line,

Noble behaviour risked to save a child,

Just actions proved the impulse was divine,

Pure priestliness found Judah reconciled,

Amiable care sustained through watching days:

This good report tells of a soul that's fine:

Virtue in her conduces to God's praise.

THOUGHTS ON MICAH (AGAIN)

(Micah 7: 7)

Amid this world of trouble I will wait for

The God of my salvation; He will hear me

Although the turbulence may not abate for

A moment in His goodness He will cheer me.

I rest upon His promise and His favour

Since He has told me that He will be near me:

He is my Rock, although I flinch and waver.

More near Dover: that's us!