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!

A Teenage Girl's Adventure in Ancient Egypt

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!

One misunderstood system of faith and practice explained to another in its own terms.

Kabbalah for Evangelical Christians

STANDING FIRMLY ON ROCK

Meaning in Psalm 144

Alfred D. Byrd

HAPPY are nations whose god is God,
The One Who protects our lives from harm.
A fortress standing firmly on rock,
Our God, Who loves us, shelters and saves
Whoever will come to God for help.
A name for such a god is Savior.

HUMANS are nothing beside our God.
It puzzles the mind for God to care
About such creatures. A breeze, a cloud
That scuds across the sky and is gone —
Our life is fleeting, lasting a day,
Unlike forever, the realm of God.
Our God resides in heaven on high,
Beyond the reach of death and decay.

AT TIMES determined by God alone,
The heavens may touch the earth with change.
A mountain smoking, the sky ablaze
With lightning driving evil away —
Our God is present, saving the world
From those whose speech is composed of lies
And whose hands are swift to steal and rob.
A life rejecting the light of God
Will earn rejection, darkness unchained.

LET'S SING to our God, the One Who saves
The weak from doubt and fear, and gives them
Victory, changing despair to joy.
A sword is near us, but God arrives,
A shield to shatter the sword of hate.
When we see our God, we'll know a time
In which our children will live and grow
Like trees well rooted by streams of life.
We'll have no shortage of what we need,
And we'll live secure from fear of foes
As long as we look at God, our King,
As First and Last, the One Who's always
Center and goal of all of our love.

If you're confused or overwhelmed with debates on the early Church, here are some clear, basic facts about it.

Trinity, Canon, and Constantine: Clear Light on the Early Church

OUR LOSS, THEIR GAIN!

Meaning in Psalm 143

Alfred D. Byrd

ENEMIES chase us from dawn to dusk
And give us no chance to sleep by night
Because our wealth, as poor as it is,
Can enhance their own. Our loss, their gain!
Like grain within a mill, they grind us;
Prisons of darkness will be our home
Unless we do whatever they say.
In lives like ours, what hope can we see
Unless our God will answer our pleas?

OUR GOD, please hear our request for help!
We ask because You're truthful and kind;
We ask because You've done for others
Wonderful actions worthy of praise.
You made all things with Your hands and breath;
You've kept a people faithful to You
Throughout misfortunes that kill the lost.
A god of mercy, the Giver of life,
Are You, in Whom we trust for rescue.

SAVE US, our God, from haters of right!
Our spirits, of breath that comes from You,
Are feeble, battered — ready to fail.
If You hide Your face from what we feel,
We'll be like corpses filling a grave.
We need to see Your mercy revealed.
On You, our Maker, heaven's Ruler,
Enemies stumble, losing their way.

OUR GOD, we know ourselves as sinful.
No one is perfect beneath Your gaze.
If You judge our hearts by law alone,
We'd all fall down, condemned by our lies.
Please spare our lives from judgment deserved;
Please teach us, our God, what's right with You.
Please lead us gently on paths of peace —
On paths of service, praising Your Name —
As far as the Throne from which You reign,
The King Whose Word is perfect in all.

Faith and reason in the ancient court of Athens.

MARS HILL: Paul v. The Philosophers

WHEN HE HID IN CAVES

Meaning in Psalm 142

Alfred D. Byrd

DAVID, chosen by God to be king,
Was having troubles. The man in charge,
A man of courage, but not of sense,
Desired his life and chased him with swords.
His death by Saul would end a promise
Spoken by God, and therefore secure,
But there seemed to him no hope of life
On nights of fear when he hid in caves.
In times of darkness, he called on God,
And God remembered, easing his fears
And sparing his life to gain a throne
That comes from God — the Maker's blessing:

"SOMETIMES, it seem to us that we live
In a world in which our lives don't count.
We feel like prey, as deer are to wolves;
Our foes pursue us from dusk to dawn.
When we say, 'We've found a place of rest,'
We spring a trap. Our foes are clever,
Blocking our path behind and ahead.
If we turn to fight,, we'll find our strength
Too little to make our foes retreat.
We're all alone. No help will arrive
From those who face distress of their own.
Our life's a prison without a door.

"IN DEPTHS of bondage, let's think of God.
Our God remembers. Our God will hear
Our cries from a heart in pain for help.
Our God, though far away, like the stars,
Is as near to us as life itself.
Our God understands how weak we are,
And listens with love to what we say.
Our God is a rock on which we stand;
Our God is better than gold for wealth.
The one who has the riches of God
Will find a place among the righteous,
Lovers of God rewarded with love."

Four hundred years of silence was broken.

The Bible's Hidden Years

TO SEEK OUR KING

Meaning in Psalm 141

Alfred D. Byrd

SOMETIMES, our lives get thrown out of step,
And we turn to God with cries for help.
Misfortune turns out to be our friend
When it leads our hearts to seek our King.
Let's pray to God, "Come quickly to us.
As we raise our hands to point to You,
Accept our words, though broken and strained,
As if a priest were burning incense,
Holy upon an altar of gold."

HOW MANY pathways lead us astray!
We need a guard to protect our mouths
From falling open with lies and hate.
The world around us bubbles and pops
With lovers of wrong, robbers and thieves,
Who prey on us and take our living —
Little, we have, yet it should be theirs —
Or, worse, they tempt us to take their path
And become at length far worse than they.

WE NEED a mentor to say, "Wake up!
If you go ahead like this, you'll fall.
Today is the time to change your life.
If you spurn what's wrong and choose what's right,
You'll be recalled as a friend of God."
The anger of friends does more for you,
If it leads your steps away from death,
Than the smiles of those who take your life.
Their way will lead them over a cliff.
They're planting their seed within a grave,
A place of beauty cluttered with bones,
And nothing will grow but weeds with thorns.

WE LOOK to you, our God and our King.
You offer refuge in times of storm.
Please keep our lives from shame and from death.
The ones who hate the light of your truth
Have littered the world with traps of lies.
It's only justice for those who trap
To be trapped in turn by what they've set.
Please keep us from traps — we set our own —
And lead us safely homewards to You.

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

The Stars Bow Down

LOVERS OF TRUTH

Meaning in Psalm 140

Alfred D. Byrd

KNOWING of God's protecting the weak
And granting justice to those in need
Should move the righteous, lovers of truth,
To praise their Maker and give their thanks
To the One Who fills the world with life.
The ones who love their Maker love peace,
But many will choose a way of war.
Protect us, our God, from those whose will
Is to break the peace, to start a fight,
To soil their neighbors with lies for gain —
To make the lives of others bitter.
Poisonous serpents, humans can be
When they sting a friend with words of shame.
Another likeness: trappers who set
A snare beside a path to deprive
A neighbor at peace of home and hope.
The world is heartless without our God
To light us a path to reach the Throne.

LET'S SAY to God, "We belong to You,
The Mighty to save, our Friend in fights.
Please hear our pleas for rescue from harm.
Don't give the haters of truth their way.
Success will feed their pride in evil.
Mocking their God, they'll grind their heel
Against the face of the poor and weak.
Please show the wicked how wrong they are
By turning their plans against themselves.
May they feel the heat and spring the trap
Intended for us who love what's right.
Defeat their evil and turn to good
The hearts of those who love to do wrong.
You win, our God, by changing a heart
From choosing darkness, hiding its deeds,
To seeking the light that comes from You."

A Teenage Girl's Adventure in Ancient Egypt

Asenath's Tale

THE ONE SEES CLEARLY

Meaning in Psalm 139

Alfred D. Byrd

PRECIOUS to us are the thoughts of God.
Above and beyond what's known to us
Is what our God has planned and has done.
The ways of God are too great for us
To hold within our thoughts and our words.
When we glimpse our God, we have to blink;
What's bright and pure defeats our vision.

"WONDERFUL" surely describes the One
Who designed our form and watched our birth.
Because of God, Whose vision is clear,
We have our life, our will, and our hope.
Within the darkness that fills a womb,
The One sees clearly, shaping a path
For a life that starts and ends with God.
A book in heaven records the days
And the deeds of each who lives below.

THE ONE who sees the secrets of birth
Sees, too, the heights, the plains, and the depths.
No place to hide from God will we find
If we rise on high or sink below.
Wherever we run, our God is there;
The hand that touched us before our birth
Is still upon us. Darkness and light
Don't matter to God, Whose gaze can pierce
Whatever curtain we seek to raise
Between our acts and the Judge of all.

DON'T THINK of your thoughts as locked away.
The One Who made the mind of humans
Sees it clearly. No lie can fall through
The sieve of our God, who sifts our thoughts —
Indeed, who knows, before we can think,
What comes from hearts that have learned in life
To choose what's right or to do what's wrong.

OUR GOD, please cleanse the world of evil!
Many despise the sound of Your Name,
Regard their neighbors as beasts of prey,
And shed the blood of victims to steal
A whiff of pleasure ending in pain.
The ones who live for themselves create
A temple of grief from what You've made
To bring delight to lives that are pure.
We hate the kind of world that we see —
A world of lies parading as truth.
Please fix this world, our God, our Maker;
Make it remember Your road to light.

PLEASE START with us. We're prone to evil.
Sadly, we, too, can wander from light.
Please test our thoughts for rightness with You.
We need Your guidance to shun what's wrong
And to choose what's right — what shows Your truth.
Amid our darkness, send us Your light
To guide our steps as far as Your Throne.

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

The Light

CLOUD OF LIGHT

Meaning in Psalm 138

Alfred D. Byrd

OTHERS may speak of gods that are false,
But I will bow down to You, my God.
With thanks within me for what you've done,
I'll bend my knee before Your temple,
Holding, concealed in its heart, the Throne
On which Your cloud of light is resting.
Nothing can hurt us when You're around.

YOUR NAME is too great for lips of flesh,
But by it You've sealed a pact with us —
A promise, keeping what You've made Yours.
Recalling Your word, I walk unfazed
Through troubles making my flesh grow weak.
I call on You, and You hear my pleas;
You give me courage to face my foes.
You are, my Maker, Yourself the shield
That keeps the foe from taking my life —
My life, You're holding within Your hand.

ALTHOUGH You sit enthroned in the heights,
You see the humble, observe the proud,
And give to each what's just by Your Law.
A day will arrive for all to see
Your Glory unveiled, a sight of awe.
The kings of the earth will praise Your Name
Because You kept Your promise to us.
They'll sing of You, our God and our King,
"The Glory of God? Too great for words!
The love of God goes on forever,
Keeping secure the lovers of truth."

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

A Song of the One

A KINGDOM OF GOLD

Meaning in Psalm 137

Alfred D. Byrd

CHILDREN of exile, driven from home,
The Chosen of God were turned to slaves
Compelled to serve a kingdom of gold.
A city of brick amid the sand
Replaced the hill that had held their heart,
The Temple of God, reduced to ash
By hands of those who held them captive.
Babylon's rivers swallowed their tears
When they heard their lords demand a song,
Delightful ditty from slaves at rest,
To lighten moments that lead to sleep.
No song of joy, but a plaint of grief,
Replied to the ones whose will was law.

"WHAT SONG of God can we sing to you
In a land that turns our dreams to dust?
Our heart retains the City of Peace,
The Temple of God, the Ark of Law,
And the Light Who made both skies and earth
As treasures beyond what lies at hand
In this, your pride, your kingdom of gold.
Let illness shrivel the hand that plays
Unless it plays the City of God.
Unless we recall the hill of Light
And make it our love, our hope — our joy,
Let heartbreak silence the voice that sings."

IN PAIN of hardship, in grief of loss,
The Chosen of God desired revenge
On those who slew, and on those who watched
And cheered the deeds that wrecked a city.
"Edom, neighbor, brother now lost,
May God remember how hard you were!
When you saw our foe invade the Land,
Surround our city, and start a fire,
You shouted, 'Burn it! Burn it to ash!
Let what they've built be turned to nothing!'
Babylon, heartless wrecker of dreams,
May you receive for wrongs that you've done
A measure equal to all that you gave!
You killed our babies! May death claim yours!"

[OUR HEARTS, when they see a dream destroyed,
A loved one slaughtered — what's good laid waste —
Respond with anger. It's what we are.
Let none condemn a call for revenge
Unless you've suffered a loss as great
As the loss that spurred the cry of pain.
Our God, Who has shaped each life from birth,
Has suffered each loss — the pain of all.
Our God, the Maker, demands of us
That we rise above our rage — our grief.
Move past the hurt, prepare to forgive,
And work for peace that comes from justice,
Doing what's right with humans and God.
The ones who yield their grief to the One
And walk a pathway of light and hope
Will see the Temple of Light arise —
Will play and sing at the Throne of God.]

One misunderstood system of faith and practice explained to another in its own terms.

Kabbalah for Evangelical Christians

BEFORE YOUR TEMPLE

Meaning in Psalm 136

Alfred D. Byrd

OTHERS may speak of gods that are false,
But I will bow down to You, my God.
With thanks within me for what you've done,
I'll bend my knee before Your temple,
Holding, concealed in its heart, the Throne
On which Your cloud of light is resting.
Nothing can hurt us when You're around.

YOUR NAME is too great for lips of flesh,
But by it You've sealed a pact with us —
A promise, keeping what You've made Yours.
Recalling Your word, I walk unfazed
Through troubles making my flesh grow weak.
I call on You, and You hear my pleas;
You give me courage to face my foes.
You are, my Maker, Yourself the shield
That keeps the foe from taking my life —
My life, You're holding within Your hand.

ALTHOUGH You sit enthroned in the heights,
You see the humble, observe the proud,
And give to each what's just by Your Law.
A day will arrive for all to see
Your Glory unveiled, a sight of awe.
The kings of the earth will praise Your Name
Because You kept Your promise to us.
They'll sing of You, our God and our King,
"The Glory of God? Too great for words!
The love of God goes on forever,
Keeping secure the lovers of truth."

If you're confused or overwhelmed with debates on the early Church, here are some clear, basic facts about it.

Trinity, Canon, and Constantine: Clear Light on the Early Church

THE NAME IS AWESOME

Meaning in Psalm 135

Alfred D. Byrd

SERVANTS of God in the House of God,
Give praise to the Name, the One Who is.
Our God is good; the Name is awesome,
Greater than any called gods by men.
Our God created all else that lives.
Whatever there is on land, on sea,
In heaven, on earth, in depths below,
Exists by the thought and speech of God.
Our God is truly the god of storm.
The clouds ascend, the lightning flashes,
And the rain comes down because our God
Has set a cycle running through time.

THE GODS of nations that live in fear
Are idols, empty of life or aid.
They gleam, perhaps, with silver or gold
And bear the features of lives like ours,
But have no breath in mouths that smile,
No image in eyes, no sound in ears.
They speak no thoughts of their own to us,
But priests and prophets speak them for them.
The ones who make the idols become
As empty as they, devoid of hope.

OUR GOD has called a remnant to serve
The Source of all truth, the One Who is.
The remnant began as slaves who groaned
Beneath the lash of tyrant Pharaoh.
Our God remembered the cries of slaves
And sent a prophet, Moses, to bring
Oppressive Egypt wonders and plagues
To break the chains that bound a people.
Fleeing their past, they recalled a home,
Delightful Canaan, fertile and fair.
Allured by hope and spurred by their God,
They made their way despite contention.
Rulers of nations halted their march,
But God would let the people conquer
Sihon of Amor and Og of Bashan,
Mighty enemies, helpless to God.
The exiles would find their home enslaved.
A cult of idols, a cult of lust,
A cult of infants slaughtered for gods,
A cult of gods called many, not one,
Opposed the people, but fell in time:
A king of peace achieved a temple.

Faith and reason in the ancient court of Athens.

MARS HILL: Paul v. The Philosophers

A PLACE OF HOPE

Meaning in Psalm 134

Alfred D. Byrd

PRAISES belong to our God, the King,
The One Who made both heavens and earth.
Our God is farther away than stars;
Our God is as near as life itself.
Our God has chosen to live with us.
On heights there sits the house of our God,
A place of meeting, a place of hope.

TO THE HOUSE of God, we've come to serve.
By day and by night, let's raise our hands
In praise for light, in thanks for blessing.
Gratitude aptly answers the King.
Our God is good for being the light;
Our God is good for giving to all
The light, the life, the law, and the love.
Our God remembers; our God is here
To give and receive the fruit of love.

Faith and reason in the ancient court of Athens.

MARS HILL: Paul v. The Philosophers

THE SOURCE OF THE LAW

Meaning in Psalm 132

Alfred D. Byrd

DAVID, the shepherd summoned by God,
Endured misfortunes, but kept his faith
In the One Who meant for him to rule
A people chosen to serve the King.
He set the King above his kingship:
Ruling, to David, called him to serve
The One Who is the Source of the Law.
The shepherd made king confirmed a vow
With an oath that bound his life to God:
"I'll take no rest and enjoy no food
Until I've made a place for my King
To rest secure among my people."

DAVID recalled a blessing now lost,
A chest that held the Law of Moses.
Israel prospered, having the chest,
But groaned when it fell in war to foes
Who worshiped idols and scorned the One.
The shepherd made king brought home the chest.
He made the priests of Levi dress up
In robes of linen that said, "We're pure!"
He dressed himself as one of the priests
And danced among them without restraint
As they brought the chest with songs of joy
To fill the City of Peace with hope.

THE KING remembered David with love.
The One by Whom the people had sworn
Would swear an oath to stand forever:
"David, your son will receive your throne,
A throne that I give to light the world.
My promise, renewed this day, is sure.
Your heirs, if they keep My Law with zeal,
Are sure to form a line unbroken."

SOLOMON founded for God a house,
A temple for God to meet with us.
Our God, accepting the house, called out,
"I'll rest within these walls forever.
Surely, I'll give the Land what it needs.
The hungry will eat; the priests will serve
By singing with joy their love for Me.

"IN DAYS to come, I'll send Anointed,
Bearing My Spirit of light and strength,
To purge the earth of foes of the truth.
When they bend their knees and bow their necks,
Anointed, David's offspring, will wear
A crown of glory to tell the world,
'The light of God is your hope of peace.'"

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

The Stars Bow Down

WHAT'S FAIR

Meaning in Psalm 133

Alfred D. Byrd

LIVING together justly in peace
Is what God wants the children to do.
To think as one, to sing with one voice,
And to do as one what's fair and pure
Is to bring to life the love of God.
That love is like the dew that settles,
Making things green in the cool of dawn,
On lives awaiting the light of day.
That love is like anointing from God —
Like oil of olives falling on one
Who stands before the altar to be
A bridge between a sinner and God.
A life that's free from shame is offered,
Taking the place of lives gone astray.
The blessing of God removes our sin
And makes us able to live in joy
A life restored to God in wholeness.
Any who takes what's offered receives
The life eternal that runs in God.

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

The Stars Bow Down

HIDDEN BEYOND OUR SIGHT

Meaning in Psalm 131

Alfred D. Byrd

HIGHER than eyes can see is the Throne
On which our God considers secrets.
Many may tell you, "We know these things,"
But much lies hidden beyond our sight
To keep us from pride that knows no bounds
And calls our neighbors liars and fools.
Conceit is hateful to God, our King,
And boasting poisons the well of trust.
Our God supplies us with minds to search,
As well as hearts to love and accept.
We should learn as much as sight reveals,
But come to rest untroubled in God.
A child that seeks a mother's embrace
Is wiser than one engulfed in pride.
The hope of those called out by our God
Is mercy and grace, the gift of love.

A Teenage Girl's Adventure in Ancient Egypt

Asenath's Tale

OUR CHANGE OF HEART

Meaning in Psalm 130

Alfred D. Byrd

SOMETIMES, we feel that we've lost our hopes
And lie in darkness without a friend.
When we're done with thoughts of wrong to us,
We think of all the wrongs that we've done
And ask ourselves, "Can God forgive us?
No one could face the judgment of God
If it meant, 'Each sin will get its due.'"

FROM DARKNESS, we cry, and God will hear
Our plea for mercy — our change of heart.
Our God forgives whoever will turn
From darkness to light without deceit.
The sinner who turns should walk in awe
Of the One Who gave and keeps the Law,
Yet makes a way away from judgment.

SLEEPLESS at night, let's watch for dawn.
Our light will arise; the Light is God.
There's hope for you, for me ‐ for the line
That's chosen by God to live the Law.
The Law is love, for our God is love,
The spirit of truth above all lies —
The Spirit Who saves the lost from sins
And changes their death to life in God.

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

The Light

A WORLD THAT TURNS FROM GOD

Meaning in Psalm 129

Alfred D. Byrd

MAKING ENEMIES, sadly, is part
Of life in a world that turns from God.
We're meant for love, but descend to hate
That ends in conflict, parting, and pain.
When we fall to strife of shouts and blows,
We feel as if our back is a field
On which a plow has dug up furrows.
Hardship leads us to yield to despair,
But the thought of God, the Source of love,
Can fill us with hope, console our grief,
And make us ready to work for good.

WITH GOD is the truth and law that's just.
To the one who turns in faith to God,
Release is assured: our God forgives
And gives us purpose, a task in life
To honor the King and aid our friends.

FOR THOSE, however, who spurn our God,
The road is dark, and one walks alone.
How tragic it is for those who hate
Our God, the faithful, and peace that's just.
The ones who mock the Chosen of God
Resemble seedlings growing in eaves;
They have no root, and they clog the drain
Until a worker hurls them away.

REJECTING darkness, let's walk in the light.
Let's grow from roots a harvest of fruit
Revealing the peace that comes from God.
Let's be kind souls who say to our friends,
"May life for you be filled with blessings.
May you know peace in the Name of God."

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

A Song of the One

THE GREATNESS OF GOD

Meaning in Psalm 128

Alfred D. Byrd

HAPPINESS blossoms for those who know
Their God to be the center of all.
The One Who made both earth and heavens —
Nothing exists apart from the One —
Is worthy of love, respect, and praise.
The one who grasps the greatness of God
Will fear to cross the line of the Law.
Our God, from love, has set us limits
Marking what's safe from what leads to grief.
The Law was given for life, not death,
But pain and shame await transgressors.
Honor the King and receive the peace
That flows, a stream of life, from the Throne.

WHEN WE SEE a land that loves our God,
We'll see a place whose name is Happy.
Marriage will flourish; children will play;
The fields, well tended, will burst with grain.
Whatever one does in love of God
Will prosper, feeling the smile of God.
Our God delights in blessing the ones
Who praise the Name and observe the Law.
We'll reach the City of God with joy
And hold a feast to recall how much
Our Maker, the King, has blessed the Land.

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

A Song of the One

HEAVEN PROVIDES A HELP

Meaning in Psalm 127

Alfred D. Byrd

NOTHING will prosper unless our God
Is there beside us to light our path.
We'll build a house, but the house will fall
Unless our God secures foundations.
Firemen, police — they guard a city
Threatened by crime, neglect, and decay,
But God alone can keep the city
Healthy and whole in body and mind.
Our God intends for us to labor,
Working from dawn to dusk for our food,
But work will fail unless it receives
Protection from God as King and Friend.
For workers, heaven provides a help,
A sleep untroubled by pain or fear.

OUR PATH through life requires companions.
No one who travels alone is safe.
A spouse and children comprise a home,
And neighbors are gifts in times of storm.
The worst of storms can come from neighbors:
Enemies, angered, take us to law.
When we face the judge, we need support.
Our kin and our friends can take our part;
They give us counsel, they hold our hand,
And they make our case before the bench.
The best of friends is God, our Maker;
No one will prosper without the Friend.

One misunderstood system of faith and practice explained to another in its own terms.

Kabbalah for Evangelical Christians

A DREAM OF FREEDOM

Meaning in Psalm 126

Alfred D. Byrd

SUFFERING chaining Children of God
Had ended at last, and joy began.
A dream of freedom had been fulfilled,
And laughter dispersed an age of grief.
The ones who'd labored for years as slaves
Expressed in dance their love for their God
As they sang, "Our God has come for us
And freed us from shame to walk in peace."
The nations, seeing freedom restored,
Called out, "Their God must love them greatly."

FREEDOM had come, but freedom can go
When we close our eyes to greed and hate.
Again, we're in chains; again, we grieve
And pray for our God to end our drought.
Our God remembers; our God will come
To make the desert blossom with life.
The ones who cry as they sow their seed
Will laugh and sing at the sight of grain,
A harvest too great for words to tell —
A blessing from God, the Source of love.

If you're confused or overwhelmed with debates on the early Church, here are some clear, basic facts about it.

Trinity, Canon, and Constantine: Clear Light on the Early Church

A FOUNTAIN OF PEACE

Meaning in Psalm 125

Alfred D. Byrd

NATION of Promise, let peace be yours!
Our God has called you to be a light
That shows the Law of God to the world.
Through you, the words of prophets have come
To those who'd spent their days in darkness.
Nations will come to the house of God
That sits atop a hill amid hills
To sing the praise of the God Who is
If they see the Land of God at peace.

LET RULERS both wise and strong take charge
Of peace and justice within the Land.
A peace that's real depends on justice,
Doing what's right in the sight of God.
Whenever evil can run unchecked,
There is no peace; there's at best a truce
In which the nations prepare for war.
Do right in the sight of God and see
A fountain of peace invade the Land.

THE PATH to peace commences in each
Who yields to God and accepts a law
Of love for God and neighbor as guide.
The one who lives for oneself breeds war;
The one who lives for God, however,
Nurtures a peace that spreads from one's heart
To merge with peace that spreads from others.
Mountains will crumble before the force
That comes below from the Throne of God.
When we see our God enthroned in might,
The Mountain of God will be the place
To which the nations will come with joy.

Faith and reason in the ancient court of Athens.

MARS HILL: Paul v. The Philosophers

AN ANCHOR, A ROCK

Meaning in Psalm 124

Alfred D. Byrd

FACING the world is hardly a task
To be done alone, deprived of aid.
Around our feet there rises a flood
Of anger of those who hate our ways.
Unless we have an anchor, a rock,
We'll be swept away like leaves afloat.
Perhaps, it's better to say, "Our foes
Resemble a beast that hunts with fangs
And claws to rip the helpless apart.
They long to sink their teeth in our flesh
And take what's ours to fatten themselves."

WE'RE LIKE a bird that's caught in a net —
Deprived of flight, we flutter in vain —
Unless we find ourselves a helper.
Bitter are those who fight on their own!
What better helper than God, Who made
Both heaven and earth with words of might?
Unless our God appears at our side
When we face attack by foes gone wrong,
We'll fall, unable to rise again.
Let those of God, the Chosen, reply,
"Without our Savior, our God, we'd fall."

Four hundred years of silence was broken.

The Bible's Hidden Years

TROUBLES SWARMING LIKE FLIES

Meaning in Psalm 123

Alfred D. Byrd

MERCY is what we ask from our God
Because of troubles swarming like flies.
The Light has told us, "Do right by all
And honor the King Who sits on high,
On a throne above the world's deceits,"
But evil is here, and things go wrong.
We wish that we stood before the Throne,
Where we'd see no shame and feel no pain,
But here, in a world that mocks what's right,
We face injustice from those on top.
We see a world awash in error.
Many are doomed to toil for little;
Others are carefree, showing contempt
For those who give them pleasure and praise.
It's hard to detect the hand of God
When we see the proud and vain at ease.

WE NEED to claim a sense of mission.
Servants of God is what we should be.
Like soldiers summoned to stand in line
To hear their sergeant giving orders,
Children of God should study the Word
And beg their Maker for light to see
The good that we have a chance to do.
In serving our God, we reign as kings.
The way of the world will end in death,
But God gives life beyond destruction.
Mercy is part of the heart of God.

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

The Stars Bow Down

A ROAD THAT ENDS IN CONFLICT

Meaning in Psalm 122

Alfred D. Byrd

CITY of Peace is the name of where
Our God has chosen to build a house.
The temple of God was where we came
To offer praises, the fruit of love,
To the One Who spoke to us the Law.
Our judges, nobles, David's children,
Taught us to do what's pleasing to God
And just to neighbors who share the Land.
The Children of God who shared the Land
Came up to look at City of Peace
And bring their gifts to the House of God.
As long as worship, justice, and love
Inspired the people, the Land knew peace.
What's right with God was good for the Land
And those who shared it, Children of God.

WITHIN an apple, one finds a worm.
The will to do what pleases oneself
Defeated the will to please our God.
The people forgot the ways of peace
And took a road that ends in conflict.
Weakness within is weakness without.
The lands around us, seeing our wounds,
Moved in to finish the work of sin.
The temple of God, they sacked and burned;
They left no hope in City of Peace.
We walk these days a road of exile;
Nowhere is home while we seek our God.

OUR GOD has left the lost a blessing:
City of Peace remains in our heart.
We long to see the temple rebuilt;
We long to see unselfish judges
Speaking the Law to all who will come
To offer praises to God, our King.
Let all who honor the law of God
Kneel down to ask the King, our Savior,
"Hurry! Rebuild the temple, Your house,
And bring together from near and far
All lives that honor Your way of peace
To give You worship — to serve the King!"

A Teenage Girl's Adventure in Ancient Egypt

Asenath's Tale

THE SUN BEATS DOWN

Meaning in Psalm 121

Alfred D. Byrd

MOUNTAINS of worry bear down on us
When we face a world gone wrong, at war
With justice, with truth — with life itself.
We fight, but fail to end the conflict.
Nothing beneath the sun can help us.
Surely, we'll fail, unless we receive
A help from above, beyond this world.

OUR HELP is God, the Maker of all.
The One Who made both earth and heavens
Knows them too well for their plan to fail.
Our God is a guard who fights for us.
Police and soldiers must sleep at times,
But God is watching by day and night.
Our God is shade on a day of heat
When we feel the sun like flame on flesh.
The sun beats down, but our God bears up
Whoever will sit beneath the shade.

OUR GOD protects our lives from evil.
Hardships may come and test our faith,
But the one who puts one's trust in God
Will find relief, both now and now on.

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

The Light

A CHANCE TO PLEAD FOR HELP

Meaning in Psalm 120

Alfred D. Byrd

SOMETIMES, troubles must come in a rush
Before we call on the Name of God.
The world, however, is full of things
That give us a chance to plead for help.
The world is filled with persons who see
The way of conflict as one to gain
Whatever they feel denied to them.
Amid the voices that shout for war,
The voices of peace can go unheard.
How hard to be a lover of peace,
Yet live in the midst of fans of war!

THE WAY of conflict is paved with lies.
To gain their ends, how many will turn
To slander and smears of whom they hate.
The ones who long for peace must wander,
Exiles from homes of labor's reward,
Until the root of slander has borne
The fruit of judgment that kills the lie.
Let God come soon to defeat the lie
With truth that is sharp and edged with fire!
The world will know no peace that will last
Until the lie gives way to the truth.

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

A Song of the One

THE LAW THAT COMES FROM HEAVEN

Meaning in Psalm 119

Alfred D. Byrd

ANSWERS to how we should talk and walk
Appear in the law that comes from God.
To love our God, to love our neighbor —
Nothing evil can come from the one
Who makes these commands the heart of life.
Our life has meaning only when bound
To the life of God expressed in law.
The world, our foe, may scorn our answers.
Selfish ambition, desire, and greed
Have made the world a house of darkness.
Turning our backs on ways of the world,
Let's keep the law that comes from heaven.

BLESSINGS will come to those who obey
The law of love that has come from God.
Against a world that mocks submission,
Keeping the law is a shield of hope.
Submission to God is joy, not shame;
Our hope of life resides in our God.
The world is lost in shadows of night,
But keepers of law can call for help
To the One Who is the light and love.
The One Who made us gave us our minds
To reject the wrong and choose the right.
The one who chooses the Law as right
Receives a gift, a path to heaven.

COURAGE to keep the law of our God
In the face of lies, deceits, and threats
Begins in knowing Who made the world
And gave us vision to seek the light.
Without our God, our case is hopeless:
Nothing is safe if we have no law.
If we turn from God to choose the world,
We'll lose our way and fall in darkness.
Only the one who heads to the light
Will find success preserved in heaven.

DOUBTING the worth of the law of God
Is easy in times of shame or grief.
The world, our foe, is both strong and smart.
Its lures are many; its lies are sharp.
Our God is unseen. Mockers may say,
"You worship a ghost, a dream, no more."
In darkness, both gold and coal don't shine.
The one whose eyes are closed will observe
No gleam to prove the beauty of gold.
Only the light revealed in the Law
Can guide us surely to where we're safe.
Let's raise our eyelids to look at light.
The world's advice runs down to darkness.
Only the Law leads on to heaven.

EASY solutions may be to God
The ways that lead us away from hope.
What's gain for now may be in the end
A loss that yields us lasting darkness.
Choices considered without the Law
Will yield a fruit both bitter and small.
Our God has spoken a law of life
To yield a harvest that takes some time,
But holds for us the joy of heaven.

"FAITHFUL at keeping the law of God"
Is a name for all who love the light.
The ones who walk in the light of God
Will be secure in fire or in storm.
They fix their gaze on wonders of God
And spare no glance to learn temptations.
Nothing else matters besides our God
When we've learned the Law and walked its path.
The faith provides us its own reward:
To keep the Law is to live in God,
To share with God the life of heaven.

GLORY belongs to the One Who says,
"For life, I give you a law of love."
The One Who made both heavens and earth
Is the One Whose word of law we can trust.
The One Who designed the life that's ours
Should know how best we ought to live it.
Thinking of God, we find where to go.
The love of God for what has been made
Has produced a law designed for life,
Not one designed to end on the earth,
But one designed to last in heaven.

HAPPY are all who have made the Law
The guide of their thought, their speech, their steps.
Although a child of God may stumble,
Turning aside from the way of truth,
The one who sins will find forgiveness,
Freely given by God to each one
Who turns from darkness to seek the light.
The light for us is making the Law
A beacon that draws our feet to God.
Our God won't let us children stay lost,
But shows us mercy, rescue from harm.
Let's praise our God because of mercy!
Happy are all who find in the Law
A path that leads their feet to heaven.

