The Ninety and Nine

THERE were ninety and nine that safely lay

In the shelter of the fold;

But one was out on the hills away,

Far off from the gates of gold,

Away on the mountains wild and bare,

Away from the tender Shepherd's care.

"Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine--

Are they not enough for Thee?"

But the Shepherd made answer, "This of Mine

Has wandered away from Me;

And although the road be rough and steep

I go to the desert to find My sheep."

But none of the ransomed ever knew

How deep were the waters crossed;

Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through

Ere He found His sheep that was lost.

Out in the desert He heard its cry,

Sick and helpless and ready to die.

"Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way

That mark out the mountain's track?"

"They were shed for one who had gone astray,

Ere the Shepherd could bring him back."

"Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?"

"They were pierced tonight by many a thorn."

And all through the mountains, thunder-riven,

And up from the rocky steep,

There arose a cry to the gate of heaven,

"Rejoice, I have found My sheep!"

And the angels echoed around the throne,

"Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own."

Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane

Beneath the Cross

BENEATH the Cross of Jesus,

    I fain would take my stand,

The shadow of a mighty rock

    Within a weary land;

A home within the wilderness,

    A rest upon the way,

From the burnng of the noontide heat,

    And the burden of the day.

Upon the Cross of Jesus,

    Mine eye at times can see

The very dying form of One

    Who suffered there for me.

And from my smitten heart, with tears,

    Two wonders I confess, --

The wonder of His glorious love,

    And my own worthlessness.

I take, O Cross, thy shadow

    For my abiding-place;

I ask no other sunshine than

    The sunshine of His face:

Content to let the world go by,

    To know no gain nor loss,

My sinful self my only shame,

    My glory all, the Cross.

Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane