In Immanuel’s Land
Charles Spurgeon considered Rutherford’s letters to be “the nearest thing to inspiration which can be found in all the writings of mere men.” And indeed, one familiar with Rutherford’s writings can hardly disagree. The beauty of his legacy lies in his dedication to exalting the glory of Christ, and to abasing himself.
Here is a poem, composed by Mrs. Anne Ross Cousin, wife of a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. The poem is as remarkable as it is beautiful in that Mrs. Cousin extracted from the letters of Samuel Rutherford many of his most memorable sayings and wove them into a hymn of 19 stanzas, maintaining throughout high poetic excellence and great faithfulness to the language and spirit of the letters.
Read this poem, and then spend some time prayerfully perusing the letters themselves! They may be freely read and downloaded here. May God grant His people comfort and encouragement through the writings of this humble man of faith!
The sands of time are sinking,
The dawn of Heaven breaks,
The summer morn I’ve sighed for,
The fair sweet morn awakes:
Dark, dark hath been the midnight,
But dayspring is at hand,
And glory-glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.
Oh! well it is for ever,
Oh! well for evermore,
My nest hung in no forest
Of all this death-doom’d shore:
Yea, let the vain world vanish,
As from the ship the strand,
And glory-glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.