INNER devotion matters to God
Far more than actions that please our eyes.
What's right, when done by a heart that's false,
May do some good in the world below,
But bears no fruit for ages to come.
To yield rewards down here and on high,
A act must equal the heart's desire.
To act from love of God is the Law.
A heart that's rooted in love for God
Will bear its fruit from here to heaven.

JUSTICE is doing what's right for all
By standards above the wants of each.
To know and be able to do what's right
Is to be secure in life and hope.
The world provides us no law that's firm.
The winds that shift, the passions of crowds,
The guile of rulers who sway with words,
And the fist of those who seize and crush
Have woven a web that snares the weak,
But lets the strong hold on to plunder.
No one is safe with a law like that.
We need a law that comes from a source
That knows our heart and heals it with love.
We know that source as God, our Maker.
Justice has come to us from heaven.

KEEPING the Law depends on a strength
That's not our own. It comes from our God,
Who gave us our mind to grasp the truth
And hearts to choose and strive to live it.
Only the one who depends on God,
Devotes one's nights to learning the Law,
And sets the Law above one's desires
Will live the life intended by God.
The strong are weak when they serve themselves;
The weak are mighty, serving their God.
To love the Law is to please one's God
And take a path that ends in heaven.

LEARNING the Law is easy and hard.
It's easy because our God has made
A law of love brought down to the earth.
It's hard because our hearts are troubled,
Seeking pleasures proceding to pain,
Or fearing the fist of men of might.
No mind can grasp the wisdom of God
Unless one sets aside one's passions —
Fooling your judgment, they lead to death —
And yields one's will to the will of God.
When you make the will of God your own,
You'll learn with joy. Your times of study,
Growing in God, are signs of heaven.

MERCY is getting good for evil.
Wrongful actions may bring forgiveness,
Setting apart of our sins from us,
If we turn from wrong to choose what's right.
The Law is formed from strength and mercy:
The strength to save the world from evil,
Mercy to save our lives from ourselves.
Our God desires to deal in mercy.
Loving the Law, let's show forgiveness,
Setting the Law above our desire
To render justice — often, revenge.
We must forgive as we're forgiven.
Mercy allows us a path to heaven.

NOTHING will prosper in times to come
Unless its roots are deep in the Law.
What comes to us from lies is worthless,
Destined to fade in the light of God.
The one who hungers for wealth and fame
And spends one's days in striving for more
May lose contentment with home and friends.
How often we see the proud brought low!
To think of them should bring us sadness.
Many abandon the truth of God
For things of the world that gleam awhile,
But these will fade. You'll find them empty.
Only what's based on the law of God
Will bear a fruit preserved in heaven.

OFFER to God a lifetime of praise.
The One Who made us gave us a law
That leads the ones who keep it to life
That's more than breathing — to life that's real!
The Law, to those who study its ways,
Exceeds the worth of gold and silver.
Keepers of law will avoid the traps
That catch the feet of the proud and harsh.
Although the world may mock the righteous,
Sorrow will end in the light of God.
Whenever you wake at night in fear,
Remember teachings that come from God.
To those who meet their test with praising,
Learning the Law is life from heaven.

PROMISES given by God are sure,
But may be slow, as we think of things,
To reach us. The here and now is filled
With passions: anger, revenge, and lust.
They work against what's promised by God.
The ways of the world diverge from peace.
No meal can ease the hunger of greed.
The ones who yield to passions can make
The righteous suffer in body and soul.
This world is grief to those who treasure
Teachings of God above their own will.
To win is to set the law of God
Above delights that blossom and fade.
The fruit of passions is war with hope;
The fruit of the Law is peace with God.
When we face a world gone made with fear,
It helps our fight to claim a promise:
Keeping the Law goes on in heaven.

QUESTIONS of right and wrong are made clear
In the light of God, Who spoke the Law.
The light of the Word of God reveals
A path for us to take to safety.
Walking with God, one reaches one's goal.
The Law reveals the traps of this world.
How many pitfalls can claim the lives
Of those who live as laws to themselves!
To learn the Law is to be secure
From harms that make the selfish their prey.
The home of lies and fear is darkness;
Only the righteous desire the light.
Rejecting darkness for what it is,
A kingdom devoid of life and hope,
The ones in love with the Law walk on
To seek the light that comes from heaven.

RULERS have spoken against the Law
Because it threatens their hold on us.
The Law has said, "A ruler should be
A shepherd to sheep, not wolf to prey."
Our kings should be like the King on high.
To love the sheep, to keep them from harm,
And to lead the sheep to fields of hope
Is truly to do the work of God.
Down here, however, rulers desire
Not right, but might. To gain an office,
Many promise the moon in one's home
And slander their foes. Who needs the Law
If deeds of darkness produce a throne?
To keep the Law tracks poorly in polls
That sample voters who ape their kings.
What wonder if those who love the Law
Are scorned in a world of greed and shame?
The good, however, have blessed the bad.
Ten lives at peace could ransom Sodom.
Rulers who flee from the Law should learn:
"If you love what's good, what's bad can't stand."
What's done in darkness can't pass the test.
The world depends on light from heaven.

STUDY the law commanded by God
To learn the way to live in the truth.
The word is learned by calling on God
To give you the the light to see what's real.
The word is learned by reading with joy
The words of prophets set down for us.
The word is learned by doing what's taught.
What's promised by God, when done, comes true.
It's easy to read the Law in vain.
The one who doubts and the one who mocks
Will miss the answer given by God.
The path of study begins with hope,
Continues in trust, and ends in love.
The one who comes to serve one's Maker,
Studies the Word, and performs the Law
Is bound to find the peace of heaven.

TEACHERS of what our God has spoken
Offer the world a pathway to peace.
The ones who honor teachings of God
Will walk in the light and cause no harm.
The Law has taught us respect for God,
Concern for neighbors, and love for self —
A love that denies the flesh what's wrong,
But drives the soul to perform what's right.
The teacher teaches students to praise
The One Who spoke, and the worlds became.
The One Who gave our life existence
Tells us clearly how life should be lived.
The peace of God begins with justice.
Teaching the world commandments of God
Is showing to all a path to heaven.

UNION with God begins with setting
The Law above desires of one's heart.
To learn the ways that impress the world
May make one wealthy in gold and fame,
But yields no joy that endures the test
Of age, of illness, of turns of fate.
What comes from pleasures flouting the Law
Will go in the end to pain and shame.
It's better to seek a good that lasts
In the face of storms that sweep the world.
The one who keeps the Law in one's heart
Possesses a wealth that can't be lost.
The one who performs the Law with love
Reveals on earth the light of heaven.

VALUE the Law as the best of goods,
And you'll do what's right without complaint.
Each one is known by what one chooses.
Choosing riches without right actions
Makes one wealthy, but not respected.
Choosing, however, to do what's right,
Though it leads for now to loss and shame,
Will make one pleasing to God, the King,
And to all who hope for peace in truth.
The world adores delightful clothing,
Wrappings of silk and bangles of gold,
And praises a face remade by art,
But God approves a heart that chooses
Keeping the Law above one's desires.
The heart that treasures the Law has spurned
Delights of earth for peace with heaven.

WISDOM begins with bowing to God
As Maker and King of all that is.
The One Who made us with skill and love
Should know how best creation should run.
Our God is not the kind who made us
Objects of play to be cast aside;
Our God is One Who stays at our side
And gives us guidance with words of truth.
To study those words is to learn the way
To live at peace with God and neighbor.
The law of God is a law of life
Both now on earth and then in heaven.

YESTERDAY'S failures don't frame our lives.
The law of God includes forgiveness,
Pardon for us who've wandered astray,
When we turn from wrong to choose what's right.
To go astray has one advantage:
Learning what's wrong makes precious what's right.
The one who turns, rejecting the past,
To kneel before God and learn the Law,
Receives a blessing of life from death.
To turn from darkness to seek the light
Is to make the Law one's guide and hope.
The Law expresses the love of God,
Who made for us a path to heaven.

"ZEALOUS to do what pleases our God"
Is a name for each who loves the Law.
That person ponders the Law by night
And does its bidding from dawn to dusk.
If one has a heart that's right with God,
One keeps the Law from love of the Law,
But God rewards the one who keeps it.
Givers like God delight in giving.
Better than honey, better than gold
Is keeping the Law from love of God.
The one who keeps the Law out of love
Will find that love itself a blessing.
Living in love foreshadows heaven.
Heaven belongs to keepers of law.

One misunderstood system of faith and practice explained to another in its own terms.

Kabbalah for Evangelical Christians

CHILDREN OF PROMISE

Meaning in Psalm 118

Alfred D. Byrd

TODAY is a day that comes from God.
Be glad because our God is with us.
Praises are due to One Whose goodness,
Coming as mercy, will last forever.
Children of promise who keep what's taught,
The priests who load an altar with gifts,
And all who greet their Maker with awe
Should say, "The love of our God goes on."
It's better to put your faith in God
Than to go to humans for help that fails.
It's better to put your trust in God
Than to look to rulers who rise and fall.
The works of God bedazzle our sight;
It's God Who gives us blessings of hope.

