I've Caused You Sorrow

Meaning in Psalm 7

Alfred D. Byrd

MY GOD, I'm fleeing to You for refuge,
Shelter from those who've learned to hate me.
Hunters they are who follow my spoor
To tear my soul and body apart.
If I trust in myself, my hope is empty;
Only my God can keep me from death.

My life, I must say, is far from perfect.
Thinking of wrongness, I've longed to do it;
Speaking unwisely, I've caused You sorrow;
Doing my will, I've turned from what's right.
In justice, Eternal, You might have slain me—
Rightness, my God, is what You demand—
But those who repent by turning from wrong
To bow to Your will and do what's right
Receive forgiveness, sending their wrongs
As far from them as east is from west.
I praise You, Eternal, for turning my heart
From doing my will to praising Your Name.

The ones who hate me and seek my life—
The ones who spurn You for things of the now—
Are risking judgment of sorrow and death.
How sad that they fail to see what comes
Of doing their will and not their God's!
Each action carries within it a seed:
Of rightness, the seed of hope of life;
Of wrongness, the seed of sureness of death.
No thought or action is hidden from You,
The One Who made us and knows our hearts;
No word that we speak or act that we do
Will escape Your eye or evade Your judgment.

Haters of light will end in darkness.
Arrogance blinds them to wisdom: no one
Conceived on the earth and doomed to die here,
Lacking the might to retrace one's path,
Can stand against what You've willed and spoken—
You Who are First and Last and Always,
Maker of all, above creation!

Only lovers of rightness will last.
My God, please send Your Spirit to guide
Our steps from false goods that allure our vision.
Lead us to light, the light of Your face
That shines on all who accept Your will.

If this poem spoke to you, you may enjoy my Biblical epic poems

A Song of the One, the age-old account of Creatlon, Fall, Redemption, and Glory retold in verse for a new millennium, and

The Stars Bow Down: An Epic of Joseph, the timeless tale of a favorite son whose brothers sold him into slavery, but whom God raised from a prison to save the known world from famine.

The Grave is Silent

Meaning in Psalm 6

Alfred D. Byrd

ETERNAL, my God, please hear what I say.
I've cried for so long I fear my death.
All night, I've lain awake on my bed
And drenched my pillow with tears of grief.
They blur my vision and make me feeble.

Wrongness has filled my life, I confess.
A crowd that has no love for Your Word,
But does what it wants, or conforms to the world,
Is always around me. I've followed its ways
And done, my God, what turns me from You.

Eternal, my God, if you want to strike me—
Punish my heart for what it's done wrong—
You'll be in the right. Please don't, I beg you,
Do so in anger. Please spare me Your wrath!
If You turn the whole of Your might on me,
You'll leave me not even a breath to praise You.

If You take my life, what good will I be?
No corpse can sing a hymn to Your Name!
The grave is silent, devoid of Your praise.
Please leave me alive to tell of Your love,
The love that made the world come to be
And keeps it going from day to day.

Eternal, my God, You've heard my plea;
You've spared my life and shown me forgiveness!
Fearing rejection, I've found acceptance,
Freedom to give You a life of service.
Enemies spurning the paths of the One,
Feel shame for fighting against your Maker.
Listen to words of love triumphant
And seize this moment to turn to God.

If this poem spoke to you, you may enjoy my Biblical epic poems

A Song of the One, the age-old account of Creatlon, Fall, Redemption, and Glory retold in verse for a new millennium, and

The Stars Bow Down: An Epic of Joseph, the timeless tale of a favorite son whose brothers sold him into slavery, but whom God raised from a prison to save the known world from famine.

005. Your Eyes are Too Pure

Meaning in Psalm 5

Alfred D. Byrd, author of Monks, Crusaders, and Heretics: Clear Light on the Medieval Church

SOMETIMES, my God, when I think of You,
My mind is filled with fear of Your will.
Your eyes are too pure to look at wrong
And call it rightness in the way of the world.

The ones who boast of deeds of their own
That are born in blood and end in death
Will find, unless You send them Your Spirit
To turn their feet from darkness to light,
The grave as the end of all of their hopes.
No lie, my God, will stand in Your sight;
The truth alone will find acceptance.

Many will take the road to darkness.
Others, my God, You will call to the light;
You open their eyes to what is true,
And You free their hearts from ties to the world.
The ones who hear and believe Your Word
Will find You the source of blessing and hope,
A shield protecting their life from darkness.
Trusting Your promise to make them Your own,
They'll sing for joy in praise of Your Name
Because, through Your love, You let them enter
Your house of worship, a refuge from trouble.

Early, my God, I pray to Your Name;
I offer my praise, the least of returns
For all of the love that You show to me.
Please hear my voice and guide me onward
In doing Your work, my God and my King.

If this poem spoke to you, you may enjoy my Biblical epic poems

A Song of the One, the age-old account of Creatlon, Fall, Redemption, and Glory retold in verse for a new millennium, and

The Stars Bow Down: An Epic of Joseph, the timeless tale of a favorite son whose brothers sold him into slavery, but whom God raised from a prison to save the known world from famine.

