GENESIS 2: 21-23

It was not good that Man should be alone

God saw, and knew that He must sow and reap;

And Adam saw, resulting from his sleep

His wife, derived from him in flesh and bone.

Thus Christ now has what answers to His heart,

Though both God’s counsels and His ways were deep,

In one prepared to be His counterpart.

This is the first of a few contemplations on the death of Christ as foreseen in the early chapters of Genesis.

PRAYER FOR MY SON

(Written a long time ago; but still needed.)

Lord, as I watch this little lamb
I ask you first to shepherd me
Since as Thy wayward sheep I am
As prone to wandering as he'll be.

Help us to feed among Thy sheep
Where both of us will know Thy care;
Protect us, water us, and keep
Our footsteps from the lion's lair.

But he himself will need to learn
The way his Shepherd had to go
And in his heart himself discern
The reason for his Shepherd's woe.

Help him to learn the Shepherd's voice
And follow in the Shepherd's way
Till he will constantly rejoice
In what his Shepherd has to say.

And bring him safely home at last
Secure eternally from harm
Where no wolves roam and no winds blast
Within the shelter of Thine arm.

GLORIOUS

In no circumstance
Was Christ so glorious to God
As when He suffered.

CHRIST HAS ONCE SUFFERED

We ponder with wonder
The steps of the Saviour
Admiring the grace of
The steps that He trod;
All led to Golgotha
Where "Christ ... has once suffered ...
The just for the unjust,
To bring us to God".

He came from the glory
To bring us to glory,
To meet our condition
And spread grace abroad,
We sing in God's presence
"For Christ ... has once suffered ...
The just for the unjust,
To bring us to God".

1 Peter 3:18

for Christ indeed has once suffered for sins, [the] just for [the] unjust, that he might bring us to God;

FIDELITY

When seeing Jesus in His dignity
Where His true faithfulness has been displayed
"Are not thine eyes upon fidelity"?

Feeling the buffets of adversity
What noble faithfulness Stephen displayed
When seeing Jesus in His dignity.

As you behold amid calamity
The Just One both forsaken and betrayed
Are not thine eyes upon fidelity?

See Stephen in his grace and purity
Face all man's hatred and be undismayed
When seeing Jesus in His dignity.

Seeing God's people's amiability
As walking in the path that Christ has made
"Are not thine eyes upon fidelity"?

Proclaim that grace that touched our  depravity
 And faithful saints need never be afraid
When seeing Jesus in His dignity.
Are not thine eyes upon fidelity?



See Jeremiah 5: 3: "Jehovah, are not thine eyes upon fidelity".  (JND Translation, which I usually use.)

Kingdom Poets (a blog by D.S. Martin): Edmund Spenser*

Kingdom Poets (a blog by D.S. Martin): Edmund Spenser*: Edmund Spenser (1552―1599) is considered one of the greatest English poets, for having glorified both England and its language through his e...

JAEL

Judges 4 
Sisera, finding flight expedient,
Reached Jael, and so fled the battles's clamour;
She gave him milk; he slept within the tent:
She took the tent-pin and the workman's hammer.
She smote his temple - for God had decreed
His death would not enhance a warrior's glamour.
Her hands were practised for the time of need.

TEN REASONS TO BELIEVE IN THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

Because the Shepherd

Knowing the depths of my need

Gave Himself for me;

Because the Shepherd

In His goodness carried me

On His own shoulders;

Because the Spirit

Has shone around my darkness

The light of God's Word;

Because the Spirit

Has swept the house carefully

Until He found me.

Because the Father

Ran to give me a welcome,

Embraced, and kissed me.

Because I am clothed

In the Best Robe that God has,

The worth of Christ.

Because I've been given

The token of divine love

A ring on my hand.

Because I now wear

The dignity that God gives,

Sandals on my feet.

Because I can share

The feast on the fatted calf:

God's thoughts of His Son.

Because God in grace

Desires to give me a place

In the Father's house.