NOT LONG ago, I wandered from God
And did whatever my heart desired.
I entered the world and found no friend,
But a force that tried to wreck my life.
I fell to troubles from all around;
I thought, I've disturbed a hive of bees
That sting a fool whose judgment was bad.
What was worst of all, I'd grieved my God.
I had no claim to love from the Throne.
My God, however, replied with love
Correcting my faults to cleanse my life.
From God, Whose goodness goes past all bounds,
I gained the strength to confront my foes,
Who withered like straw within a fire.
I lived, although the world had said, "Die!"

I'LL TELL the world the blessings of God.
With God at one's side, who needs to fear?
It's time to rejoice in life from God.
It's time for us to seek the temple,
Festival's setting, to see the King.
Let's leave our homes and walk to the heights
On which our God comes down to meet us.
Many are walking beside us to form
A parade in praise of One Who comes
With blessings to make the world anew.
A stone cast out by builders gone blind
Secures foundations both straight and strong.
A life from God upon the altar
Frees us from guilt and makes us able,
Bearing the Spirit, to do what's right.
The light of the world has come from God.
Let's praise the Name of the One Who's come
With blessings for all who seek the heights.
Give thanks to God because of goodness
Given as mercy that has no end.

If you're confused or overwhelmed with debates on the early Church, here are some clear, basic facts about it.

Trinity, Canon, and Constantine: Clear Light on the Early Church

LOVE IN RETURN

Meaning in Psalm 117

Alfred D. Byrd

NATIONS may speak of gods of their own,
But God, the Maker of heavens and earth,
Has made all lands and belongs to all.
Give praise to the One Who made all things
From love that seeks but love in return.
Give thanks because our God shows mercy,
Giving the ones who turn from evil
Welcome and healing — chances for good!
Although we err, our God is faithful,
Keeping promises, even to us
Who spurn our God and wander astray.
If we had to stand on what we do,
We'd surely stumble, but God is here
To lead us from gloom to halls of light.
Give praise to God, the Giver of life.

Faith and reason in the ancient court of Athens.

MARS HILL: Paul v. The Philosophers

KEEPING PROMISES

Meaning in Psalm 115

Alfred D. Byrd

GLORY belongs, not to us, but to God,
The One Whose Name, I Am, is holy,
Speaking of life as the source of life.
Our God is love; our God is faithful,
Keeping promises offered to us
Although we've wandered, courting judgment.
Skeptics may ask us, "Just where is God?"
Our God is far, as high as the stars;
Our God is near, as close as our hearts.
Our God has chosen a path of works
Without the need for advice from us.

ALTHOUGH the One is the same for all,
How many have turned aside to lies!
Let's think of those who worship idols,
Empty creations, but filled, some say,
With spirits called down from gods on high.
Let's think of those who worship humans,
Idols of fame from wealth and good looks.
Their fame is fleeting; their star will fall —
A streak in the west, and then its's gone.
Whatever we serve apart from God
Will fail in the end and leave us no hope.

OUR GOD set free a nation of slaves
To gain a land, a temple — a king.
Our God made priests, the sons of Aaron,
Serving the King with praises and gifts.
For priests and people, our God was there,
A help in hardship — a shield from harm.
To all who trust in the King on high,
Our God is still a help and a shield.
Our God remembers; our God will bless
The nation of slaves, the house of priests,
And all who worship the One, the King.

THE HEAVENS belong to God alone;
The earth, our God has given to us
To tend with love as a house of praise
For the One Who made both sky and land —
For God, the Giver of life and health!
Don't wait for death to worship the One,
But use your season beneath the clouds
To speak to God, to study the Law,
To come together to sing in praise,
And to do what's right from love of God.

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

The Stars Bow Down

TROUBLES HAVE PATTERNS

Meaning in Psalm 116

Alfred D. Byrd

THREATENED and worried by things gone wrong,
I yielded myself to pain — to grief.
(I speak for all who've known misfortune.
Troubles have patterns well known to most.
When we see good times turn sour, we know
A pain that's common to all who breathe —
The kind of pain that blinds us to hope.)
I felt deserted by kin and friends;
I told myself, "They're all just liars.
No one is standing by me these days."
I felt like one who's caught in a net
And waiting for death to come collect
A life that's gone back to dust and breath.

BAD TIMES can help us recall our God.
I thought of her who gave me my birth —
A servant of God who taught the Word
To make a servant of me like her.
Amid distress, I called on my God:
"Deliver my life to praise Your Name!"
Amid distress, my God remembered
Someone who'd fallen, but wished to rise.
Our God is far, the King on the Throne,
But also brings us mercy and peace.
Our God can dry the tears from our eyes
And set our feet on paths of service
Leading our lives to meaning in truth.

BECAUSE my God has redeemed my life,
I'll speak of love, the act of hearing
And helping others in grief and joy.
The way of the world is one of death,
But God is life to lovers of truth.
How happy are those who die in God
And know assurance of life preserved
Within the Source and the Goal of life!
To such a Goal, let's offer service.
Promises spoken, servants should keep
In praise of the One Whose Word is truth.
Let's come together to serve the King
Whose Throne preserves the City of Peace.

Four hundred years of silence was broken.

The Bible's Hidden Years

THE BRICKS AND CLAY OF EGYPT

Meaning in Psalm 114

Alfred D. Byrd

OFTEN, we lose our vision of God.
For much of life, each day is the same,
A chain of duties — a time of grief.
We awake, we work, we eat, we sleep —
What place has God in a world like this
Where we see the rich make fun of faith
And paupers, trusting, get by at best?

THE CHOSEN of God lived once as slaves
Who hauled the bricks and clay of Egypt.
Nothing had changed for decades on end
Until our God remodeled the world.
The day of God is a day of change.
A sea went dry, a mountain thundered —
Obstacles vanished before the One
Who spoke a law to form a nation.
Children of slaves would give birth to kings.
The children of God had left their chains
To find a future of hope with God.

THE WORKS of God are both great and small.
The One Who split the seas and the sky
Would also open a rock to give
A gift of water to ease the thirst
Of those who followed their God in faith.
The God Who sits on a throne on high
Can also come down to heal our wounds.
The One Who waits to redeem our lives
Will act at once when waiting is done.

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

The Stars Bow Down

GLORY DIMMING THE SUN

Meaning in Psalm 113

Alfred D. Byrd

ANSWER: What other is like our God?
The One Who made us from dust and breath
Resides in the heights upon a throne
From which an eye that misses nothing
Zealously watches heaven and earth.
Our God sees all, but none sees our God
Because of glory dimming the sun.
Before that glory, nations are winds
That blow for a time and then die down.

AMAZING to say: the God of heights
Is also the God Who comes below
To see our sorrows and meet our needs.
Our God can make the helpless prosper.
Finding an outcast dressing in rags
And sleeping beneath a bridge at night,
Our God can make the outcast a place
Among the wealthy, who rule the land.
Through God, the childless, living alone,
Can find a home with voices of love.

OUTCOME: Let all who honor the truth
Respond with voices of praise to God,
The One Whose Name is "Life Unending,
Maker of all, Sustainer, and Judge."
From dawn to dusk, let voices resound
With praise for God, our King and our Friend.

A Teenage Girl's Adventure in Ancient Egypt

Asenath's Tale

LIGHT IN DARKNESS

Meaning in Psalm 112

Alfred D. Byrd

HAPPY is one who's in awe of God
And does what's righteous from love with joy.
The world may hate the one who does good,
But God remembers, and God rewards,
Whoever receives and keeps the truth.
Compassion on those who live in pain
Proclaims the one received in heaven.
Mercy on neighbors who've gone astray
And fairness to all, both friends and foes,
Are traits of those who honor their God.
Observing widows — orphans — in need,
They open their heart and their purse to them
To show in action the love of God.
An act of love is light in darkness.
Blessings will come on lovers of God.
Although a storm may rage around them —
Nature and neighbors are far from tame —
They have assurance within their hearts
Of God's approving faithful actions.
Family, labor — our God will bless
The works of hands that feeds the truth.
To turn aside will bring one sorrow;
Happy are those who cling to our God.