Please visit A Christian's Way Station

004. My Beacon of Hope

Meaning in Psalm 4

Alfred D. Byrd, suthor of Stand at the Crossroads: Lessons from the Book of Jeremiah

WHEN I SEE the world around me growing
Darkened with all of the wrongs of nature's
And humans' devising — famine and war,
Deceit and pain — which trouble my heart,
I call on You, my beacon of hope.
Of truth and rightness, You are the source;
With help in times of trouble, You come.
Please listen, my God, as I pray to You.

The men and women around me despise
My faith in You as a form of madness:
Trusting in wealth and wisdom of mortals—
In words that are wind, in things that perish—
Scoffers rejoice in times of plenty,
But fall to despair in times of grief.

If I turn to anger, I do no good;
I need to focus my mind on You
When I rise, while I walk, when I go to bed.
I need to offer my life to You,
To do at all times Your service of love,
And to trust in You in life and in death.

You have set apart believers to know
A filling of joy when we see Your light;
You will hear, my God, the prayer of all
Who call on Your Name with a heart of faith.
Although the world is filled with sorrow
That harrows my heart and withers my flesh,
I will look to You and, knowing Your peace,
Lie down in safety, the gift of Your light.

If this poem spoke to you, you may enjoy my Biblical epic poems

A Song of the One, the age-old account of Creatlon, Fall, Redemption, and Glory retold in verse for a new millennium, and

The Stars Bow Down: An Epic of Joseph, the timeless tale of a favorite son whose brothers sold him into slavery, but whom God raised from a prison to save the known world from famine.

Please visit A Christian's Way Station

003. The Road May Be Hard

Meaning in Psalm 3

Alfred D. Byrd, author of Parables before Jesus

FOR US who serve the truth in this world,
The road may be hard. Not all agree
With the truth, for lies allure their eyes
Until the darkness appears as light
To those who live for the here and now.
No longer able to see the light,
They mock at us who hunger for truth.
"Eternal is just a dream of yours!
Your God is nothing but time and chance!
Messiah was just a man like us!"

Despair could claim us, and we would fall,
Unless our God recalled us to hope.
As long as we fix our eyes on the light,
A path will lead our feet from darkness.
Even the least may end in greatness
Ever recalled on high by our God.
Although we may fall, our God will come
To lift us from shame to live in hope
Of a day for truth to shine undimmed.

If this poem spoke to you, you may enjoy my Biblical epic poems

A Song of the One, the age-old account of Creatlon, Fall, Redemption, and Glory retold in verse for a new millennium, and

The Stars Bow Down: An Epic of Joseph, the timeless tale of a favorite son whose brothers sold him into slavery, but whom God raised from a prison to save the known world from famine.

Please visit A Christian's Way Station

002. The Fire on High

Meaning in Psalm 2

Alfred D. Byrd, author of Ezekiel's Chariot

ETERNAL has come to live with us
As one who retains the fire on high,
But has our nature and knows our fears.
Messiah, the one who comes to us,
Can claim from the One this world's command,
But those who live in darkness have schemed
To slay Messiah and seize this world.
The plot has failed! Messiah rises,
Bringing to all who search for the light
The life that starts and ends in the One.

For a time, each soul may choose its path:
To live in light, to die in darkness.
Rulers who love the lure of this world
Intend to thwart Messiah's mission.
Laughing at law, which they claim to serve,
They silence the truth and build a lie.
Amid the lie a remnant still strives
To love Messiah and live in truth.
The world rejects the remnant's choices.
Conflict ensues; the truth must suffer.

Someday, Eternal will say, "Enough!
The time of choice is over." The One
Will test each heart and give it its due,
The light for truth, but darkness for lies.
Before the time of choice has ended,
Honor Messiah and serve the One
To face the judgment unmarred by wrong!

If this poem spoke to you, you may enjoy my Biblical epic poems

A Song of the One, the age-old account of Creatlon, Fall, Redemption, and Glory retold in verse for a new millennium, and

The Stars Bow Down: An Epic of Joseph, the timeless tale of a favorite son whose brothers sold him into slavery, but whom God raised from a prison to save the known world from famine.

Please visit A Christian's Way Station

001. Secure in the Light

Meaning in Psalm 1

Alfred D. Byrd, author of Stand at the Crossroads: Lessons from the Book of Jeremiah

ETERNAL has taught the truth to us,
The ones created by will and word
To praise the light of the One on high.

Not all, however, obey the One.
Rebellious, many deride the truth,
The law of life for those who live it.
Rebels survive and prosper awhile,
But fail at last, and come to nothing.

Persons, however, who love the truth
Refuse to take the rebels' pathway,
Listen to gossip, or join their plans.
Believers in truth will seek instead
To flee from darkness and find the light.
Secure in the light, those bound to truth
Will live and grow like trees by a stream—
The stream of life that comes from the One!

Eternal will judge all things at last.
For those who spurn the truth, rejection
Sends them to dwell in halls of darkness.
Persons, however, who love the truth
Will share in light the life of the One.

If this poem spoke to you, you may enjoy my Biblical epic poems

A Song of the One, the age-old account of Creatlon, Fall, Redemption, and Glory retold in verse for a new millennium, and

The Stars Bow Down: An Epic of Joseph, the timeless tale of a favorite son whose brothers sold him into slavery, but whom God raised from a prison to save the known world from famine.

Please visit A Christian's Way Station