*Pastor’s Note: A.B. Simpson was a very well respected Canadian preacher, theologian and author who lived from December 15, 1843 to October 29, 1919. My prayer is that you will be blessed and inspired by his poetry as much as I am.

THE LATTER RAIN

We are waiting for the promise of the Master—
For without it all our sowing is in vain—
That the deserts of the earth shall yet be watered
With the showers of a mighty latter rain.
We have had the early droppings of the springtime,
But a mightier flood from heav’n shall be outpoured,
When the Spirit in His fulness shall be given,
And shall usher in the harvest of the Lord.

When He comes, the earth shall tremble at His presence,
And the hearts of hardened men shall yield and break;
Jew and Gentile bow the knee before the Saviour,
And the dead and slumbering Church at last awake.
Faith can see the little cloud on the horizon,
Hope can almost hear the thunder’s mighty sound;
For the windows of the heavens shall be opened
And the floods be poured upon the world’s dry ground.

We are living in a day of solemn crisis,
We are children of a strange and awful time;
We are heirs of all this legacy of promise,
We are partners of a heritage sublime.
Let us rise to meet our high and holy calling,
Let us sow on every mountain, hill, and plain,
Let us pray till heaven’s windows shall be opened,
And the Lord shall send the promised latter rain.

From Songs of the Spirit: Poetry by A. B. Simpson. Public Domain