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