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.

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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.

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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.

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