Where childhood needs a standard
Or youth a beacon light,
Where sorrow sighs for comfort
Or weakness longs for might,
Bring forth the Holy Bible—
The Bible! There it stands!
Resolving all life’s problems
And meeting its demands.

Though sophistry conceal it,
The Bible! There it Stands!
Though Pharisees profane it,
Its influence expands.
It fills the world with fragrance
Whose sweetness never cloys;
It lifts our eyes to Heaven,
It heightens human joys.

Despised and torn in pieces,
By infidels decried,
With thunderbolts of hatred
The haughty cynics pride—
All these have railed against it
In this and other lands;
Yet dynasties have fallen,
And still the Bible stands!

To Paradise a highway,
The Bible! There it stands!
Its promises unfailing,
Nor grievous its commands.
It points man to his Saviour,
The Lover of his soul;
Salvation is its watchword,
Eternity its goal!

—by James M. Gray (1851-1935)

Index

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