Seeznak

A Passover

Why It Is Good To Read Christian Poetry Devotionally

• 1. Because Scripture gives us examples.

Much of the Bible (especially the Old Testament) was given to us in poetic form, for our benefit. These passages do not prescribe forms or styles, but show us that God’s people remember and communicate God’s character and works through poetry.

• 2. Because the Church has always done so.

This is careful ground to tread, but I cite the use of devotional poetry by the church not as a reason for but a validation of using poetry- Christians in nearly every age have found hope in the “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” of Scripture and of their brethren, whether past or contemporary.

• 3. Because poetry expresses what statements and exhortations cannot.

It is a common occurrence in Scripture for God’s people to break into poetry when tasting of the Divine. Adam, Jacob, Moses, Deborah and Barak, Hannah, David, Mary, Zechariah, Paul, John… these are a representation of humanity’s God-given desire to express joy, love, hope, and sadness through poetic utterance.

• 4. Because poetry gives us breadth of learning.

The poetry of others gives our understanding of God a breadth of language and imagery which is difficult to obtain solely through Scripture, because the historical and geographical distance between ourselves and Scripture is often difficult to overcome in a morning devotion intended for communion with Christ (though the Holy Spirit’s work of enlightening our hearts and minds is not to be underestimated!).

• 5. Because poetry gives us breadth in our prayer language.

The poetry of others gives our prayers to God the breadth of language and imagery which we long for, since we, as creatures of habit, tend to retreat to familiar words and phrases in our prayers.

• 6. Because poetry gives us breadth in our imagination.

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!”

“You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.”

“You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.”

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

Faith

Is it all about peace,
Stars magically aligned?
When it seems like a cancer,
Is it always benign?
Why do we struggle alone,
When the battle’s already won?
We’re promised suffering here,
Until this weary walk’s done.
Why do we lament the furnace,
When it draws us to God?
Kicking against refining,
Remaining soft as the sod.
When everything is easy,
Doesn’t pride become our balm?
Not thanking the one,
Who holds our soul in His palm.
But when the storm clouds are raging,
Where are we seeking repose?
In the God of the storm,
Who says by trial our faith grows.

Have you ever thought about a clay water pot going through the furnace? It is put through the fire so that it can be a worthy vessel and be put to use doing the thing it was designed for. Imagine what would happen if that lump of clay decided not to go through the fire, remaining instead a soft lump of clay. Try putting water in a soft clay pot and see what happens. The water leaks out as the clay becomes soggy. But going through the fire proves the character of the pot whether it be genuine and true.

Isn’t it in the good times that suddenly God is on the back burner. Oh, He’s still there, but things are going so good that we just do our own thing. But when things are going rough, suddenly we are on our faces again seeking His face, and then things go smoothly again and we forget Him again…Yet we long for there to never be trials…O, give us peace all the time! But when do we grow the most, during trials or peace? When is our faith put to the test? When do we see God’s hand taking us through things?

Not to say we don’t feel blessed when things are going well, but that I wonder- why we are so apt to blame God or complain when things aren’t going as we please? Why do we expect everything to just be peachy and not to struggle on this earth?

I am the first to cry about what I am going through or how I am feeling, but who am I to scream against the storm when it is trying me as gold is tried? “My prayer is to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Cowper Is a Good Friend to Those of Us Who Forget How to Pray

God of my life, to Thee I call;
Afflicted, at Thy feet I fall;
When the great water-floods prevail,
Leave not my trembling heart to fall.

Friend of the friendless and the faint,
Where should I lodge my deep complaint?
Where but with Thee, whose open door
Invites the helpless and the poor?

Did ever mourner plead with Thee
And Thou refuse that moumer’s plea?
Does not the word still fixed remain
That none shall seek Thy face in vain?

Fair is the lot that’s cast for me;
I have an Advocate with Thee.
They whom the world caresses most
Have no such privilege to boast.
 
Poor though I be, despised, forgot,
Yet God, my God, forgets me not;
And he is safe and must succeed
For whom the Lord vouchsafes to plead.
 
Then hear, 0 Lord, my humble cry
And bend on me Thy pitying eye.
To Thee their prayer Thy people make:
Hear us for our Redeemer’s sake

-William Cowper, Olney Hymns

Listen to a great version by Red Mountain Church here.

We Would Be Poets; Or, Wondering Why Psalm 114 Exists

Psalm 114

When Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
2 Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.

3 The sea looked and fled;
Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.

5 What ails you, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
6 O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?

7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water.

Have you ever wondered why a particular passage is in the Bible? When I read Psalm 114 a few days ago, I had to wonder why it even exists. It’s ‘plot’ is simply another retelling of the exodus, which has already been versified in previous Psalms (take 78, 105, 106, and others) and that more thoroughly. The Psalm’s only exhortation is for the earth to ‘tremble’ in verse 8, which, again, has been amply covered elsewhere. So Psalm 114 does not exist to tell us history we didn’t know, and it doesn’t exist to tell us to do something we don’t already know we should do.

