The Family Bible

The Family Bible

How painfully pleasing the fond recollection

Of youthful connections and innocent joys,

When blest with parental advice and affection,

Surrounded with mercies, with peace from on high.

I still view the chairs of my sire and my mother,

The seats of their offspring as ranged on each hand,

And that richest of books which excell'd every other -

That family Bible that lay on the stand;

The old-fashioned Bible, the dear blessed Bible,

The family Bible that lay on the stand.

That Bible, the volume of God's inspiration,

At morn and at evening could yield us delight;

And the prayer of our sire was a sweet invocation

For mercy by day and for safety through night.

Our hymns of thanksgiving with harmony swelling,

All warm from the heart of a family band,

Half raised us from earth to that rapturous dwelling

Described in the Bible that lay on the stand;

That richest of books, which excell'd every other,

That family Bible, that lay on the stand.

Ye scenes of tranquillity, long have we parted -

My hope's almost gone, and my parents no more;

In sorrow and sadness I live broken-hearted,

And wander unknown on a far distant shore.

Yet how can I doubt a dear Savior's protection,

Forgetful of gifts from his bountiful hand;

Oh! let me with patience receive his correction,

And think of the Bible that lay on the stand;

That richest of books which excell'd every other,

The family Bible, that lay on the stand.

Blest Bible, the light and the guide to the stranger,

With thee I seem circled by parents and friends;

Thy kind admonition shall guide me from danger,

On thee my last lingering hope than depends,

Hope wakens to vigor and rises to glory.

I'll hasten and flee to the promised land,

For refuge lay hold on the hope set before me,

Revealed in the Bible that lay on the stand;

The old-fashioned Bible, the dear blessed Bible,

The family Bible, that lay on the stand.

Hail rising the brightest and best of the morning,

The star which guided my parents safe home;

A beam of thy glory my pathway adorning,

Shall scatter the darkness and brighten my gloom,

As the Eastern sages to worship the stranger

In ecstasy hasten to Canaan's fair land,

I'll bow to adore him, but not in a manger,

He's seen in the Bible that lay on the stand;

The old-fashioned Bible, the dear blessed Bible,

The family Bible, that lay on the stand.

Though age and misfortune press hard on my feelings,

I'll flee to the Bible and trust in the Lord;

Though darkness should cover his merciful dealings,

My soul is still cheer'd by his heavenly word,

And now from things earthly my soul is removing -

I soon shall shout glory with heaven's bright band

In rapture of joy he forever adoring

The God of the Bible that lay on the stand;

The old-fashioned Bible, the dear blessed Bible,

The family Bible that lay on the stand.

Unattributed

2:38, p. 152

1838.11.10