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.

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