onuments, in ruins, is yet to
be seen here. If this be the location of Mizpah then here is the place
where Jacob and Laban made their covenant of lasting peace, and erected
the "heap of witness" (Gen. 31:44-52), saying, "The Lord watch between
me and thee when we are absent one from another." Then they parted,
Laban going back to Mesopotamia and Jacob pressing on with anxious
heart toward the near Jabbok and the farther lands of his estranged
brother Esau.

Inspired by the covenant at Mizpah, and with a desire to help others to
establish covenants of peace, and to accept with cheerful resignation
enforced separation from loved ones, a recent writer, Julia A. Baker,
has written beautifully the following poem entitled "Mizpah":

Go thou thy way and I go mine;
Apart, yet ever near;
Only a veil hangs thin between
The pathways where we are;
And "God keep watch 'tween thee and me,"
This is my prayer;
He looks thy way, he looketh mine,
And keeps us near.

I know not where thy road may lie,
Or which way mine may be;
If mine will lead through parching sands,
And thine beside the sea;
Yet "God keeps watch 'tween thee and me,"
So, never fear.
He holds thy hand, he claspeth mine,
And keeps us near.

Should wealth and fame perchance be thine,
And my lot lowly be,
Or thou be sad or sorrowful,
And glory be for me;
Yet "God keeps watch 'tween thee and me,"
Both be his care;
One arm 'round thee and one 'round me
Will keep us near.

I'll sigh sometimes to see thy face,
But since this cannot be,
I'll leave thee to the care of Him
Who cares for thee and me.
"I'll keep thee both beneath my wings"--
This comfort dear--
One wing o'er thee and one o'er me;
So we are near.

And tho' our paths be separate,
And thy way be not mine,
Yet coming to the mercy-seat,
My soul will meet with thine;
And "God keep watch 'tween thee and me,"
I'll whisper there;
He blesseth thee, he blesseth me,
And we are near.

If this place were Mizpah, then here Jephthah lived; and here, when he
went out to fight against the Ammonites, he made the vow to sacrifice
whatsoever should come forth out of the doors of his house to meet him
on his return from the battle, if the Lord would only give him the
victory. The battle was fought, and Jephthah trium