ANGELS OF GLORY

Meaning in Psalm 99

Alfred D. Byrd

HOLY and righteous is God our King.
Our God is One; there is no other.
Angels of glory uphold the Throne;
The earth will shake to see its Maker.
Zion, the chosen of God, comes near;
The nations look up, and bow, to God.
When we see our God, our pride is done;
All humans are dust before the Name.
The King has given a law for peace:
Show justice to rich and poor alike;
Do right for the sake of love of God.

OUR GOD has spoken with us before
To show us a way that leads to life.
We see in Scripture chosen leaders:
Moses became a nation's ruler;
Aaron, a priest before the altar;
Samuel, prophet shouting, "Repent!"
From prophet, from priest, from king, we see
How we hear from God within a cloud
And keep the Law despite temptations.
Answers will come to those who pray
With love of God as both ground and goal.

OUR GOD responds to the ones who pray.
Our God will punish what leads to death,
But forgives the one who turns to life.
Return to God and seek the temple!
Nothing endures but what rests in God.
Let God resume the throne of your heart
To be as one with the Throne on high.
Our Maker is Love; Our King is Light.
To choose what's holy results in life.

Four hundred years of silence was broken.

The Bible's Hidden Years

As Fragile as Glass

Meaning in Psalm 98

by Alfred D. Byrd

WONDERS attend the presence of God.
Salvation is free to all who come
Because our God remembers our lives.
As small as dust, as fragile as glass,
We seem to the One Who has no end,
But we stand secure because of love—
The love of the One Whose will is Love.
Our God has called a people to be
A witness to all of what is right.
Let's do what's right for love of our God.
Whenever we do the will of God
And sing in praise of love and of faith—
God's acts of love revealed are models
Showing creation the path of hope—
We tell the world, "Our God is gracious.
Welcome are all who come for mercy!"

Jubilant music, trumpet and harp,
Belong to the King, the God of all.
The King is coming. Let none stay home!
Let all assemble to sing with joy
The praise of the One Who acts with faith!
When we see the King, all else will fade.
Our eyes will be on the light of God.

The earth is a stage on which our lives
Can come together to sing of love.
On hills on high, by rivers below,
We can stand for God and do what's right.
The waves that roar — the sea of peoples—
Yield us companions who aid the work.
Our God has ordained a law that's fair.
When we do what's fair, we praise our God
By making the truth alive in fact.
When we fail to do what's right and fair,
We call a judgment upon ourselves.
Today, we're free to do what we wish.
Tomorrow, changes may come at once.
Our God will come — the promise is sure—
To spurn what's evil, to keep what's good.
Let's praise our God, Who judges in truth.

If this poem spoke to you, you may enjoy my Biblical epic poems

A Song of the One, the age-old account of Creatlon, Fall, Redemption, and Glory retold in verse for a new millennium, and

The Stars Bow Down: An Epic of Joseph, the timeless tale of a favorite son whose brothers sold him into slavery, but whom God raised from a prison to save the known world from famine.

The Nature of Fire

Meaning in Psalm 97

by Alfred D. Byrd

DARKNESS and clouds surround the Maker.
No one can look at our God and live
Unless repentance gains one mercy—
Righteous and just, the One on the Throne.
Our God displays the nature of fire—
A fire to purge what's good of its dross,
A fire to purge the world of evil.
Lightning flashes! The heart of a storm
Is where our God appears to the world.
The mountains tremble. The world will fall
Before the One, the King on the Throne.

The skies above us are signs to us
Of One Who was and is and will be.
The peoples may shut their eyes awhile,
But someday will come to see the truth.
The glory of God is there for all
Whose eyes are open — whose heart is whole.
All things besides our God are idols,
Empty, worthless — awaiting judgment.
Worship of idols will end in shame.
Let all who think of themselves as gods
Bow down to worship the One alone!

Within this world, our God has chosen
Zion, a people to serve the Name.
The path of Zion hasn't been easy—
Jealousy poisons the world for all—
But daughters and sons have kept alive
The Law, proclaimed in a storm of fire.
The path of Zion, which ends in God,
Is a sign for all who doubt the truth.
No other but God could keep alive
A people through storms from right and left.
Let's say with Zion, "Our God is One'!
No other deserves our praise or trust.

