— Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 —
Forth to the realms of darkness go
Where, like a river’s ceaseless flow,
A tide of souls is drifting down
Blasted beneath th’ Almighty’s frown.
No human skill nor power can stay
That flood upon its gloomy way;
But God’s own love devised the plan
To save the ruined creature, man.
Basil Manly Jr., from the original version of Manly’s hymn “Soldiers of Christ, In Truth Arrayed.” The “omitted stanzas” stopped being sung at Southern when Manly left the seminary in 1871 to become president of Georgetown College. This is from Michael Haykin’s excellent article on Manly in the Spring 2009 issue of the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology.
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It is, by the way, a poignant and beautiful snippet of verse.
Bro. Barber, the music video is being made as we speak. I just need all the pyrotechnics in place. RDM
That’s a powerful word picture.