Early Thirst

(Psalm 63)

The quiet light begins to dawn.

My soul awakes, as it is drawn

By silent thirst, with op'ning eyes

To cast off night and from slumber rise.

~

A soul a-thirst, all consuming need

To open Thy word and upon it feed.

As a droughted land, dry and parched I lay

'Till thus I awoke at break of day.

~

I long, not for water for a thirsty tongue ,

Nor yet for heart-soothing songs to be sung;

No! 'Tis more needful than all for me

To wake, arise, and commune with Thee.

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Oh, with my thirsty eyes to see

Thy power and glory revealed to me!

--To know your blest presence nearer yet

Than when in Thy house with Thee I met!

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More than life my Lord, my all!

Thy lovingkindness doth upon me fall.

I shall proclaim how great Thou art

With joyful lips and hungry heart.

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While life is in me, I'll praise Thy name

And bless Thee, evermore the same

With greatful heart my hands I'll raise

And offer up my inadequate praise.

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I come, and know that Thou shalt fill

My hungry soul, this morn so still,

As with a feast of extravegant things

Fit to be set before the richest kings!

~

Thus satisfied at last, I raise

My sated heart and lips to praise

The greatness of Thyself, and then

Begin to hunger, and to feed again!

Evening Thoughts

Softly fades the light of day
As here alone I sit and pray
Yet, truly, not alone am I
For God Almighty who hears my cry
Is ever present in peace or strife
-‘Tis He who brings true joy to life.

And as the sunset casts on all
Its glittering golden glow, I call
To He who created all in my gaze
Which now doth cheer my heart and amaze
For the One who created all beauty and grace
Has gone to prepare for me a place!

Now as I hear the birds’ soft call
The trilling strains which rise and fall
I remember Jesus’ words, which said
Behold the birds, how they are fed.
They reap not, sow not, nor gather and store,
God feeds them. Doth He not value you more?

My eye doth on some flowers fall
And quickly then do I recall
Christ’s words again, from that same place:
Consider the lily’s pretty race
They toil not, spin not, yet beautifully arrayed,
By God, tho’ so swiftly they are decayed.

Yet God, who marks the sparrow’s fall
And paints the world’s bright colors all
Who provides each creature sufficient food
And rains down blessings, great and good
He sees my tears He knows each sorrow,
And His children are given a bright tomorrow!

Now as the light begins to fade
I think upon the price He paid
-For such a sinful wretch as I
Who so richly deserved for my sins to die-
Of His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane
And His suffering and death on Calvary.

Then through the twilight a bird’s call sounds
A bubbling chirp which with joy resounds
He’s alive! He arose from the grave again
And with Him hope and salvation for men
Who repent and believe, as I did that day
When Jesus’ blood washed my sins away!

Now thankfulness within me swells
To Him who now within me dwells,
The three in one, the Trinity
Who lavishes love and kindness on me.
And as soft breezes brush my face,
I thank Him for His bounteous grace.

As I hear the birds’ soft evening song
I raise my voice and sing along
Here at the closing of the day
The Doxology I sing and pray
“To God, from whom all blessings flow”
My heartfelt praises upward go.

And now has fled the light of day,
The light has faded clean away
The sweet-voiced birds are now at rest
And I sit and think how I am blessed
For God Almighty, Omnipotent, He
Is ever near to talk with me!

Adopted

How sweet to be a child of God
In times of peace and rest
When thankful praises smoothly flow
From heart and mouth, for well I know
How much my Heavenly Father has blessed.

How sweet to be a child of God
In times of want and woe
When in my Father’s arms I hide
There, through His grace I safe abide
Though harsh the winds of worry blow.

How sweet to be a child of God
Where e’er my pathway lies
In health or sickness, toil or rest
My Father gives that which is best
For He is infinitely wise!

Resting

Today I have been learning why God commanded a Sabbath rest. The last few days have been very stressful, and last night I was as close to "stressed out" as I have been in a long time. Usually, I'm not one to let worries or pressures get to me, but last Thursday I found out that I had three fairly large projects coming up for school. One -a timeline and six paragraphs explaining it- was due tonight. (Thankfully, God enabled me to get that one done yesterday.) The next one is a summary of the Old Testament, which is due next Sunday, and the third one is a research paper which is due the following week. The summary is do-able, but will be very time-consuming. The research paper, however, will be harder because I have not done a college paper before, and have not even started the research yet.

-If you think of me the next few weeks, please pray that God would give me grace and the time and mental acuity needed to get all this done in addition to my regular homework.

Anyway, all this combined with my upcoming lack of time to work on things made me feel quite exhausted by last night. I had no idea how I was going to get everything done, (and still am not sure if it's possible) but I decided that, today being Sunday, I would take a day off from schoolwork and rest. It has been so refreshing to be able to do something other than schoolwork for a day, without feeling like I should be working on it! It also has given my brain a chance to recooperate and for the first time in a week, my mind doesn't feel so busy! :) It made me really think about God's wisdom in commanding a rest. He didn't suggest it, He commanded it. That way there's no getting around it. We have to rest, even if we think we don't have time to.

My "rest" day also gave me extra time to get alone with God and get a proper perspective. God knows all the things He has brought into my life, and He has given me enough time and strength to get it all done. This morning the Holy Spirit brought to my mind a verse that I cannot find the reference for at the moment. "As thy days are, so shall thy strength be." I have all I need, it's just a matter of using what God gives me wisely. Besides, it's only schoolwork. A bad grade won't be the end of the world. (though it may seem so at the time.) :)

In short, I have learned anew today that God knows what He's doing. :)

"Faithful is He that calleth thee, who also will do it."
I Thessalonians 5:24