JESUS IS GOD

If as a Man  He never will ignore
Those who repent  nor spurn those who implore,
Not only as  a perfect Man He bore
Sorrows and sins  and all that men deplore;
Not only as a Man  could He restore
And add to all  that had been God’s before,
Deliver us  to that celestial shore,
Or be for us  Shepherd or Friend or Door;
Jesus is God  - blessed for evermore!
- And has a glory  which no man can explore
Since it transcends  sublimest human lore:
What can we do  but worship and adore!

MORNING STAR

O dark, dark, dark  - irrecoverably dark:
Darkness that can be felt  invests the land;
Darkness that can be felt  encumbers man.
But we have light  in which we are apart:
The Morning Star  arising in our hearts!
The day is near  - while we await its start
Jesus the Lord  has this peculiar charm:
The Morning Star,  brilliantly coruscant.
Among our pressures  the Lord Himself imparts
To overcomers  joys that are sure to last:
Imparts Himself  so that, exuberant,
They praise Him as the Bright  and Morning Star.

THE LAMB OF GOD

Behold the Lamb of God,  taker away
Of sin by which the world  has been debased!
Behold the Lamb of God  whose graceful gait
Attracts the souls  who follow in the Way!
Worthy the tender Lamb  who stands as slain
Since by His sacrifice  He overcame
And thus acquired  an ambience of grace
Where His redeemed,  as kings and priests, shall reign;
And thus acquired  His wife with whom to share
His heart of love  and an eternal place.
Worthy the Lamb  whose fineness will engage
His own through this  and every coming age.

THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH

Behold the Lion,  that of the tribe of Judah,
The One in whom  king David’s line is rooted,
Who overcame  through warring resolutely
And has secured  God’s glory in its fulness:
Towards His God  His victory is fruitful;
Towards His own His victory is goodness;
Towards the devil  His victory is ruthless.
Since none withstand  the Lion’s stately footsteps
Throughout the universe  let praise be bruited
To Him who made  this glorious revolution:
Toward His Name  let praises be effusive
Since He has brought  God’s counsels to conclusion.

AMEN

You cannot trust  what other men aver
Nor rest in what  they strenuously assert,
But Jesus was  the witness in Himself
Of everything  He audibly expressed;
The Name of Jesus  requires no epithet
Since in that Name  God’s love is manifest
And in His life  God’s heart is evident
Because obedience  informed each step;
Where love grows cold  and life becomes pretence
Faithful and true  He patiently presents
His endless grace  towards rekindling them:
He is the source  and He is the Amen.




This goes back to the series "Touching the King".

ASCENDED

Like someone who has fought and won
So that peace reigns for all his own
Christ, with His work for sinners done,
Sits now upon the Father’s throne.

As the sun’s warmth and vigour beam
From its pavilion in the sky
The Father had the Spirit stream
From Christ as glorified on high.

As Israelites could hear the bells
On Aaron in the holiest place
So, as the Holy Spirit tells,
We know Christ acts as Priest through grace.

As a rich king delights to give
Favour and grace where he resides
The Lord is glad that we should live
In blessings from where He abides.

Here on the earth from which His life
Was taken, and men thought Him dead,
The Lord now has His faithful wife
Linked to Him as her heavenly Head.

The Bridegroom waits to take His Bride
Who with the Spirit lifts her voice,
“Lord Jesus, come”; and at His side
In love’s delight they will rejoice.

He will come out as Conqueror
With all His saints, establish peace,
Heal nations, and abolish war,
Giving this groaning earth release.

REJOS FOR JOY

Jerusalem rejos for joy:
Jesus, the sterne of most bewte
In thee is rissin as richtous roy,
Fro dirknes to illumyne thee.
With glorius sound of angell gle
Thy prince is borne in Baithlem
Quhilk sall thee mak of thraldome fre.
Illuminare, Jerusalem.

With angellis licht in legionis
Thou art illumynit all about.
Thre kingis of strenge regionis
To thee ar cumin with lusty rout,
All drest with dyamantis but dout,
Reverst with gold in every hem,
Sounding attonis with a schout,
Illuminare, Jerusalem.

