HEAVEN'S JUSTICE

Meaning in Psalm 26

Alfred D. Byrd

Everyone faces heaven's justice.
Standing before the throne of the King,
Whose eyes examine what fills my heart,
I wait to hear my sentence proclaimed
By the One from Whom no lie can hide.
I'm far from perfect — humans will fall —
But I've kept my eyes on You, my God,
And walked a path that leads to this place.
My life has been transparent to You;
Emotions and thoughts are glass to You.
From You, Whose vision searches the depths,
I'll receive the truth about my life.
The light that leads me has been Your love,
Forever faithful in thought and act
Because it's rooted within the truth:
Alone, the source of all life is You.

Because I've followed Your light, my God,
I've kept away from those who hate You.
Hypocrites, wasters, they spurn their King
And hurt their neighbors for gain or spite.
They've formed a crowd that does in darkness
Actions that fill the world with despair.
I've lived in that world and felt its pain,
But now I've reached Your altar, my God,
And I wash my hands, which touched that world,
To say that I love the light instead
Of darkness of things apart from You.
I praise You, my God, because You live
And have sent Your light to those like me
Who lived in blindness, but longed to see
A world that transcends my place of birth.

I long to see the house of my King,
Whose glory dazzles, delights, and fills
Each eye that seeks and treasures the light.
That light is deadly to those gone wrong,
Accepting darkness as home and hope,
And spilling the blood of life for gain,
For spite, for vengeance — my God, I pray,
Please spare me from all that lies in store
For those who cheat the truth with a bribe
And scheme to thwart their Maker's judgment.

Thank You, my God, for leading my life
Along a pathway apart from theirs.
You've made me righteous, redeemed by grace,
A gift too great for words to describe.
Because of You, I'm able to stand
On ground that's level before Your throne.
Around me there stands a throng made pure
Because they've heeded Your call to come
Away from darkness into the light.
Together with all who love the light,
I praise You, Maker, for Who You are,
The One Whose name is the Light of Love.

An Epic of the Exile Who Rose to Rule an Empire to Save God's Children

The Stars Bow Down

IN HOPE TOGETHER

Meaning in Psalm 150

Alfred D. Byrd

CREATURES of God, whoever you are,
Provide the One Who made you with praise.
Alone, or one in hope together,
Offer your voice, however it sounds,
Upon the altar of love for God.

OUR GOD is distant, beyond the stars;
Our God is near, embracing our hearts.
Our God transcends the limits of time;
Our God is working each day for us.
Our God, Who gives us our breath, deserves
Unending praises from us, the dust
Awoken by God with breath of life.

THE REASONS to praise our God exceed
The names of numbers with which we count.
Recall the Name with dancing and song.
The music of horns, of harps, and of frets —
Of rattles and flutes, of bells in ranks,
Of cymbals crashing, breaking our sleep —
Are just a start of what our Maker
Merits from us in thanks for the light
That leads us homewards to find the Throne.
At the feet of God, let all come near
And shout together, "We praise our God!"

Four hundred years of silence was broken.

The Bible's Hidden Years

TO SING TO OUR KING

Meaning in Psalm 149

Alfred D. Byrd

ASSEMBLED children of God Most High,
Let's find new words to sing to our King
Of praise for being — of thanks for love!
To serve their Maker, some choose to dance —
To move their limbs, the Maker's designs,
In patterns showing a heart of joy.
Rejoice in the King and praise the Name
Of the One Who is and has no peer.
To beat a drum or to strum a harp
Expresses our joy in God, who loves
To crown the humble, but crush the proud.

AT TIMES, the children of God must fight
To guard their lives, their homes, and their kin.
Let those who honor both truth and justice
Shatter the strength of haters of peace.
Let those who glory in chains and whips
Descend in chains to be whipped in turn.
No, better, may those who hate the light
Receive from God escape from darkness.
Turning from evil to choose what's good,
May they join the throng before the Throne —
The throng that sings, "Our God is our joy!"
The best of triumphs over a foe
Is to turn mistrust into love of friends.
In triumph, our God elects from love
To save from darkness children of light.

An Epic of the Exile Who Rose to Rule an Empire to Save God's Children

The Stars Bow Down

GLORY REVEALED

Meaning in Psalm 148

Alfred D. Byrd

EVERYTHING, listen! Give praise to God,
The One Who made both heavens and earth,
Because in God is glory revealed —
Because from God has come all that is.
Without our God, we'd all be nothing.
Angels who gather around the Throne,
The stars that blaze in the depths of space,
The sun and the moon that light the earth —
All things on high were fashioned by God,
Received a law by which they endure,
And keep their place of service truly.

CREATURES below, assigned to the earth,
Are just as bound by the law of God
As things that dazzle our eyes on high.
From kings on thrones to worms in gutters,
Nothing escapes the notice of God.
Does lightning shatter a sky turned dark?
Does hail come down to batter our homes?
Does wind arise to sweep us away?
Does snow pile up in drifts to stall us,
Thinking, "We go wherever we want"?
We wander in fog unless we see
A path from God to guide us homewards.
Heaven is what our hearts should desire,
And praise is what our tongues should produce.
Whatever our class, elite or poor,
We all can join our voices in song
To praise the One above all others —
Heaven's Creator, our God — our King!