So why this little song? I can see two attributes of Psalm 114 that I think may point us to an answer:

1. The Psalm is telling us about what God has done, and

2. It is telling us about what God has done in the form of poetry.

From the first point, I conclude that theology (the study of who God is and what He has done) is application.That is to say, to learn about God is to glory in who God is. So when we read and learn and talk about what God has done, that is enough; He is pleased. And this is exactly why the second point is important: reading and learning and talking about God is not the stuff of dusty textbooks and pretentious classrooms and the recitation of rote words and phrases. It (that is to say, theologizing) is the stuff of poets. Learning about God should make me think about skipping mountains and how the ocean might look if it was terrified and, more importantly, why the ocean might be terrified. I should wonder why such a big God would choose to display His might by bringing the water of life out of a dead, dry rock. I should think about God in terms of an exuberant song. I should learn to be a poet.

A Borrowed Praise

The Lord is King! lift up thy voice,
O earth; and all ye heavens, rejoice!
From world to world the joy shall ring,
The Lord omnipotent is King.

The Lord is King! who then shall dare
resist his will, distrust his care,
or murmur at his wise decrees,
or doubt his royal promises?

The Lord is King! bow down you must,
the Judge of the all the earth is just;
holy and true are all his ways;
let every creature speak his praise.

He reigns! ye saints, exalt your strains;
your God is King, your Father reigns;
and he is at the Father’s side,
the Man of love, the Crucified.

Come, make your wants, your burdens known;
he will present them at the throne;
and angel bands are waiting there
his messages of love to bear.

The Lord is King! lift up thy voice,
O earth; and all ye heavens, rejoice!
From world to world the joy shall ring,
The Lord omnipotent is King.

- Josiah Conder (1789-1855)

Check out this version, by Nathan Partain. My attention was first caught by this incredible line: The Lord is King, bow down you must. Sit on that awhile…

Then take a second look at the second verse. If the Lord is indeed King, the writer asserts, there is no way, no option, no cause, no justification, and no possibility that we should resist, distrust, or doubt His perfect decrees and promises. If we could slow down and meditate on the Lord’s Kingship as Josiah Conder has done in composing this hymn, we just might begin to contribute to the ringing joy of Christ’s praise.

A Song to Preach to Yourself

This song has fed my soul whenever it rattles around in my brain:

My rest is in heaven, my rest is not here,
Then why do I worry when trials are near!
Be hushed my dark spirit, the worst that can come
But shortens your journey, and hastens you home.

I have died to this world, and am hidden with Christ
So my mind will be set on this:
Glory is certain, for Christ is in me,
Glory is certain, for Christ is in me.

I dare not be seeking my comfort and bliss,
Or building my hopes in a place such as this;
I look for the city God promised and built,
Where Jesus has banished my sin and its guilt.

Afflictions may press me but cannot destroy,
One glimpse of His love turns them all into joy;
The tears of a lifetime will vanish away
When He stoops to dry them on that coming day.

So let Satan’s army assail me full force;
Their plans cannot help but to steady my course.
Come joys or come sorrows, whate’er may befall
An hour with my Savior will sweeten them all.

-Henry Lyte (1793-1847), updated by David L. Ward

Prair song

As of this moment, I’m not sure when our little baby is going to be born, where we are going to be living in five weeks, where I am going to work, what classes I’m going to be taking, or even how much my schooling will cost.

So, because I know that Jesus is looking out for us with His invisible but sure hand, and, not really knowing what else to do, I wrote a little ditty.

-

When life beats with perplexity

On our bedroom door,

We should go on our knees, you see;

That is what they’re for.

To Christin

I had a moment of bliss this morning

as you turned upon your pregnant hinge

and the blanket was tucked a little further

under your chin.

What I saw I shall not soon forget,

but hope (and expect) to see it again

as I have seen it before: the gentle curves

of your face.

It’s a morning routine of late, to stop

on my way to shower, or to brush my teeth,

in the doorway and stare for a moment

as you rest.

Sometimes it’s a glance, at other times

I rest my cheek against the frame

of our bedroom door and listen for the rise and fall

of your breath.

Sometimes I do not remember that you

are carrying our little dear; there’s too much peace

and beauty (in contrast to things we’ve heard)

on your brow.

But I never misremember for long;

for our marriage is our family, and our family

is you and I and Micaiah, so I thank God

for your soul.

To Christin

6/18/08

A borrowed prayer

Savior shine and cheer my soul,

Bid my dying hopes revive;

Make my wounded spirit whole,

Far away the tempter drive:

Speak the word and set me free,

Let me live alone to thee.

- John Newton, Olney Hymns #44