Sweet Hour of Prayer, 4th stanza
by William W. Walford
- Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer
- May I thy consolation share,
- Till, from Mount Pisgah’s lofty height,
- I view my home, and take my flight:
- This robe of flesh I’ll drop, and rise
- To seize the everlasting prize;
- And shout, while passing through the air,
- Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer!
If you’ve ever wondered what the songwriter had in mind when he wrote those words, read Deuteronomy 34.
For a current view of the mountain range (via Google Maps), click here to open a new window. Don’t forget to zoom out a couple of notches and see where the promised land lay. If you have Google Earth installed, fly to Mount Nebo and look around.
Meditation Points:
- Moses was healthy at the time of his death. Would today’s media report that he died of “natural causes”?
- Moses was allowed to see the land, but he was not allowed to set foot in it. Children don’t appreciate “look, but don’t touch” commands. Do you?
- The nation mourned for 30 days after the death of Moses.
- To this day, nobody on earth knows where Moses was buried. If this were otherwise, some superstitious zealot would dig up the bones and encase them in glass and set them on display for all the world to adore. It’s better that we forget the messenger and remember his God.
- Jude 1:9 raises an interesting discussion about the body. It seems that the devil wanted it! Devils often want the remains of God’s people.
- Sometimes the old leadership must die so that the young will have no choice but to carry on. In what ways would it have been good to remove Moses and replace him with Joshua just as the nation is about to enter the land?
- Are you looking for a Bible promise, phrase or verse to memorize? Consider the following:
- Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you (Joshua 1:3)
- There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of your life (Joshua 1:5 a)
- As I was with Moses, so shall I be with thee (1:5 b)
- I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee (1:5 c)
- Be thou strong and very courageous (Joshua 1:7 a)
- Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left (1:7 c)
- That you may prosper whithersoever thou goest (1:7 d)
- Meditate therein day and night (Joshua 1:8)
- When reminded of their covenant to fight alongside their brothers, the men of Reuben, Gad and (half tribe of) Manasseh recommitted themselves with the promise that any man who shirked his duty would be put to death (Joshua 1:18). How many professing Christians are willing to earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 1:3)?
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