EARTH was waiting, spent and restless, With a mingled hope and fear; And the faithful few were sighing, ‘Surely, Lord, the day is near; The Desire of all the nations, It is time He should appear.’
In the sacred courts of Zion, Where the Lord had His abode, There the money-changers trafficked, And the sheep and oxen trod; And the world by earthly wisdom Knew not either Lord or God.
Then the Spirit of the Highest On a virgin meek came down, And He burdened her with blessing, And He pained her with renown; For she bare the Lord’s Anointed, For His cross and for His crown.
Earth for Him had groaned and travailed Since the ages first began; For in Him was hid the secret That through all the ages ran— Son of Promise, Son of David, Son of God, and Son of Man.
William Chalmers Smith, 1824-1908