The Mercy Seat

Singing "The Secret Place," or "The Mercy Seat," this evening brought back fond memories of EQUIP XXII. I send it off to them in faith, and to all who need this refuge. (And it's one of those great pictures, referred to below, from the early Old Testament!)

"From every stormy wind that blows,

From every swelling tide of woes,

There is a calm, a safe retreat:

'Tis found beneath the mercy seat.

"There is a place where Jesus sheds

The oil of gladness on our heads,

A place than all beside more sweet:

It is the bloodstained mercy seat.

"There is a spot where spirits blend,

Where friend holds fellowship with friend:

Though sundered far, by faith they meet

Around the common mercy seat.

"Ah! whither could we flee for aid,

When tempted, desolate, dismayed,

Or how the hosts of hell defeat,

Had suff'ring saints no mercy seat.

"Children of God, whate'er you need,

Think of the Priest who died for you:

Ye suppliants, know whene'er you plead

That your High Priest is pleading too.

"Nor pleads in vain; the Father hears

The voice of His Beloved Son:

'Tis music in Jehovah's ears--

He pleads, and lo, the suit is won."

--Hugh Stowell (supplemented by F.W. Sandford)