The disciples saw the Temple

The disciples saw the Temple, beautiful, with massive stone.

But their Master spoke of ruin; broken, shattered, razed and gone.

So they questioned Jesus sorely, wondering when such times might be;

And he gave them this in answer, teaching them that they might see:

 

"You see wars and insurrections; these will come, this is for sure;

See these earthquakes, plagues and famines, such disasters to endure.

You will all see persecution, prisons, trial by would-be kings;

I will give you words of answer when you undergo these things."

 

We may read these things and wonder how such times sound like our own;

Scorned by families, friends, and neighbors, feeling lost and all alone.

Still our call is to endurance, pressing on the upward way, 

So that we may still be standing, true and faithful on that day. 

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, November 2025, after Luke 21:5-19.

MUSIC: Tune BEACH SPRING, The Sacred Harp, 1884

 

 

Preliminary reading on a forthcoming lectionary reading led to this hymn. It wasn't my intention to observe parallels to our current time, but some such things may have slipped out. And yes, a snippet of the old gospel hymn "Higher Ground" did sneak into the final stanza.