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Described as “an odd-looking character, a Scotchman by birth,” William Skinner Rentoul (1812-1898) was a Philadelphia bookseller, publisher, writer and poet of the old school Presbyterian variety. He is best known for publishing both the Keys Psalter and Rentoul’s Library of Standard Bible Expositions, which includes some notable commentaries: 1. Ralph Wardlaw, Lectures: Expository and Practical, on the Book of Ecclesiastes (1868); 2. Alexander Moody Stuart, The Song of Songs: An Exposition of the Song of Solomon (1869); and 3. George Lawson, Practical Expositions of the Whole Books of Ruth and Esther (1870). He was also the author of a metrical version of the Song of Solomon, appended to Stuart’s commentary on the same.
Today we highlight a poetic composition he published in 1862. It is a sweet meditation on the Word of Life, and a reminder of what a precious gift the Lord has given unto us.
The Bible
O, rarest gift to mortals given!
Blest book! thou point’st the path to heaven.
The sinner, lost in darkness drear,
Heart-sick thro’ sin, whose eye the tear
Of anguish scalds, thro’ griefs and woes
That fill the poisoned cup of those
On whose soul rests, with weighty load,
The wrath of an offended God,
That takes thy sweet and kindly light
For guide, shall still be led aright;
Shall find Jehovah’s angry face
To favour changed. His smiles shall grace
His earthly labours: and at last, —
Eternal life, eternal rest —
Purchased by Jesus for his own;
For all who love that Holy One,
And wait His glorious coming - his cup of bliss shall crown.
