The Voice of One Who Wept – A Poem by Martha Snell Nicholson

 

Turkana women – Tanzania – 1960

This poem is a good reminder, especially as the frantic holiday buying season is upon us.  I read recently of one family’s personal challenge to give as much as they spend on the Christmas holiday.  This would certainly limit the spending, and giving to missions would be a good place to start.

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The Voice of One Who Wept

Today I heard the voice of one who wept
In far off lands
Because of sin and misery,
And begged with outstretched hands
For one small lamp to light his dark.
Now fain I would have slept,
So - stopped my ears, but in my heart
That sobbing voice still wept.
And then I heard the voice of one who
Counted not the cost,
But left His ivory palaces to seek and
Save the lost.
He said, "The sound of one who weeps
Is coming up to Me.
Dost thou forget that last command
Which I gave unto Thee,
To preach my Word to all the world?"
O, bitter be our shame!
Still hopeless millions walk the earth
Who never heard His Name,
And still the world spends lavishly
In every crowded mart,
And still the voice of Him who wept
Is sobbing in my heart!

by Martha Snell Nicholson

Mark 16:15  And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Acts 16:9  And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.