The regeand tirrant that in thee rang,
Herod, is exilit and his ofspring,
The land of Juda that josit wrang,
And rissin is now thy richtous king.
So he so mychtie is and ding,
Quhen men his glorius name dois nem,
Hevin erd and hell makis inclyning.
Illuminare, Jerusalem.

His cumming knew all element -
the air be sterne did him persaife:
the water quhen dry he on it went:
the erd that trymlit all and raife:
the sone quhen he no lichtis gaif:
the ceoce quhen it wes done contem:
the stanis qrhen they in pecis claif:
Illuminare, Jerusalem.

The deid him knew that rais upricht
quhilk lang time had the erd lyne undir:
crukit and blind declarit his micht
that helit of thame so mony hundir:
Nature him knew and had grit wundir
quhen he of virgin was orn but wem:
Hell, quhen thair yettis were brokin asundir.
Illuminare, Jerusalem.

I thought I would throw in an anonymous Scots medieval poem today.  It's interesting to see something of this before the Reformation.  maybe I wouldn't go with every word - but the tenor of it is fine, and to the Lord's glory.

Can you understand the language mainly?

Blessings to all readers.

NOT ONLY ...

    We are not only
Placed in His house but given
    Suitable clothing.

NOT ONLY…

    He gave not only
The Best Robe but the setting
    Where it will shine best.

WONDERS

A long dispensation of mercy and grace
Which comes from a Man in a heavenly place,
Where all of God’s glory is seen in His face -
    What wonders have come from the death of the Lord!

The sinners secured from sins, dwelling in night,
And given a place in the kingdom of light,
Who will through eternity be God’s delight -
    What wonders have come from the death of the Lord!

The saints where the Spirit of God can abide,
Conjoined by His presence and work as Christ’s bride,
One fit to continually be at His side -
    What wonders have come from the death of the Lord!

The Name of the Father has now been revealed
To sons, whom the Spirit of God thus has sealed,
Who give to the Father one-hundred-fold yield -
    What wonders have come from the death of the Lord!

BENEFITS

    “God’s benefits are
Administered to us through
    Our Lord Jesus Christ.”

CENTRED

Around the holiest place where all was dark
And seen by the high priest just once a year
God had a system centred in the ark.

But now since light has shone to cast out fear
God has a system centred in one Man
Through whom His grace and love to men appear.

According to His past eternal plan
God has a system centred in His Christ
Whose worth was known before the worlds began.

Since against sin Christ’s sacrifice sufficed
God has a system centred in His Son,
Who value before God cannot be priced.

Thus God delights that all He has begun
Centres in Him by whom the work was done.

18/02/05

We baptised Ingrid

In the Name of a Person

Who is out of death.

17/02/05

How vital it is

To know humanity is

More than cells and blood.

16/02/05

He gives bread and fish -

Both blessings from above, and

Blessings from beneath.

15/02/05

Arms are for comfort,

Care, hugs - underneath are the

Everlasting arms.

14/02/05

The anointing shows

God's committal to Christ, and

To the assembly.

13/02/05

Our God and Father

Is the God and Father of

Our Lord Jesus Christ.

12/02/05

The lowering sun bright,

The breeze keen, happily, we

Sauntered by the loch.

11/02/05

Let me name a few -

Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs,

Assembly choiring.

RELATIONSHIPS

He could have been the Healer of His saints
And that relationship would have been fine
When they found grace and power that were divine
Removed their ills and answered their complaints;
He could have been the One who cleansed the taints
Of sin, and used His chastening to refine
Reluctant souls; holding them to His line
He could have been One binding by constraints.

And He is all of these; and many more
Relationships of blessing or of claim
Direct our hearts to worship and adore,
Conscious of His transcendent, holy Name;
Yet how much grander that He chose to gather
Us as His sons, and took the place of Father.

FAMILY

    We’re to be with Christ
In family relationship
    Through eternity!

