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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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