The Call

O ALL you inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, come; see and hear; gather yourselves together unto the proclamation of the Great King. Hear, you that are far off, and you that are near! He that has an ear to hear, let him hear. I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord. Let every valley be exalted, and every mountain be made low, for the glory of the Lord is to be revealed.” Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way: cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones, lift up the standard for the people; for the Lord proclaims salvation to the ends of the earth. Tidings! tidings, O you captives! Hear, all you that look for salvation in Israel; behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people. Blessed news! Prepare your ears and hearts! The Lord has commanded me, saying,  2  “Go unto the people, and sanctify them; let them wash and be ready; for the Lord is coming down upon Mount Sion, in the sight of all nations; not in earthquakes and fire, not in clouds and darkness, not in thunderings or burnings, rending the mountains and breaking the rocks into pieces.” He does not speak to you out of blackness, and darkness, and tempests: you shall say no more, “Let not God speak to us, lest we die.” He comes peaceably; the law of kindness is in his mouth; he preaches peace; peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near. Behold, how he comes, leaping upon the mountains; he has passed mount Ebal; Deut 11.29; 27.12-13 – no more wrath or cursing; he has come to mount Gerizim, where he stands to bless the people. As Mordecai to his nation, he writes “the words of truth and peace, seeking the welfare of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.”  Behold how he comes clothed with flames of love, with heartfelt compassion, plenteous redemption, and multiplied pardons. O how pregnant is his love! O the rollings of his compassion! O how full are his breasts, even aching till they are eased by the sucking of his hungry children!  Hearken, therefore, O you children, hearken to me. To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at what time you hear the joyful sound, the trump of jubilee, the tidings of peace, in the voice of the everlasting Gospel, you fall down before the throne, and worship him that lives forever and ever.  Arise, and come away; prepare, prepare yourself; hear not with an uncircumcised ear; you are not upon a common thing. Behold, the throne is set;  3 the throne of grace, where majesty and mercy dwell together. From thence will the Lord meet you; from thence will he commune with you; from the mercy-seat, from between the cherubims, upon the ark of the testimony. Look, the Lord comes out of his pavilion, the mighty God from Sion. Selah. His glory covers the heavens; the earth is full of his praise. A fire (of love) goes before him; mercy and truth round about him; righteousness and peace are the habitation of his throne. He rides on his horses and chariots of salvation; the covenant of life and peace is in his mouth.  Rejoice, you heavens; make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Let the sea roar, the floods clap their hands, and the multitudes of the isles rejoice. Stand forth, the host of heaven; prepare your harps, cast down your crowns, be ready with your trumpets; bring forth your golden vials full of aromas, for our voice will jar, our strings will break, we cannot reach the note of our Maker’s praise.  Yet let them that dwell in the dust, arise and sing. Bear your part in this glorious service: but consider and attend. Call out your souls, and all that is within you; lift up your voices, fix your eyes, enlarge your hearts, intend all their powers; there is work for them all. Be intent and serious, you cannot strain too high.  Come forth, you graces, beset the way; be all in readiness. Stand forth, faith and hope. Be aflame, O love! Come, you warm desires, and break with longing. Let fear, with all veneration, do its obeisance. Joy, prepare your sons; call up all the daughters of music, to salute the Lord as he passes by. Let the generation of the saints appear, and  4  spread the way with boughs and garments of salvation, and songs of deliverance. you stand this day all of you before the Lord your God, your captains, your elders, your officers, with all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and the stranger that is within your camp, from the hewer of wood to the drawer of water, that you should enter into covenant with the Lord your God, Deut. 19.10-13 and into his oath, which the Lord your God makes with you this day, that he may establish you today for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto you a God, as he has said to you, and as he has sworn.  I have done my errand. The messenger of the morning disappears when the orient sun comes forth out of his chambers. I vanish: I put my mouth in the dust. The voice of the Lord! The soft and still voice! O my soul, wrap your face in the mantle, and bow yourself to the ground, and put yourself into the cleft of the rock, while Jehovah proclaims his name, and makes all his goodness to pass before you.