Though glorious, O God must thy temple have been
On the day of its first dedication,
When the cherubim wings widely waving were seen
On high o'er the ark's holy station;

When even the chosen of Levi, though skill'd
To minister standing before Thee,
Retired from the cloud which thy temple then fill'd,
And thy glory made Israel adore Thee;

Though awful indeed was thy majesty then;
Yet the worship thy gospel discloses,
Less splendid in show to the vision of men,
Surpasses the ritual of Moses.

And by whom was that ritual for ever repeal'd?
But by Him unto whom it was given
To enter the oracle where is reveal'd
Not the cloud, but the brightness of heaven.

Who, having once enter'd, hath shown us the way,
O Lord, how to worship before Thee;
Not with shadowy forms of that earlier day,
But in spirit and truth to adore Thee.

This, this is the worship Messiah made known,
When she of Samaria found Him
By the patriarch's well sitting weary alone,
With the stillness of noon-tide around him

" Woman, believe me, the hour is near,
When He, if ye rightly would hail Him,
Will neither be worshipp'd exclusively here,
Nor yet at the altar of Salem

" For God is a Spirit! and they who aright
Would do the pure worship he loveth
In the heart's holy temple, will seek with delight
That spirit the Father approveth "

And many that prophecy's truth can declare
Whose bosoms have livingly known it;
Whom God has instructed to visit him there,
And convinced that his mercy will own it.

The temple that Solomon built to his name
Exists but in name and in story:
Extinguish'd long since is that altar's bright flame,
And vanish'd each glimpse of its glory.

But the Christian, made wise by a wisdom Divine,
Though all human fabrics may falter,
Still finds in his heart a far holier shrine,
Where the fire burns unquench'd on the altar.