NESTLED BENEATH THE SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY

Nestled beneath  the shadow of the Almighty

He lived the life  with which God was delighted:

He lived by grace  with heavenly refinement;

He lived by faith,  with the oblation's fineness.

And if the world  around Him was benighted

And grace and faith  perpetually were slighted

Those who received Him  both grace and faith enlightened.

He cured the lame  the lepers and the blinded;

He spoke with power,  in tones of perfect kindness,

Told in the Word  His Spirit had indited.

And yet that life  led onward to the cross;

All those who saw Him  were laughing Him to scorn;

His feet and hands  despite the good He wrought

Were seized by men  and pierced by Gentile dogs;

They took His clothes,  unseamed them and cast lots;

But in the darkest hours  of greatest loss

The Saviour was  forsaken by His God

To bear my sins,  and take away my faults;

I caused the debts  and He took on the cost

So that a sinner  may now be brought to God.

The light of God  surrounds us with its brightness;

From the ascended Man  God's grace is shining:

And we by faith  now have His glory light us,

Where we are safe  from anything to frighten,

Nestled beneath  the shadow of the Almighty.

A Final Couple from Mellerstain

Edinburgh Botanic Gardens

Longniddry Bents, with Edinburgh in the distance

Edinburgh Castle and the Ross Fountain

LOVED BY GOD

He who descended,

Condescended to view

Beggar, leper or taxman

With lowly eyes.

The world lying

In the wicked one, the holy One

Raised, through His tongue,

The truth.

Making ointment, blessing children,

Touching the blind and dumb,

And the leper:

What perfect hands.

Every feature flowed,

Grace and compassion to me,

Praise and dependence to God,

From a pure heart.

What of His feet?

They bore Him

To desert, mountain, plain,

Gennesaret, Gethsemane, Golgotha.

So men heard God's word,

Noble, just, pure and amiable,

Virtue and praise,

From the Faithful and True Witness.

By His cross and blood

He breached the wall

And made the disparate

One.

We learn by contrasts: this is a response to Proverbs 6: 16.

Looking out of Mellerstain House

THE WAY

 

He came from the heart of God
And perfectly here He trod,
With God as His sole resource,
A sinless and blameless course
Which honoured the Father’s name -
Yet led to the cross of shame.

And newly there runs since then
A way from that cross for men,
Blood-sprinkled and purified,
Who live since their Saviour died;
A way that is clear and broad
That leads to the heart of God.

Pictures of the interior of Mellerstain House, Scottish Borders

HE WENT

He went to the temple,
Asked and answered,
And asserted His bond to His Father's affairs.

He went to the Jordan,
Joining with the pious,
And receiving heaven's word of delight.

He went to the synagogue:
The demon obeyed Him
But He would not countenance its witness.

He went to Gadara,
Restful in spirit,
Despite Fury of the gale and billows.

He went to Bethany
To bring His friend to life;
And to receive His burial preparation.

He went His guest-chamber,
Shared the ultimate Supper,
And left the memorial which divine love chose.

He went to Gethsemane,
Was pressed, oppressed, depressed
And expressed again His bond to His Father's will.

He went to Golgotha,
The cross weight on His shoulder
To bear our sins in His body on that cross.

He went into death,
The Just for the unjust,
And death was rent as one rends a kid.

He went from the tomb,
As no one had gone from a tomb,
"By the glory of the Father and His own inherent right".

He went to the place
Where His disciples huddled
Bringing the peace and breath of a risen Man.

He went to Bethany,
Encircled by beloved lovers
And ascended with hands outstretched in blessing.

He went above all the heavens,
And all heaven's host
Acclaimed the Accomplisher of all God's will.

He has sat down,
Acclaimed by the Father,
Awaiting the Father's time for His coming again.

(Number 37 bus)

More around Mellerstain House

BEFORE HIS FATHER

Before His Father He could
Acknowledge One in glory
And in intimacy as
The only true God.
 
So that His Father was
Constrained by love to accord
What accords to His nobility
The title "Lord and Christ".
 
Having completed the work
To the satisfaction of Him
Who loved Him He could
Address, "Righteous Father".
 
He was the expression of all
God would convey, consonant
With the divine thought that every
Word of God is pure.

Why is He the Beloved?
Because God saw in every act
And thought He was true,

Noble, just and pure. 

Mellerstain House, Scottish Borders

Designed by Robert Adam

(probably Scotland's greatest architect)

"ONE THING"; FIVE "ONE THINGS"

 Swaddled in affluence,            Mark 10: 21

Swathed in self-esteem,

"One thing lackest thou":

A lack.

The light revealed                    John 9: 25

I could not see the light;

One thing I know:

A Man called Jesus

Opened my eyes.

Cooking things up,                     Luke 10: 42

Baking, preparing, survey

One thing is needed:

Rest at the Master's feet.

Not possessing, yet, the prize;           Philippians 3: 13

Not being yet full-grown,

One thing: forgetting the things behind,

I pursue.

To dwell in the house of God               Psalm 27: 4

To see His beauty:

One thing have I asked of Jehovah:

That will I seek.

As we were emptying my mother-in-law's house since she was going into a care home I came on a little battered old book for children called, "The Homeward Journey: of Five "One Things" by A.T.S.  This seems to be A T Schofield with Amazon showing a date for it of 1 January 1924.  It is available here.  And that's the source of the thoughts above. (There's another wee story about it.)

Looking back to Scotland

The Coast of Northumberland on the way to Berwick

Friend I met on the way!

WINGS (again)

"He shall cover thee with His feathers,       Psalm 91: 4

And under His wings shalt thou find refuge."

Thus I take refuge                                   Psalm 57: 1

in the shadow of Thy wings

till the calamities are past

For His desire was to enfold                      Luke 13: 34

as a hen enfolds its chickens

beneath her wings.

Eagle, stirring its nest,           Deuteronomy 32: 11, 12

Hovering, spreading its wings,

He alone has led me from the wilderness.

If I have weltered in ashes                     Psalm 68: 13

He caused me to be

wings of a dove;

with green-gold feathers.

They vainly spread the net                   Proverbs 1: 17

for me:

for He has given me wings.

From Burnmouth to the Border

England to the left of the fence, Scotland to the right

THE CLEFT OF THE ROCK

"I came to your church

To hear my own language - 

Gaelic - spoken.

I had not heard it

In my long campaigning.

You spoke of a child

Secreted by his mother

In a rock cleft; and how,

Wrapped in her plaid,

It survived the storm

She died in.

I loved that mother

Who tenderness sacrificed

Her life for her child.

But now I have learned to love

The Rock, the Christ,

To be ready to die in the cleft

Of that Rock.

I was the child in the cleft."

More of Burnmouth< Scottish Borders

GOD'S PEOPLE

            I

Galatians 6:10

In a world of mist and quagmire

See them, eyese to the light,

Stood upon the Rock:

"The household of faith".

1 Peter 3:17, 5: 9

And as you see them

Surrounded by the world's fangs,

Accomplishing sufferings,

"Love the brotherhood".

1 Peter 2: 10

Though once the world claimed

Them its; or Satan his;

Or they even claimed they were their own:

"Now God's people".

Into Burnmouth, the most south easterly village in Scotland

Due east would be Denmark