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.