IN HOPE TOGETHER

Meaning in Psalm 150

Alfred D. Byrd

CREATURES of God, whoever you are,
Provide the One Who made you with praise.
Alone, or one in hope together,
Offer your voice, however it sounds,
Upon the altar of love for God.

OUR GOD is distant, beyond the stars;
Our God is near, embracing our hearts.
Our God transcends the limits of time;
Our God is working each day for us.
Our God, Who gives us our breath, deserves
Unending praises from us, the dust
Awoken by God with breath of life.

THE REASONS to praise our God exceed
The names of numbers with which we count.
Recall the Name with dancing and song.
The music of horns, of harps, and of frets —
Of rattles and flutes, of bells in ranks,
Of cymbals crashing, breaking our sleep —
Are just a start of what our Maker
Merits from us in thanks for the light
That leads us homewards to find the Throne.
At the feet of God, let all come near
And shout together, "We praise our God!"

Four hundred years of silence was broken.

The Bible's Hidden Years

TO SING TO OUR KING

Meaning in Psalm 149

Alfred D. Byrd

ASSEMBLED children of God Most High,
Let's find new words to sing to our King
Of praise for being — of thanks for love!
To serve their Maker, some choose to dance —
To move their limbs, the Maker's designs,
In patterns showing a heart of joy.
Rejoice in the King and praise the Name
Of the One Who is and has no peer.
To beat a drum or to strum a harp
Expresses our joy in God, who loves
To crown the humble, but crush the proud.

AT TIMES, the children of God must fight
To guard their lives, their homes, and their kin.
Let those who honor both truth and justice
Shatter the strength of haters of peace.
Let those who glory in chains and whips
Descend in chains to be whipped in turn.
No, better, may those who hate the light
Receive from God escape from darkness.
Turning from evil to choose what's good,
May they join the throng before the Throne —
The throng that sings, "Our God is our joy!"
The best of triumphs over a foe
Is to turn mistrust into love of friends.
In triumph, our God elects from love
To save from darkness children of light.

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

The Stars Bow Down