VOYAGE

      
God is working in the Son
And the Son is His ideal;
Through the One who set the keel
He has made the vessel run.

He through whom the voyage begun
Will unlade the laden creel:
God is working in the Son
And the Son is His ideal.

Soon the journey will be done
And the morning will reveal
Christ’s eternal fresh appeal;
Till that verdant shore is won
God is working in the Son.


This is meant to be a rondel or rondeau or something like that!  I like they way these old forms interweave.

ANSWER

    The counsel of God
Finds its perfect answer
    In the work of God.

LITTLE CREATURES

There are four little creatures
And they are very wise;
The Proverbs names their features
Which no one should despise.
We’ll think of them and then we’ll see
Lessons from them, for you and me.

The first one which would rather
Work when it can - the ant -
Eats what it worked to gather
In winter when it can’t.  
So let us work to gather food
And when it’s Christ it will be good.

Rock-badgers are the second
And nobody should mock
- However weak they’re reckoned -
Because their house is rock.
We will be safe from beasts which roam
While Christ, the Rock, remains our home.

The locusts have none leading
As king in all their bands,
But while they’re wisely feeding
They go about in bands.
Young friend, so very much depends
On having Christians as our friends!

The last beasts we must ponder
Are lizards, tiny things,
Who still are free to wander
In palaces of kings!
Jesus, our King, in all His grace,
Invites us to His heavenly place.

God made these little creatures
    To show us how to live;
Let’s gather from those teachers
    The lessons which they give;
And, lastly, learn this from them all:
God helps us best when we feel small.


First written for Marianne when she was little, and rewritten for other young people afterwards.  But none of us are too old for these lessons, are we?

FLOW

    The Jewish system
Was not great enough to hold
    The flow of blessing!

PAST, FUTURE AND PRESENT

My past was dealt with in the work
    Of Jesus on the cross;
Now no sins mar, and no doubts lurk
    While gain replaces loss.

My future is to be with Him
    Among the saints in light;
No earthly saints or cherubim
    Have hopes that are so bright.

While for the present I have Christ
    As Model for my way,
And grace lest I should be enticed
    To dally or to stray.

Christ is my help if it should be
    I feel I cannot cope;
It is His face I long to see:
    He is my present Hope.

And I have Christ my Lord on high
    As Advocate and Priest,
And source of grace on whose supply
    I bountifully feast.

I have a place in Christ before
    The Father as a son;
The Spirit brings stupendous store
    Straight from the heavenly One.

SOLOMON

Almighty God  - give judgments to the King
And He will judge  according to Thy will!
He will do justice to those whom sin afflicts:
By righteousness  peace will flow from the hills;
He will descend  as a delicious smirr
While grace and truth  will both be flourishing;
Kings of the earth  will render precious gifts
And all mankind  will own His rulership.
Each day He shall be blessed:  and He shall live
While corn shall pullulate  from fertile tilth
Even upon  the mountain’s loftiest ridge:
Seeing His glory  let all the people sing!

DAVID

If in his face  and figure he was charming
While he was famed  for deftness as a harpist
Both strong in soul  and vigorous in action,
Before Goliath  indomitably valiant
Feebly in this  David portrayed the Master.
Christ has both charm of form  and charm of manner;
In antitype  He is the sweeter Psalmist
While our vile foe  who brought us to disaster
Is now defeated  and stripped of all his armour.
David secured  an empire through his battles
But Christ secured  God’s glory and our pardon:
He is a king  whose crown is amaranthine!

JOSEPH

Who should in truth  be named Zaphnath-paaneah,
Who is not only  the Saviour from all evil,
By whom the power of sin  has been defeated,
As crucified  where, spiritually, is Egypt
To bring His own  into eternal freedom,
Not only He  who has sustained His people
- His very flesh  the food that has been eaten -
To keep them in another  modus of being
But He who, come from God,  is the Revealer
Of God’s great love  and His abundant secrets
Which, till He came,  were in profound concealment?
None could sustain  this splendid name but Jesus.