When Israel, By Divine Command ( 303 )

When Israel, by divine command,
The pathless desert trod,
They found, throughout the barren land,
A sure resource in God.

A cloudy pillar marked the road,
And screened them from the heat;
From the hard rock the water flowed,
And manna was their meat.

Like them, we have a rest in view,
Secure from hostile powers:
Like them, we pass a desert too,
But Israel’s ‘God is ours.

His word a light before us spreads,
By which our path we see;
His love, a banner o’er our heads,
From harm preserves us free.

Jesus, the Bread of life, is given
To be our daily food;
Within us dwells that well from heaven,
The Spirit of our God.

Lord, ’tis enough, we ask no more;
Thy grace around us pours
Its rich and unexhausted store,
And all its joy is ours.

  Author:  UNKNOWN