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Asenath's Tale

THE SNOW IS HEAVY

Meaning in Psalm 147

Alfred D. Byrd

HOLY above all else is God,
Whose glory unveiled outshines the stars.
The stars are only the works of God.
Each one was made, and each one was named,
By God alone, the Maker of all.
The One Who made the heaven of stars
Has made as well the heaven of clouds.
It hails; it sleets; the snow is heavy;
Blizzards are sweeping from west to east.
A change of weather, and warmth will melt
The snow in streams that fill the rivers.
Cycles of warmth, of wind, and of wet
Exist because our God has made them.
Rainfall produces the grass that feeds —
Meadows blossom — the lives of cattle.
Absent our God, the world is empty.
Greater than all that is made is God,
Whose wisdom designed the earth for life.

THE ONE Who's sitting above the stars
Is also with us. Our God is love.
Our God has saved a people to be
No longer outcasts, but heirs of hope
Who have a city: "Our God is here."
The broken in heart are healed by God;
The ones who suffer are touched by God,
Who takes the part of persons oppressed
And hurls oppressors outside the house
When we come to give our thanks to God.

LET'S COME with praises to God, our King.
Our praises will show our love to God
And cleanse our hearts of doubt and despair.
Give thanks to God for blessings that make
A life of gloom into one of light.
Remember the greatness of God and wait,
When you see no light, for dawn to come.
Possessing a harp and skill to play,
Employ your gifts in service to God.

The story of Divine Light as revealed by Hebrew and Christian Scripture.

The Light

ORDAINING JUSTICE

Meaning in Psalm 146

Alfred D. Byrd

PRAISES are due to the One, our God,
For what God is and for what God does.
The One Who made both heavens and earth
Is faithful to do all things for good.
Ordaining justice for lives oppressed,
Providing hungry persons with food,
Announcing freedom to those in jail,
Restoring vision to eyes gone blind,
And healing the backs of those bent down,
Our God has loved and helped the faithful.
Foreigners, widows, orphans — they find
A shepherd who shields and feeds in God.
The wicked, seeking our lives as prey,
Will walk a road that finds misfortune.

HAPPY are all who believe in God.
Don't trust a ruler to save your life.
The kings below are mortal like you.
They'll breathe their last and go back to dust,
And then their plans will come to nothing.
Only your God is king forever,
Reigning on high, untouched by sorrow —
Able to do all things for your good.

An age-old story retold in verse for a new millennium.

A Song of the One

BEYOND OUR THOUGHT

Meaning in Psalm 145

Alfred D. Byrd

ATTRIBUTES perfect, holy, and good
Belong to God, the King of all things.
The Name of God, Eternal, the One,
Is worthy of praise from dawn to dusk
And of songs of hope in depths of night.
Our Maker's greatness, beyond our thought,
We should put in words, though flawed and few,
To show our love for the One, our King.

LET PARENTS pass on the truths of God
To sons and daughters who seek the light
That comes from the Throne to change the world.
Let each of us who loves our Maker
Ponder perfection enthroned on high
And works of wonder performed below.
Let all together honor our God
With prayers of praise, request, and trust,
With teaching on truths received from God,
And with songs of joy: "We know the King!"

OUR GOD has shown us mercy, the trait
Of one withholding judgment that's due;
Compassion, feeling others as own;
And patience, waiting through times of tests.
Our God is swift and sure to forgive:
To send away our sins from ourselves
And embrace our lives again in peace.

OUR GOD is good in nature and works
And shows compassion on all that is,
For all that is is the work of God.
All creatures were made of dust and breath
By the will of God made firm in flesh.
They desire, when right with God, their King,
To praise the One, the Giver of life
And to speak of works performed by God —
The works that gave the world its being,
Give it each day existence and hope,
And Will give the world, in days of light,
A reign of beauty, wonder, and joy.

JUST NOW, the world is filled with darkness.
Creatures will stumble unless they look
Beyond the darkness to light on high.
The One Who fills the Throne in the heights
Will reach below to raise the fallen.
Shoulders twisted by burdens of grief
Will straighten beneath the hands of God.
Because of God, the Maker of all,
Each creature receives what food it needs.
Whatever a life in God desires
Will come from God in measure and time.

OUR GOD is fair; our God is faithful,
Keeping promises bearing the Name
Although the ones who hold a promise
Stumble and stray, forgetting their King.
Our God will hear the ones who cry out
In hope and faith for light from the Throne.
Our God protects the lovers of light,
But offers darkness, reward in kind,
To those who live their lives in darkness.
Creatures of God, receivers of light,
Respond to the love of God with praise!

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Kabbalah for Evangelical Christians