Psalms

Taking the Right Test!

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way?  How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day?…….But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me.  I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me. Psalm 13:1-2a; 5-6 NLT

One night back in the 80’s when I was still going to college; I found myself racing against the clock to make it in time for mid-terms in my American Literature class. Between the rush hour traffic and an unexpected freight train that closed off Main street for an extra 5-6 minutes I ended up being the last one to enter the room. The tests were stacked on Mrs. Sullivan’s desk and she smiled as I snatched one off the top and hurried to my seat. As soon as I put my name on the top of the page and started the first answer I realized that I was in trouble. The question was about a poem that I had never read and the name of the author only seemed vaguely familiar. So I skipped to the second question, but things only got worse. I had no idea what school of poets this guy was from and the material on the next question was even more obscure. Then in glancing further down I recognized the name of one of the better known English poets and I relaxed. I hurried back to the front grinning from ear to ear.

Mrs. Sullivan!” I whispered excitedly. “This is the wrong exam!” She looked at the paper in my hand and then laughed, “Oh- so sorry Pete. That’s for my next class!” After finding my seat again I breathed a sigh of relief and plunged in finding that I really did know most of these answers – now that I had the right test!

Photo by Armin Rimoldi on Pexels.com

In one of my low moments recently I came to Psalm 13, and it hit me that my current discouragement was a lot like my old test and what David went through in the first verses . The problem was that we were both taking the wrong test. We had picked up the exam sheet that only God had the answers for and what we needed to do was to make our way to the front and exchange tests with our Teacher. We each have a part to play and ours begins with trust – not understanding. Then, when we begin to trust; we will discover that God begins to miraculously reveal His unfailing love.

The second stop on our spiritual exam tour is rejoicing: In fact, Jesus commanded us to rejoice in all kinds of strange circumstances, like when we are being persecuted and slandered. Hmmm so then I don’ t need to find an escape; I just need to celebrate. That’s when God comes to our rescue and sometimes that looks like what He did for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. We still go into the furnace but the fire only burns off what is tying us down.

Last of all, David shows us that singing; not griping about what is wrong is the answer we need right now. Remember how Paul and Silas started singing in the jail cell? Then God showed up and He will show up again today in ways that turn our worst tests into something better than we could ever imagine.

David found the answers that he needed when He stopped trying to take God’s test and exchanged it for his own. Maybe if tonight we learn a little better how to trust, how to rejoice and how to sing praise, we will find joy as God shows us His unfailing loving, His way of rescue and His transforming of our failure into all things for our good!

Standing By Night

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Come bless the Lord all you servants of the Lord. Who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Psalms 134:1 ESV

Seeing our precious seniors braving the chilly afternoon to sing and pray was such an encouragement. Here is a video clip of our meeting along with two of the most classic songs of all time on praise. All Creatures of our God and King and The Doxology have echoed down through the centuries through times far more perilous than ours and serve as an example and encouragement. Let’s stand by night together and no matter what we face be sure to Bless the Lord!

All creatures of our God and King

All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing
Oh, praise Him! Alleluia!

Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam,
O praise Him, O praise Him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Thou rushing wind that art so strong, 
Ye clouds that sail in heav’n along,
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou rising morn in praise rejoice, 
Ye lights of evening, find a voice,
O sing ye, O sing ye, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

And ev’ryone, with tender heart, 
Forgiving others, take your part,
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear,
Sing praise and cast on God your care,
O sing ye, O sing ye, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

 Let all things their Creator bless, 
and worship God in humbleness,
Alleluia, Alleluia!
To God all thanks and praise belong!
Join in the everlasting song:
O praise Him, O praise Him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Lyric poem by Saint Francis of Assisi 1225 (Canticle of the Sun)

William Draper paraphrase and music 1901

Poetry and The Love of God

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You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 11:18-20 ESV

I have been writing verse since my early teens, and though I wince when I read some of those overly melodramatic lines, occasionally people were willing to pay for a poem. Maybe my fascination was connected to my parents’ idea that learning poetry was an important part of an education. I recall being compelled to learn, the Charge of the Light Brigade and Tennyson’s words “Half a league half league half a league onward” still stick in my memory along side of Bible passages learned for catechism class and the lyrics to my favorite Beatles’ songs. What all of these pretty diverse sources had in common is that I remembered them.

Now this simple post is hardly an adequate place for answering the question “What exactly is the purpose of poetry” But this morning we could simply ask “What is God’s purpose for poetry?” Interestingly the Bible verse today talks about a parents’ job of teaching God’s words to their children. Poetry is one of God’s ways of passing along the story of His love so that they will remember. Think of the scene from the Last Supper as Jesus was breaking the bread and blessing the cup. He said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” and then they sang a hymn (A poem from the book of Psalms.) God often uses the poetic form so that we will not only hear Him but then also remember what He has said for the rest of our lives. Of course the Old Testament book of Psalms is well known as poetry but even the gospels are filled with poetry like, The Beatitudes, The Lord’s Prayer and the song of Mary.

So since we believe that God has called us to write a bit of verse it will helps us immensely to begin with His purpose and that is that He wants people to hear and remember Him! We need to keep things plain, simple and yet attractive. Just consider how all the obscure and sometimes strange modern forms of poetry pale in comparison to one simple childhood poem in terms of impact. 

 Twinkle twinkle little star How I wonder what you are
 Up above the world so high like a diamond in the sky

This anonymous work which is hardly even considered “Real Poetry” tells us about the wonder of childhood in just two lines. Simplicity married to meaning makes a great poem even if no other poets like it. Poetry isn’t meant just for poets, it is meant for everyone. So if we want to pass along to the children of the next generation the great wonder of the love of Jesus let’s keep it simple. In the most ordinary of things there is beauty and a song in even the smallest puff of wind. 

In the rustling grass I hear Him pass
He speaks to me everywhere

Have a blessed day! Pass along the love of God to at least one person if not with words then with the poetry of your day lived for Him.