Giver of Light

Meaning in Psalm 95

by Alfred D. Byrd

CHILDREN OF FAITH, let's sing to our God.
The One Who spoke, and our lives became—
The One Who saved us from death by sin—
Deserves thanksgiving offered with joy
Not just one Thursday, but now and now.
We live because we have a Maker,
Holy, eternal Giver of light.
The depths of the sea, the depths of stars—
All things reside in the hands of God.
The One Who Is can have no equal.
Greater than we are hosts of angels
Fashioned from fire at the dawn of time,
Yet they, like us, would never have been
Unless the One Who Is had made them.
Maker unmade, our God is unique.

It's hard to keep our Maker in mind.
We shut our eyes, and the light is gone.
How often we start to turn aside.
We leave the light to roam in darkness.
Listen today to the voice of God:

"Recall the ones who held My Promise.
Captives in Egypt, they slaved and wept
Until I sent to them a prophet
Breaking their chains to lead them back home.
The masters were dead; the slaves were free.
You'd think that they'd have danced forever.
Sadly, their praise would turn to complaints
Whenever the way ahead grew rough.
A time of thirst, a time of hunger—
Moaning and groaning would pound My ears.
A Quarrel was how they met each Test.
They'd seen My works, but soon forgotten
Wonders that turned a river to blood.
I made the crowd of whiners wander
Forty summers and winters on sand
That held no food but bread from heaven.
Nothing kept them facing the Promise.
Angry with them, I saved them from death,
But saw no change — no love — in their hearts.
I said by My Name, 'I'm done with them.
They'll never enter pastures of rest.'"

Our God recalls the whiners to show
Each one who lives a choice to be made.
To gloom or the light, one takes a road.
Don't harden your heart like those who moaned.
Don't look at wonders and say, "What next?"
As sheep, let's praise our God, the Shepherd
Leading us onward to fields of peace.
Amid the earth or before the Throne,
Let's worship the One Who made us all.

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.

Talkers of Trash

Meaning in Psalm 94

by Alfred D. Byrd

WICKEDNESS prospers greatly at times.
How greedy, lustful, and vain some are,
Describing evil as good — for them.
We need no more than turn on the news
To hear how far decay has traveled.
Talkers of trash assault our faces:
"Número uno will get what's his!"
What's good for some oppresses others.
Widows, orphans, and strangers must pay
The price for some to party all night.
The ones who strut in glitter and gold
Have said no prayers for what they've claimed:
"I've earned it myself, no thanks to God.
He's off on a cloud. We're good to go."

The ones who mock the mercy of God
Forget that they're formed from dust and breath.
The One Who spoke of eyes, and they were,
Will see what happens beneath the Throne.
The One Who spoke of ears, and they were,
Will hear the boasting of ants made gods.
The One who counts the nations as dust
Awards the vain a time of mercy—
Use it quicky to turn to your God!

The one who's happy has learned from God
The knowledge of truth — of light, of love!
Although the wicked prosper today,
What's wrong is lost already to God.
A wind of change will blow it away.
The one, however, who trusts in God
Is free to grasp a promise of hope.
Our God will not abandon the sheep
That form a flock called out of darkness.
Justice will come from the hand of God
To make the earth a home for the sheep.

The ones of us who make up the flock
Should not stand by and watch the struggle.
Faithful followers honor the King
By doing what's right — what builds what stands.
The ones who received the help of God
Should be a help to others in need.
These works are ours: to pray to our God,
To study the Word, to meet for praise,
To speak a word of truth to the lost—
To help the weak who've fallen to rise.
It's not enough to hide in the fort
Raised up by God to shelter our lives;
We must man the walls and face assaults
Until the day of evil is done.

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.

Before There Were Worlds

Meaning in Psalm 93

by Alfred D. Byrd

HEAVEN presents us the Throne of God,
A height untouched by time or decay.
Forever, backwards and forwards, describes
How long the Throne has been and will be.
No hand below can shake foundations
Settled by God before there were worlds.
Above creation, beyond all change,
The Throne remains the center of things.

The One Who sits there is veiled from sight—
No eye can glimpse the Glory and live—
But shines to us in robes of wonder—
Spotless and stainless, holy and pure—
That speak of goodness spurning evil—
That speak of might to uphold the truth.
The robes of God protect us from death
And let us perceive the Source of life.
The One Who sits on the Throne of God
Has been and shall be the King of All.

To what can one compare our Monarch?
Maybe, the ocean gives us a clue.
The waves extend beyond horizons.
No one escapes a touch of wonder.
Suddenly, tempests can strike a shore.
The waves pour in, and houses crumble.
Nothing withstands the might of the storm.
The waves recede, and calm is restored.
A child can wander along the beach,
Admire a shell, and find, rejoicing,
Gleaming treasures cast up by the waves.

The One Who sits on the Throne of God
Is mighty to do all things for good.
In times of bad, our God is a storm
That sweeps the works of evil away.
In times of good, our God is the sun,
Which shows a child a world of beauty.
Holiness hovers around the Throne.
The works of God are worthy of trust.

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.

A Concert for God

Meaning in Psalm 92

by Alfred D. Byrd

LISTEN, I hear a concert for God.
The strings of harps and lyres have been tuned
To play from morning to night a song
Proclaiming, "The Name of God is great!"
Let's raise our voices to tell the world,
"Our God is love; our God is faithful—
Changeless and strong — to keep a promise."

Maybe, our song will transform a life
That hears our words and takes them to heart.
Outside the hall that holds the faithful,
Many are heading blindly to doom.
The worldly hunger for wealth and fame.
Such toys, the seekers may find, but then
Disaster may strike, or death will come,
And grass that flourished will fade and wilt.
Our God, please cause the worldly to see
That they'll lose their love unless it's You.
It's You Whose love gives strength to our song;
It's You Who turn a foe to ally.

Only in God is strength to be found.
From God, a seeker receives a will
As hard and sharp as horns of cattle—
Soft, though, and gentle as bonds of love.
The one whose will is strengthened by God
Is like a tree grown tall, well rooted.
Facing a storm, the tree can withstand
A drizzle of ice, a blast of hail.
The tree — the life of a friend of God—
Bears fruit to please the One Who planted,
Seeking a harvest of lives of love.
Our God is a rock on which a tree
Can grow and stand unshaken by fear.

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.