Poetry

Down to Sleep

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. Psalm 3:5 NIV

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray Thee Lord my soul to keep
If I should die before I wake
I pray Thee Lord my soul to take
Amen

When I was small, I remember my mom coming in almost every night and praying these words with me. I never really thought about their meaning, or wondered where they came from. It was just sort of the finish line for my day, where I crossed over from busyness to dreamland. About forty years later, when I was reading through Psalm Three, I suddenly realized to my astonishment, that the source of my mother’s prayer was in this prayer of King David. Here he is fleeing from an army, led by, not a foreign enemy, but by none other than his own son Absalom. Imagine David’s feelings. He must have been both sorrowful and discouraged as he realizes that after years of trying to figure out how to be a good father, he has utterly failed, and Absalom has completely missed the boat in his relationship both with David and with God. Then added to this, David must face the very real possibility that with Absalom’s army right on his heels that if things don’t go well, he and all his men might be killed in the morning. Whether we are facing situations far less dire than David’s, or if matters of life and death are on our doorstep, today’s verse offers us both encouragement and comfort. We can be encouraged because, if we belong to Jesus, we are His, both on earth and as well as in Heaven, and can pray in faith, “Now I lay me down to sleep” But we also can lie down in peace, even if things go terribly wrong, because whatever happens, God will sustain us. God has promised to be our strength, our friend and our deliverer in whatever lies ahead. I wrote a little poem yesterday, which though meant for children, could be every one of ours tonight, and I pray that God keep you safely in the palm of His nail pierced hand. He loves and cares for you and is calling you to come to Him!


Christ My All in All

Before I sleep I ask the Lord
My soul to safely keep
I tell Him that the road seems long
And the hills rise up so steep

Then He tells me He has promised
To lead the way ahead
And tonight stay by my side
While I lie in my bed

Then in the morning when the light
Comes shining on my wall
I trust Him that whatever comes
Christ will be my all in all

Christ My All in All
by Peter Caligiuri
Copyright © 2024 all rights reserved

Photo by Vika Glitter on Pexels.com




Sidewalk Chalk

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments 
Like chalk lines on the sidewalk
With pink and green and gold
Our lives are sketched out day by day
 A portrait to behold

But when those things we love so much
Sunny days and moments sweet
Are washed away by raindrops
Or get tracked by little feet

We must remember God’s design
Can’t be lost or erased
For He will draw again each line
With His cross and by His grace

Sidewalk Chalk
by Peter Caligiuri
Copyright © 2024 all rights reserved

Keeping Sabbath

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments

Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. Exodus 31:16 ESV

“Keep / Shamar - To hedge about (as with thorns) to guard; gen. to protect...”  Strong's Hebrew/Aramaic Dictionary

Even after Sixty-five years, I can still clearly remember my grandmother’s small front yard, because of the barberry bushes around the edges of that bit of grass. How I not only hated those tiny shrubs, but I can still feel their teeth! Whenever I would brush my leg too closely or ran my hands ever so gently over their tops, small, almost invisible thorns reached out and quickly grabbed hold. Rarely could the barb be found and usually a few days passed before my skin would push out the unwanted invader. My grandmother planted those tiny guardians of the front yard to keep her grass area from becoming a shortcut for any of us as we headed around her corner on the way to the elementary school down the street. My grandmother was a wise person, knowing that neither signs, nor verbal warnings could do any better than her guard of thorns.

Our God in His wisdom has created one day out of seven to be a garden of rest for us. Before He gave His law; in fact, even before there was sin – there was Sabbath. Sabbath is His gift, and He has woven it into the DNA of our bodies, minds, and spirits. Keeping Sabbath is not about rules or yelling at the neighbors to turn down their hip-hop music. Keeping Sabbath is about planting an internal hedge to slow down the stampede of life that constantly threatens to stomp on the garden. Keeping Sabbath is about joining God as He rests, trusting and knowing that while there is always something to be done; God delights in the time that we rest in Him because He wants to give us His wonderful rest for our soul.

Not a Very Good Waiter - Verse Three*

Then He waited and prayed in the garden
For all who one day would come
To the cross where He died at the top of the Hill
To find rest with their burdens undone

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:29 ESV

Not a Very Good waiter by Peter Caligiuri
Copyright 2024 - all rights reserved.
* see entire poem at bottom of post
Not a Very Good Waiter

I’m not a very good waiter
Doing nothing seems simply a waste
But our Father just loves to walk slowly
Doing nothing in hurry or haste

By a well He waited at noonday
For the woman who thirsted for more
And He calls us to come when we’re weary and worn
For refreshing that He has in store

Then He waited and prayed in the garden
For all who one day would come
To the cross where He died at the top of the Hill
To find rest with their burdens undone

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:29 ESV