To love what's true is to hate what's false.
Our God alone is the Source of love—
The End at Whom true love will arrive.
Our God preserves the children of love
From hands of evil striking with rage.
At times, the path ahead is darkened—
Hardship and grief abound in this world—
But light and joy await at its end.
Whoever is true, give thanks to God
For what is promised, an age of peace.

If this poem spoke to you, you may enjoy my Biblical epic poems

A Song of the One, the age-old account of Creatlon, Fall, Redemption, and Glory retold in verse for a new millennium, and

The Stars Bow Down: An Epic of Joseph, the timeless tale of a favorite son whose brothers sold him into slavery, but whom God raised from a prison to save the known world from famine.

Worthy of Song

Meaning in Psalm 96

by Alfred D. Byrd

ANSWER the call to sing about God!
The One Who made both heavens and earth
Is worthy of song from all who live.
Our God is the God unique and whole;
All others that take the name of gods
Are empty — figures of stone or wood.
The world, its peoples — they all are one
Because the God Who made them is One.
The Name of God is the One Who saves
With works that dazzle and awe our minds.
A temple in heaven shelters glory—
Splendor and might, the King on the Throne—
Too bright for eyes of flesh to observe.
Call out to all who wander the earth,
"Fulfill your life in singing of God!"

Let all who live come out to worship
Holiness seated upon the Throne.
We ought to fear the might in that place;
We ought to praise the love of our God.
What glory — what strength — confronts our eyes!
What words can express how great God is?
To find those words and set them in song
Is a work beyond our hearts or mind,
But a work that shows our love for God.
Let's give our lives to praising the One
Who gave us our breath for use in song!

Let's tell the earth, "Our God is your King"!
Both heavens and earth are scenes of praise
When we see our God arrive in strength.
The world will tremble; the world will stand,
Upheld by the hand of God, its King.
No eye can face our God in glory.
Humans and angels will bow and say,
"Our God is ruler of all that is.
The word of our God is set in stone.
Our God will judge all peoples with truth."

If this poem spoke to you, you may enjoy my Biblical epic poems

A Song of the One, the age-old account of Creatlon, Fall, Redemption, and Glory retold in verse for a new millennium, and

The Stars Bow Down: An Epic of Joseph, the timeless tale of a favorite son whose brothers sold him into slavery, but whom God raised from a prison to save the known world from famine.

Giver of Light

Meaning in Psalm 95

by Alfred D. Byrd

CHILDREN OF FAITH, let's sing to our God.
The One Who spoke, and our lives became—
The One Who saved us from death by sin—
Deserves thanksgiving offered with joy
Not just one Thursday, but now and now.
We live because we have a Maker,
Holy, eternal Giver of light.
The depths of the sea, the depths of stars—
All things reside in the hands of God.
The One Who Is can have no equal.
Greater than we are hosts of angels
Fashioned from fire at the dawn of time,
Yet they, like us, would never have been
Unless the One Who Is had made them.
Maker unmade, our God is unique.

It's hard to keep our Maker in mind.
We shut our eyes, and the light is gone.
How often we start to turn aside.
We leave the light to roam in darkness.
Listen today to the voice of God:

"Recall the ones who held My Promise.
Captives in Egypt, they slaved and wept
Until I sent to them a prophet
Breaking their chains to lead them back home.
The masters were dead; the slaves were free.
You'd think that they'd have danced forever.
Sadly, their praise would turn to complaints
Whenever the way ahead grew rough.
A time of thirst, a time of hunger—
Moaning and groaning would pound My ears.
A Quarrel was how they met each Test.
They'd seen My works, but soon forgotten
Wonders that turned a river to blood.
I made the crowd of whiners wander
Forty summers and winters on sand
That held no food but bread from heaven.
Nothing kept them facing the Promise.
Angry with them, I saved them from death,
But saw no change — no love — in their hearts.
I said by My Name, 'I'm done with them.
They'll never enter pastures of rest.'"

Our God recalls the whiners to show
Each one who lives a choice to be made.
To gloom or the light, one takes a road.
Don't harden your heart like those who moaned.
Don't look at wonders and say, "What next?"
As sheep, let's praise our God, the Shepherd
Leading us onward to fields of peace.
Amid the earth or before the Throne,
Let's worship the One Who made us all.