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

The Light

KNOWLEDGE OF TRUTH

Meaning in Psalm 111

Alfred D. Byrd

KNEELING to God from awe in our heart
Gives rise to wisdom — knowledge of truth
And clearness of mind to choose what's right.
Let's study the will and works of God.
Our heart will find joy in what we learn.
God's works are splendid, kingly, and pure;
No foulness will stain or cloud eclipse
The light that shines on us from the Throne.
In ears of sinners and saints alike,
Let's praise our God, deserving of thanks
For blessings too great to be described.
The works of God show grace and mercy —
Kindness unearned, forgiveness unsought —
On those who've wandered, leaving the light.
Our God has made a contract with us —
A contract bearing the Name of God
And needing none else to be complete —
To redeem the lost who seeks reprieve.
Our food exists because the Maker
Shouted in darkness, "Let there be light!"
Whatever other blessing there is
Has come first hand or sideways from God.
The works of God will last forever.
Nothing can change what's willed in heaven,
Throne room of God, the goal of our faith.
The things of this world will fall apart,
But blessings of God will have no end.

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

A Song of the One

THE PLAGUE OF WAR

Meaning in Psalm 110

Alfred D. Byrd

OUR GOD has told the Savior, our King,
"Be seated beside the Throne on high
Until I've ended the plague of war —
Until the ones who hated Your Name
Bow down to worship the King of Peace."

FROM HEIGHTS on which a temple has stood —
The temple in which our God resides,
Communing with all who seek the light —
Our God extends the Ruler's scepter.
Conflict will end when we see the foe,
Which comes in arms from right and from left,
Cast down all weapons and sue for peace
From the One Who does the Will of God.

THE KING has called the people to serve.
The people responds at once with joy
To do whatever the King requires.
Although the dew at daybreak is thick,
The youths wake up and come together,
Eager to fill their eyes with splendor —
Holy, their King eclipses the dawn!

A PRIEST is one who stands before God
To win for humans pardon and peace.
The priests of this world receive their place
From lines of parents who bear a name,
Or from rites that say, "The work is yours."
Our God, however, has made a priest
Who has no start and will have no end,
But serves forever, righteous at heart —
The Ruler of peace that comes from God.
Our God has said — the Name guarantees —
"The One Whom I send is priest and king
Who saves you from law to live in peace."

OUR GOD supports the Priest and Ruler.
No one who fights the One Who is sent
Can hope to withstand the light from God.
All things of darkness, bringer of war,
Will be swept away to make a space
In which the seed of peace can burgeon,
Forming a world unspotted and bright
In which our will and our God's are one
Beneath our Savior, the King of Peace.

One misunderstood system of faith and practice explained to another in its own terms.

Kabbalah for Evangelical Christians

CRICKETS WHO CHIRP A SONG

Meaning in Psalm 109

Alfred D. Byrd

SOMETIMES, our lives are filled with sorrow.
Enemies curse us on left and right.
Their words are hateful, riddled with lies;
Their words accuse us of crimes and sins
Of which we're guiltless. No one will hear
Our plea to judge us by law and fact.
The ones who hate us welcome our fall.
They see us go down, made weak and poor.
We turn to tatters of what we were;
We shrink to crickets who chirp a song
Of being shadows swallowed in dusk.
The ones who watch are shaking their heads
At lives disturbed by the touch of death.

IT'S EASY for us, in times of pain,
To pray to God for vengeance on foes.
It's human to shout, "Give back to them
The pain and shame they they gave to us!
The one who made a widow from wife,
Let his wife become bereaved in turn!
The one who caused our children to cry,
Let him see children of his beg bread!
May he come before a court in chains
And hear a sentence paying his crimes
With life in prison — with death, with death!
Let none recall his name on the earth;
Let God recall his sins at the Throne
And make his name a stain and a stench!"

THE CHILDREN of God should pray for more
Than bad for bad. The world can do that.
Let's seek a revenge of good for bad.
The height of vengeance is love that wins
A heart from darkness to share the light.
If we pray for foes, let's pray in love
That sends a blessing to slay a curse.
May God deliver our foes from hate
To walk in the light and grow in love.
When we see a life redeemed from sin,
The life that hated the light is dead;
New life from God has replaced that life.
Where we saw a foe, there stands a friend
Who shares the work of praising our God.

If you're confused or overwhelmed with debates on the early Church, here are some clear, basic facts about it.

Trinity, Canon, and Constantine: Clear Light on the Early Church

WE HONOR THE KING

Meaning in Psalm 108

Alfred D. Byrd

DAYBREAK — a time for praising our God.
Awake, make music, and sing to all
Of the One Who sits enthroned on high.
Our God is love, unselfish and pure;
Our God is faithful to do what's right.
Give thanks to God before the people;
Nations should hear, "We honor the King."
The ones who rely on God for help
Are sure of standing through times of storm
Because the hand of God has touched them.

HOLY, the voice of God has told us,
"No one can keep the light from shining.
Mountains and valleys, the seas, the sky —
All things belong to Me, Who made them.
The One Who makes is the One Who owns.
Whatever exists is mine to give
To those who love and obey My law.
For faith, reward; for hatred, disgrace.
The one who denies and fights the truth
Is only dirty water cast out,
A landfill for shoes worn out with use —
A captive gracing heaven's triumph."

FIGHTING the foe, we fail to conquer.
Something keeps us from reaching our goal.
Has God rejected children of light?
Has God refused to aid our efforts?
Maybe, we've tried to do on our own
What's doomed to fail without aid from God.
We live because our God has made us;
Only through God can we stand and fight.
Our God, please help us against a world
That's blind to the light and mocks the law.
Through You, We'll live; in You, we'll be free.

Faith and reason in the ancient court of Athens.

MARS HILL: Paul v. The Philosophers

THE WORKS OF GOOD

Meaning in Psalm 107

Alfred D. Byrd

THINKING of God should make us give thanks
For all of the works of good for us.
The ones who've fallen, foundered in grief,
And scattered across a world gone wrong
Have met with rescue from hands on high
And been joined as one to praise our God.

A DESERT is what the world has been
For many who wander, seeking a home,
A place of rest — a place of purpose.
Hungry and thirsty, they lose their heart
Until they cry to their God for help.
Our God delivers the ones who pray
In the name of the One Whose will is true.
Our God delivers the lost from grief
And leads them safely to reach a goal,
A city of light that comes from God.
Let's thank our God for works of love
That fill with hope each soul that hungers.

REBELS against the teaching of God
Have found in darkness shadows of death.
Imprisoned in chains in pits of gloom,
The rebels labor without a goal
And fall at night onto beds of pain.
Alone with shame, the rebels recall
The Name of their God; they cry for help.
Our God delivers the rebels from chains.
From gloom to light, the rebels ascend.
They thank the One Who opens prisons.
Freedom begins with the help of God.

HOW SELFISH we are! We act like fools
When we do our will instead of God's.
What seems to us delightful at first
May turn to sorrow before our eyes.
When we taste the fruit of what we've done,
Our food is ashes, and death draws near.
Amid our sorrow, we think of God.
We seek reprieve, and we find release.
Our God will heal us from shame and pain;
Our God will free our hearts to feel joy.
Let's thank the Maker for works of love,
The wonder of help for lives gone wrong.
Let's give our God unceasing praises.

SAILORS who brave the face of the sea
Have seen the Maker through acts of might.
Our God may speak, and a calm becomes
A gale of fury — nightfall by day!
The sea and the sky are linked as one;
The clouds scud low, the waves are rising —
Mountains and valleys tumble wildly,
Flinging a ship — a thimble, a cork —
From heights to depths without a rudder.
Sailors clinging like limpets to ropes
Are waiting for death, a plunge unchecked
To a bed of stone beneath the waves.
The sailors recall the Name of God
And cry to the King of Storms for help.
The waves subside, and the sky grows clear.
A ship once helpless now makes its port,
And sailors give thanks before a crowd
For what their God, their Savior, has done.

WHEN WE TURN from right to seek what's wrong,
Our God can make a river run dry
And turn a garden to heaps of salt.
When we set our hearts to seek our God,
A desert can bloom, and springs gush forth.
The ones who wander will find a home,
A city of light that comes from God.
They'll plant, and reap a harvest of fruit,
A blessing of life redeemed from death.

RECALL this truth: our God is the King
Of all that is. The King is peerless.
Princes may rise among us and say,
"I have the wisdom to change the world."
They flourish awhile and then depart —
How often in shame too deep for words!
The proud will fall; the humble will rise.
Our God determines the fate of each.
Whoever is wise will seek the Throne
To look on light, the glory of love.

Four hundred years of silence was broken.

The Bible's Hidden Years

AND SOON WE'RE LOST

Meaning in Psalm 106

Alfred D. Byrd

BLESSINGS from God are soon forgotten.
Easily, humans dismiss the past.
It's pleasant to think, "We've learned the Law
And do what's right in service to God.
We tell the blessings of God to all."
How glad are those who say so in truth!
How few, however, can keep the path
Through times of hardship testing our faith.
We wander aside, and soon we're lost
Until our God comes looking for us.

