14/11/04

One who is God took
A new condition to be
Near men - and near me!

TO ROSIE

It is your uniqueness
That I love; that confluence
Of goodness and grace, a blending
Of savours. There is no point
In analysis - knowing its chemicals
Does not enhance a meal - but let me
Relish what is distinctly
You.

How does someone cope with
The heap of detritus, the jumble
Of a person? What will be retrieved
From the pile that is known as
Me?

I often repeat
“To know Him and the power
Of His resurrection” - yet I am aware
That this could be a mantra
With little moral effect. If I
Could know what is distinctly
Him!

IN CHRIST

God has come out
in Christ
to meet our need;
thus we can plead
His mercy,
And trust without one doubt.

We may draw near
in Christ
to meet God's heart;
He will impart
His favour
For love has cast out fear.

2010

FEET

But as the Lord moved by obedient steps
Towards the cross and His vicarious death
What of His feet ‑ did any care for them?
The women cared: one saw His need and wept
And by her tears the Master was refreshed;
She poured out myrrh despite opposers there.
Mary had sat beside His feet and heard,
Had bowed to them under the greatest test:
She valued them and showered on them the best,
The finest nard, a fragrant recompense.
Soon as His footstool His foes will all be set ‑
That is the just reward which God directs.

SHOULDERS

As for His shoulders what burdens have they borne?
Toward Golgotha He walked a bitter road:
The cross He carried, a rough and evil load;
Since I was sinful and lost and wont to rove
The Lord descended and took the Shepherd's role,
Coming to seek me and gently bear me home;
A Man in glory He wears the priestly robe,
Its shoulder‑pieces a pair of onyx‑stones
On which are written, in order, all His own
Sustained by Jesus, the Priest upon a throne;
While in my pathway the Man whom I adore
Is not ashamed to share with me His yoke.

EARS

By what authority did Jesus speak
And to which principle did He adhere?
"Morning by morning He openeth mine ear".
He would not speak that which He did not hear:
In words or deeds obedience was complete
Unto the cross ‑ the uttermost extreme.
But as He went He heard the cries of need
From those around and always stopped to heal.
Exalted now the Saviour still takes heed
Of every prayer and every humble plea:
His ears are open and still He will relieve
All who are weary, as their sustaining Priest.

FACE

What of His face which He had firmly set
To go God's way towards Jerusalem?
Such was the hate and bitterness of men
None will be marred as His was marred again;
No visage was so marred as His and yet
His look of love caused Peter to repent.
But God ensured after the Lord's ascent
Stephen should see its glory from the earth:
While with no veil but glory evident
We look to heaven and gaze upon Him there,
Subjected thus to metamorphoses,
So that His glory is more and more expressed.

HANDS

Who measured out the waters in His palm
And meted out the heavens in His span?
The One who handled and healed the leprous man,
Who raised the child, her hand warm in His grasp;
The One who held the children in His arms ‑
He holds them still and will not let them part;
The One whose touch was always operant
Upon such poor and powerless operands;
The One whose flesh felt the nail's brutal stab:
And risen showed to His beloved the marks;
This was the One who led His own apart
And who ascended blessing with outstretched hands.


We'll have a few more from "Touching the King"; see 7 July 2008 for details.