Poems and Short Features

God Loved the Man He Made
Audio MP3

God did bestow on man he made
    Those faculties which made him blest;
To hear, to see, to smell, to taste,
    To feel, and in his image be.

And God did love the man he made,
    Pronouncing him as “very good”:
Providing him with garden home;
    Surrounding him with fruit and flower.

And when among creation lower
    Companion was not found for him,
Then God did make for him a mate,
    Which helpmate, woman, named he Eve.

Among the gifts God gave to man
    Volition and the choice to will—
To do, where not among the least;
    And these God would not violate.

God saw man’s course but would not force
    That man should do his will—yet still
Life to be blest must well conform
    To moral law; obedient be to God.

So God decreed continued life
    Depended on obedience;
Though he foresaw that under stress
    The course of man would lead therefrom.

And man would forfeit life God-given
    To perish in eternal death.
Yet in his Son our God did know
    Was willingness to take the place,

Of sinful man condemned to die,
    That man might be restored again,
And so it was because God loved,
    So loved he gave his only Son,

That on him those who should believe
    In this or in a future time,
Should not forever perished be,
    But life might find with lesson learned.

A lesson learned forevermore—
    Sin’s undesirability,
The justice and the love of God,
    As also that of his dear Son.

Poems of the Way, p. 84

 

 

 

The Glory of God Revealed
|Audio MP3

Great God who hast forever been,
    Whom thru thy Word we know
As giver of each perfect gift
    To creatures here below.

In wonders of thy Universe
    Thy power is not concealed.
For day to day and night to night
    Thy glory is revealed.

To prophets and those Saints of old
    Thy might and power were shown.
They bowed in awe before thy face—
    In reverence sought thy throne.

Thou art revealed in thy great plan,
    Lost Eden to restore.
When all mankind shall live again
    In peace forever more.

For by thy love thou did’st send forth
    Thine only Son to die.
That he might pay the debt of sin
    That o’er the world doth lie.

When to the earth thy Kingdom comes,
    Thy glory shall be shown
In love revealed to all the world
    Thy name shall then be known.

Poems of the Way, p. 54 

 

 

  

Called by a New Name
Audio MP3

Lift up thine eyes dear child of God,
    Lift up thine heart and sing.
Let naught distress thee, for thou art
    Espoused unto a King.

In silken threads of shimmering gold
    A pattern thou shalt make
Upon thy royal wedding gown
    For thy dear bridegroom’s sake.

His bride must be in queen’s attire,
    And so with patient care,
Ne’er let a single day go by
    Without some stitches there.

When finally thou art by his side,
    The world shalt know thy fame.
When Christ presents thee as his bride
    And gives thee a new name!
                             

    —Poems of the Way, p. 38

 

God’s Judgment Day of Blessing
Audio MP3

When the judgments of God are abroad in the land
     Then all of the children of men
Shall learn of his righteousness—know of his love,
    And none shall have fear of him then.

For his knowledge shall flow to the ends of the earth,
    As the waters do cover the sea.
Not any shall ask dost thou know of the Lord,
    For his Spirit shall over all be.

They will walk up the highway of holiness then,
    With nothing to hurt nor destroy.
For sin shall be vanquished—the evil one bound,
    And sorrow shall give way to joy.

The Paradise lost, shall again be regained,
    And all those now dead in their grave
Shall hear the sweet call of their Saviour and Lord
    Who died that their lives he might save.

God’s judgment day nears bringing blessings and peace.
    He’s promised all this in his Word.
For Christ and his bride shall then reign o’er the earth
    And his name evermore be adored.

And so let us pray from the depths of our hearts
    “May thy Kingdom come”—haste the day
For the judgments of God will bring blessings for all,
    With all of earth’s tears wiped away.

                            —Poems of the Way, p. 17


God’s Oath

How much more convincing is God’s oath, making sure, unchangeable that basic covenant made with Abraham, assuring the heirs of the promise (“us”) that ultimately all mankind will receive a blessing, and that it would come through us. (Galatians 3:29) The apostle tells us that that oath was intended of God for us rather than for Abraham, to give us strong consolation, that we might lay hold firmly of the hope set before us in that promise—that Abrahamic Covenant. He adds that we have this hope as an anchor of the soul sure and steadfast within the veil, whither Jesus has entered as our forerunner, to whom we are approaching—as members to our Head.

Reprints, p. 4496