Moses in the Desert

Go where a foot hath never trod,
Through unfrequented forests flee;
The wilderness is full of God,
His presence dwells in every tree.

To Israel and to Egypt dead,
Moses the fugitive appears;
Unknown he lived, till o'er his head
Had fall'n the snow of fourscore years.

But God the wandering exile found,
In His appointed time and place;
The desert sand grew holy ground,
And Horeb's rock a throne of grace.

The lonely bush a tree became,
A tree of beauty and of light!
Involved with unconsuming flame,
That made the moon around it night.

Then came, the Eternal Voice that spake
Salvation to the chosen seed;
Thence went the Almighty arm that brake
Proud Pharoah's yoke, and Israel freed.

By Moses, old and slow of speech,
These mighty miracles were shown;
Jehovah's messenger! to teach
That power belongs to God alone.