A brief contemplation, relating the life of the Lord Jesus to the things to be thought of in Philippians 4:8

The King of the Jews

Born; all the prophets' words

Verified in the Amen.

Taking His place among

The poor of the flock, see the Just One

Fulfilling all righteousness.

Acclaimed in baptism;

Acclaimed on the mount:

See God's Beloved!

Never have words been said

With such dignity: "Not my will

But thine be done".

Without blemish;

Without spot:

The Lamb for the offering.

Where the excellence

Always existed, the fire

Released the fragrance.

The four evangelists

Wrote, by the Holy Spirit,

Their holy narratives.

Worthy of homage;

Worthy of honour:

The ascending Man.

(This is another thinking of the things in Philippians 4: 8)

More of Culross, Fife

ANSWERS

The Firstborn of creation
Rejected by His nation
Secured a new relation
  For men of Adam's race;
Ascended undefeated,
His work for God completed,
The Son of Man is seated
  Upon the throne of grace.

The Father was delighted
And heavenly hosts united
To give the Man once slighted
  The place that is His own;
The One who had descended
In whom all good was blended
Sits, risen and ascended,
  Upon the Father's throne.

His glory is eternal;
Things earthly and infernal
Will own He is supernal
  And bow to Him above;
But how much more the measure
Of His unbounded pleasure
In that peculiar treasure
  That answers to His love! 

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Views from Culross Palace

and the great old windows to see them from.

JESUS IS MY SAVIOUR

 

Jesus is my Saviour, Jesus is my Friend,

Jesus is my Shepherd, guiding to the end;

Jesus is my Master, Jesus is my Lord,

Jesus is my Shield and very great Reward;

Jesus is my Sunshine, Jesus is my Day,

Jesus is my Leader in the heavenly way.

Do you know the Saviour? Do you have a Friend?

Do you know the Man on whom you can depend?

Do you know the Master? Do you call Him Lord?

Are you bound to Jesus by faith's eternal cord?

Do you walk in sunshine? Do you know the day

Which goes and brightens to eternity.

He will be your Saviour if you trust in Him:

He will give you sunshine which will never dim;

When you know the Master, when you know the Lord

You with those who love him will sing with one accord:

"Jesus is my Saviour, Jesus is my Friend,

Jesus is my Shepherd guiding to the end!".

(Sing to Onward Christian soldiers!)

More around Culross Palace

 

SAVIOUR, SHEPHERD AND MASTER

The ever-faithful Saviour whom we know

Came down to save us from our sin and woe;

He bore our sins upon Golgotha's tree;

He shed His blood so that we might be free.

The ever-faithful Shepherd whom we know

Preserves us from a world of sin and woe;

His goodness and His mercy follows us,

Lest sin and Satan's power should swallow us.

The ever-faithful Master whom we know

Will fetch us from this world of sin and woe;

We shall be with Him in the heavenly place

Where joyfully we shall behold His face.

18 April 2026

Credit to Andrew M for the first line.

The Firth of Forth from Culross

Culross Palace, Fife, Scotland

(Culross is pronounced Coorus!) 

RONDEL

He will be with His saints;
His saints will be with Him,
Beyond the present grim
Restrictions and complaints.

Recall, amid restraints,
When all around seems dim:
He will be with His saints;
His saints will be with Him.

Already He acquaints
Our souls with joys that brim;
More blest than cherubim,
As drawn by love's constraints,
He will be with His saints;

His saints will be with Him. 

Early morning in Edinburgh

Straiton Swans last year

HIS SAINTS

 

They have enrolled in that grand company

"The dead in Christ": the saints who gave God pleasure

From Abel onward; who served faithfully,

Spoke often of Him, and became His treasure.

They laboured for the Lord and for His own

As He Himself delighted to record

Till in His love and wisdom they have known

The blessedness of dying "in the Lord".

Jesus they loved and spoke with day by day

Since He had laid His life down for His sheep:

Enduring death, He took death's sting away:

He touched them, and through Him they are asleep.

Behold He comes! They will arise to meet

With all His own at that exalted tryst

And in transformed, immortal bodies greet

Our glorious Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Written years ago when the Lord took a few ages saints within a short period.

EDDY AND KITTY

Oh you should have seen Eddy and Kitty dance

With an elegant turn and a sally;

With a twirl and a whirl you could see them prance

At the Ritz, the Rotunda or Palais.

But the Saviour has touched them with love and grace,

By His word He has drawn them apart;

He has given a home in a better place

And has given a dance in their heart.

Do you think they have danced not to dance again

Long ago in nineteen forty-seven?

Do you not all await that occasion when

They will dance with the ransomed in heaven?

Local brethren both now asleep through Jesus; I wrote this for an anniversary.

Views from the Tower of London

GOD'S PEOPLE

"Lo,

It is a people that shall dwell alone";            Numbers 23: 9

So,

The taint of sin or grief shall not be known.

"Ho,

Every one that thirsts, come to the waters":    Isaiah 55; 1

Go,

"Outside the camp", to be God's sons and daughters;

No,

Purpose of God is ever overthrown!

One of the parts of having a poetic bent of mind is seeing iambic pentameters, the English heroic line, where the authors never intended one! When my computer tells me, 'Hang on a moment while we sign you out' a wee exclamation mark flashes above my brain because its an iambic pentameter line, even if not worthy of inclusion in some verse. So I notice the line in Numbers when reading the portion last Saturday.  

Around the Tower of London; the Beefeater guide, and one of the resident ravens.