If this poem spoke to you, you may enjoy my Biblical epic poems

A Song of the One, the age-old account of Creatlon, Fall, Redemption, and Glory retold in verse for a new millennium, and

The Stars Bow Down: An Epic of Joseph, the timeless tale of a favorite son whose brothers sold him into slavery, but whom God raised from a prison to save the known world from famine.

Talkers of Trash

Meaning in Psalm 94

by Alfred D. Byrd

WICKEDNESS prospers greatly at times.
How greedy, lustful, and vain some are,
Describing evil as good — for them.
We need no more than turn on the news
To hear how far decay has traveled.
Talkers of trash assault our faces:
"Número uno will get what's his!"
What's good for some oppresses others.
Widows, orphans, and strangers must pay
The price for some to party all night.
The ones who strut in glitter and gold
Have said no prayers for what they've claimed:
"I've earned it myself, no thanks to God.
He's off on a cloud. We're good to go."

The ones who mock the mercy of God
Forget that they're formed from dust and breath.
The One Who spoke of eyes, and they were,
Will see what happens beneath the Throne.
The One Who spoke of ears, and they were,
Will hear the boasting of ants made gods.
The One who counts the nations as dust
Awards the vain a time of mercy—
Use it quicky to turn to your God!

The one who's happy has learned from God
The knowledge of truth — of light, of love!
Although the wicked prosper today,
What's wrong is lost already to God.
A wind of change will blow it away.
The one, however, who trusts in God
Is free to grasp a promise of hope.
Our God will not abandon the sheep
That form a flock called out of darkness.
Justice will come from the hand of God
To make the earth a home for the sheep.

The ones of us who make up the flock
Should not stand by and watch the struggle.
Faithful followers honor the King
By doing what's right — what builds what stands.
The ones who received the help of God
Should be a help to others in need.
These works are ours: to pray to our God,
To study the Word, to meet for praise,
To speak a word of truth to the lost—
To help the weak who've fallen to rise.
It's not enough to hide in the fort
Raised up by God to shelter our lives;
We must man the walls and face assaults
Until the day of evil is done.

If this poem spoke to you, you may enjoy my Biblical epic poems

A Song of the One, the age-old account of Creatlon, Fall, Redemption, and Glory retold in verse for a new millennium, and

The Stars Bow Down: An Epic of Joseph, the timeless tale of a favorite son whose brothers sold him into slavery, but whom God raised from a prison to save the known world from famine.

Before There Were Worlds

Meaning in Psalm 93

by Alfred D. Byrd

HEAVEN presents us the Throne of God,
A height untouched by time or decay.
Forever, backwards and forwards, describes
How long the Throne has been and will be.
No hand below can shake foundations
Settled by God before there were worlds.
Above creation, beyond all change,
The Throne remains the center of things.

The One Who sits there is veiled from sight—
No eye can glimpse the Glory and live—
But shines to us in robes of wonder—
Spotless and stainless, holy and pure—
That speak of goodness spurning evil—
That speak of might to uphold the truth.
The robes of God protect us from death
And let us perceive the Source of life.
The One Who sits on the Throne of God
Has been and shall be the King of All.

To what can one compare our Monarch?
Maybe, the ocean gives us a clue.
The waves extend beyond horizons.
No one escapes a touch of wonder.
Suddenly, tempests can strike a shore.
The waves pour in, and houses crumble.
Nothing withstands the might of the storm.
The waves recede, and calm is restored.
A child can wander along the beach,
Admire a shell, and find, rejoicing,
Gleaming treasures cast up by the waves.

The One Who sits on the Throne of God
Is mighty to do all things for good.
In times of bad, our God is a storm
That sweeps the works of evil away.
In times of good, our God is the sun,
Which shows a child a world of beauty.
Holiness hovers around the Throne.
The works of God are worthy of trust.

If this poem spoke to you, you may enjoy my Biblical epic poems

A Song of the One, the age-old account of Creatlon, Fall, Redemption, and Glory retold in verse for a new millennium, and

The Stars Bow Down: An Epic of Joseph, the timeless tale of a favorite son whose brothers sold him into slavery, but whom God raised from a prison to save the known world from famine.