A Voice from the Desert

A voice from the des­ert comes aw­ful and shrill:

The Lord is ad­vanc­ing—pre­pare ye the way;

The word of Je­ho­vah He comes to ful­fill

And o’er the dark world pour the splen­dor of day.

Bring down the proud mount­ain

though tow­er­ing to Heav­en

And be the low val­ley ex­alt­ed on high!

The rough path and crook­ed be made smooth and ev­en

For

Si­on

your king

your Re­deem­er

is nigh.

The beams of sal­va­tion His pro­gress il­lume

The lone

drea­ry wil­der­ness sings of her God;

The rose and the myr­tle will sud­den­ly bloom

The ol­ive of peace spread its branch­es abroad.