PRAYER FOR MY DAUGHTER

Since her frail coracle is set
Upon a swelling watercourse
When tumbling waves and tides have met
Guide her against their evil force!

Give strength and aid to us who try,
From our own fragile crafts, to keep
Her course from rugged rocks which lie
Threatening to hurl her in the deep.

And bring her safely home at last,
Secure eternally from harm,
Where no seas swell and no winds blast
Within the haven of Thine arm.

ISAIAH

Isaiah spoke of One called Wonderful,
The Counsellor with words replete with truth,
The Mighty God disposing power for good,
The Father of the Age of perfect rule,
The Prince of Peace who makes the desert bloom.
This is the One who in perfection grew
Before Jehovah as would a tender shoot
‑ Though earth denied refreshment to its root.
This was the One who bore the bitter wounds,
This was the One it pleased His God to bruise,
This is the One now satisfied with fruit ‑
I love since I am one His work includes.

This concludes the first wave of laises of "Touching the King". Others, of the total of 120, will follow in due course - if the Lord will.

THE PROPHETS

According to his vision each prophet spoke:
In Jeremiah, fire burning in his bones,
The Branch of Righteousness had been evoked;
Ezekiel saw the Man upon the throne
Yet in his body figuratively bore
All that the Son of Man for man has borne;
Messiah, Prince or the immaculate Stone
Filled Daniel's view and caused him to adore;
Thoughts of His glory and of God's world restored
Thrilled Zechariah and many prophets more;
Each prophet touched by God wisely foretold
The Man some glimpse of whom set them aglow.

DAVID

God said of him "He will do all my will",
"My servant David I have anointed him".
He was a man whose grace shone from within.
In each accomplishment he had great skill ‑
He could compose or play the harp, or sing,
Fighting the lion, or giant, he could win
Yet be a shepherd although anointed king.
Experience brought psalms into his lips
While to his God his heart would often lift.
Yet God forbad the height of David's wish
Because withal he had been marred by sin;
Others essay: One only can fulfil.

THE JUDGES

I could recount of Gideon and Barak
Who in his time each had a place of favour
And who each showed a sign of consecration
That God could use for temporary salvation
For His own people in their dire desolation ‑
Yet God's Ideal they cannot be compared with;
Jephthah and Samson display the flesh elated:
Although God used them He found their rashness hateful;
Samuel wisely judged the chosen nation
But mourned too long the king God found distasteful:
At last God saw in His anticipation
A man after His heart when He found David.

THE OBLATION

And the oblation foretold the holy life
Which God could own as all for His delight,
With every action and every motive fine.
As every detail was perfect in God's sight
Those who are God's can similarly find
Enduring pleasure despite surrounding strife.
The mingled oil recalls what was divine ‑
God manifest as holy love designed;
The anointing oil recalls the Spirit's sign
That He had One on whom He could abide;
And nothing there exalts man or excites.
The fragrance all is God's ‑ the food is mine.

THE SACRIFICES

At God's desire according to His word
Vast quantities of sacrifices burned
And each foretold the Man who was to come,
Whose death would show the greatness of God's love.
Burnt offerings gave savour of the worth
Of Him whose good equipped Him for God's work;
Because that work would cleanse from sin and lust
Sin offerings presaged His precious blood;
Peace offerings gave promise of that One
Whose inward grace no incident perturbed,
Whose purity no enmity disturbed
And who provides delight for God and us.

THE ARK

But in that system what had the focal place?
What showed most fully the glory of God's name?
The Ark of God, small amid what was great.
There spoke to God of one Man's perfect ways
Acacia wood which formed its hidden frame;
While for His heart it preciously displayed
God seen in manhood through gold which overlaid.
And on the Ark the mercy‑seat was placed:
Witness was there that blood had met sin's stain;
God's righteousness and love are both maintained.
The cherubim each fixed on it his face ‑
God's rights in judgment are now sustained in grace.