Page:Redemption, a Poem.djvu/169

 REDEMPTION. 163

The tribes led through the desert, tried with want, Afflicted, and with manna fed, which ne'er Their fathers knew ; showing, that not by bread Alone, a man may live, but in each word, That doth from out the mouth of God proceed. Thy reas'ning vain, hence proves thee reason void, And not the least avails to gain thine ends, Albeit so many fall by this deceit, And some perhaps who deem themselves absteme."

This said he, not devoid of power to change The elements which he had made. Order, Who out of chaos brought, who bade the sun Dispense his golden beams to rule the day, The moon the night, and worlds innum'rable To glitter in immensity of space ; Who out of dust made man; the same hath pow'r Here to transmute from stones, life-giving bread. He came as Man to suffer and be tried ; Obedient, he took a servant's form To serve, that by his trial well sustain'd, From sin exempt, and service freely given, Sin, he might blot, and mend the broken law. Sorrow, he came to bear, suff'ring, and want, And shed for each a sympathizing tear, So, strong with Word of God, our foe rebuked. The Spirit's sword, thus wielded, Satan felt, And change his roll, another ruse to try. Exposed, defeated, yet the bolder grown, Precipitously rash, the Lord he takes ; Then, swift as spirits may, so Christ allows, Wafts him through air to porch of Solyma, High on the Temple's pinnacle alights,

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