WE'RE LIKE the slaves who lived in Egypt.
Rescued by God through wonders and signs,
They sang from joy as they left for home.
When they reached a sea, their joy was lost,
For soldiers followed, bringing new chains.
The slaves considered only the now.
They said, "We'll die like dogs in the sand."
They'd lost their faith in the One Who saves.
The sea was parted; a path was dry.
The hand of God had opened a way
For those beloved despite their doubts.
The slaves went forward, reaching safety;
Soldiers who followed got drowned like rats.

SOME DAYS went by, and the way grew hard.
The rescued murmured, "We'll starve unless
We lose our lives beforehand from thirst."
They got their food and water from God,
But also a plague, a curb on doubt.

FROM GOD, the slaves had gotten leaders —
Moses, the elder; Aaron, the priest —
To make a people both free and holy.
Many were sure of doing better
If only power would come to them.
A crowd came up to follow rebels.
Dathan, Abiram — those were their names.
Our God upheld the rulers by right.
The earth split open, and fire came out,
Consuming rebels to end debate.

OUR GOD called Moses atop the heights
To learn the Law, a standard of truth.
The people, waiting below, grew weak.
They wanted a god of sight and touch
And made for themselves a calf of gold,
A thing of Egypt, pretty, but vain.
They forgot their God, above the worlds —
Beyond whatever our mind can think.
They danced before their image like fools.
Our God would've put the fools to death,
But Moses stood up to place his life
Between the fools and the rage of God.
In a time gone wrong, a savior appeared
To free the people from what they'd earned.

THE SLAVES were bound to a home long lost —
A gift from God, the Land of Promise.
Seeing the land, the slaves grew wary.
"Giants live there. They'd crush us like ants."
The slaves had lost their faith in the God
Who'd worked with wind and fire in Egypt.
Hearing murmurs, our God decided,
"No one is ready, so all must wait."
Four decades, the slaves would pound the sand
Before they reached a land of honey.

WAITING, they fell again to idols.
Meeting strangers who lured them with smiles,
The slaves adored a god without life.
They gorged on flesh and writhed in orgies.
No one would call them holy just then.
Their hope would be a son of Aaron.
Phinehas, faithful servant of God,
Would slay the worst to redeem the rest
And lead them onward, heading homewards.

SADLY for Moses, the rescued rebelled
One time too many. Moaning of thirst,
They made him angry. He struck a rock.
Our God had said, "Just speak, and I'll give,"
But he'd had too much and lost his head.
How many of us would do the same!
He lost his chance to enter the Land,
But all remember what good he did.

HOW MANY the ways to go astray!
There's time to mention only a few.
A people rebelled, but God prevailed;
The slaves attained their homeland at last.
Whenever we turn from shame and doubt,
Our God is there to hear and help us.
Nothing can part us from love of God.
Because of weakness, humans forget,
But God remembers, coming with aid.
Let's praise the name of the God Who saves,
Despite our deeds, the ones who go wrong.

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

The Stars Bow Down

g.

FOR THE SAKE OF LOVE

Meaning in Psalm 105

Alfred D. Byrd

CHILDREN of God, remember the works
Performed by God for the sake of love.
A people chosen, our God protects
Throughout whatever the world inflicts.
No wrong escapes the One on the Throne.
No act of love will be lost to time.
Our King made much emerge from little.
Abraham, living humbly in Ur,
Received a call: "Get out of this place
And seek a home selected by Me!
The Land of Promise belongs to you —
To you and your heirs — for all of time."
The pact of God endures forever,
Bearing the Name of the One Who is.

THE PACT of God came down through fathers —
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, their names —
A handful of lives who lived in tents
And roamed the nations in search of rest.
Because of God, a fence around them,
Nations in darkness honored the line
Of those who passed their lives as strangers
Seeking afar a city of God.

WITHIN the line, betrayal took place.
A boy of beauty sold out by kin
Became a slave who grieved in Egypt.
Joseph, through lies, was sent to prison.
Shackles circled and bruised his feet;
A collar of bronze weighed down his neck.
He lived in shame until his Maker,
Having a plan for a slave in jail,
Decreed the world a time of famine.
Joseph advised the king of Egypt,
"Gather the grain that's growing today
And save it for when the times grow grim."
The king, respecting the man of God,
Promoted a slave to be a lord
Who said to princes, "Do this! Do that!" —
Who spoke to elders wisdom from God.

THROUGH JOSEPH, the line of God left home
To live in Egypt — as guests, at first.
When he died, his line gave birth in hordes
That frightened the king. Inspired by fear,
He put the children of God in chains
To labor by day — to weep by night.
They murmured in bed, "Our God forgot."
Our God remembered, sending servants —
Moses, a ruler; Aaron, a priest —
To lead the people from grief to joy.

A TIME of signs — a time of judgment —
Enfolded a land of slaves and lords.
The eye of day was lost to darkness.
River of life, your water was blood.
Wherever one went, one stepped on frogs.
The air was thick with flies — and with gnats.
A shower of hail beat down the trees.
The strokes of lightning fell fast and hard.
The locusts arrived and stripped the fields.
The land was bare; its harvest was lost.
The first to open the womb all died.
Let drops of wine recall the torments
Suffered by Egypt to free the slaves.

THE CHILDREN of God who left that land
Bore silver and gold, the gifts of lords
Rejoicing to see the backs of slaves
Who'd made a land of glory a waste.
Our God remembered the slaves again.
A cloud by day and a fire by night
Marked out a path to lead them back home.
Our God, a shepherd, pastured the sheep.
With flesh of quails — with bread from the sky —
Our God maintained the children in health.
In a time of thirst, a rock was struck,
And water flowed out, a stream through sand.
Not only body, but soul, was fed.
Our God instructed the line to keep
The account of what our God had done —
The Law of God, provided for life.

WHEREVER you are — at home, afar —
Remember blessings coming from God.
Recall the works of God in the past;
Recall the law of truth and of love.
In God is life; in God is the hope
Of meaning that lifts our lives from gloom.

A Teenage Girl's Adventure in Ancient Egypt

Asenath's Tale

A VEIL OF LIGHT

Meaning in Psalm 104

Alfred D. Byrd

NO ONE has seen the face of our God.
The One is great beyond description.
Only a veil of light has appeared
To show us glory worthy of kings.
Behind the veil, what wonders exist,
We guess, but can't say, for God is All.
From a throne that holds the light on high,
The heavens spread out, a home for God.
A place for the Throne, a place for stars,
A place for clouds through which there moves
A thing of light desired in visions —
Heaven's chariot, bearing the King.
Beside our God are hosts of angels,
Creatures of breath and of fire who serve
The will of the One Who made us all.

OUR GOD has fixed the earth in its place
And covered the earth with robes, the seas,
Which mounted the heights, but now obey
The will of God, a promise to all:
"No flood will destroy the earth again."

THE WATER is life for all that lives.
From heights that feel the lash of the rains,
The water flows down to gush in springs
That ease the thirst of beasts and of birds —
That fill the branches of trees with fruit,
A gift from God to feed creation.

CATTLE eat grass, and humans eat grain
That grows from the land prepared by God.
Our God has made three blessings for us:
The wine that cheers us when used with care,
The oil of olives to smooth our skin,
And bread, which gives us the strength to work
On what our God has told us to do.
Our God cares for more than us alone:
From moss, which seeks the shelter of rocks,
To redwoods, whose crowns may touch the clouds,
Our God has fashioned the homes of beasts
That trust their Maker blindly, but well.

ABOVE the earth are signs in heaven
Telling the world when to work or sleep.
The moon will grow from darkness to full
And wane again to describe a month.
The sun will rise and set in a day
And circle the sky to mark a year.
The beasts have learned the signs of the sky.
Not even rulers like us deny
The call of days, of seasons — of years.
In darkness, we sleep; at dawn, we rise
To do what we must to stay alive.

WHAT WONDERS — countless — our God has made!
A wisdom beyond our words designed
The world around us — the stars above.
The seas conceal in their depths such things
As seem like fables to us on land.
The beasts in the depths are not for us.
A truth slips out: our God has made them,
Mighty, but pointless, simply for play.
Behind this truth lies one far deeper.
Nothing exists apart from our God.
All things were formed from dust and from breath
And return to dust, their breath withdrawn.
Whenever our God may breathe again,
What's lost will be found; what's dead, revive.

THE WORKS of God will last forever.
Heaven takes joy in what God has done.
The one who sees the glory of God
Will sing throughout life in joy, in praise
Of the One Who changes darkness to light &mdash:
Who finds a sinner and makes a saint.

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

The Light