The mountains stand

After Psalm 125 

The mountains stand

in their splendor and awe,

the mountains that

cannot be moved, forever.

The mountains surround

the city, a protective all

for the people within.

Evil does not rest upon

the people within;

evil cannot rest upon

the people enclosed,

now and evermore.

 

Like the mountains,

So, too, the Lord.

 

Photograph by Luke Richardson via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Amazing Grace in Deep Despair: The Rare Friendship of Newton and Cowper – Bruce Hindmarsh at Desiring God.

 

The Parenting Book Too Few Parents Read – Tim Challies. 

 

Customer Service – poem by Paul Witenberger.

 

Paradise Island – poem by Paul Freeman at Society of Classical Poets.

On the way to Jerusalem

A song after Psalm 121 

On my way to Jerusalem,

Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

on my way to Jerusalem,

I will sing my song.

 

I lift my eyes on the way,

I see the hills on the way,

I sing my song on the way,

on the way to Jerusalem.

 

He does not sleep on my way,

he does not slumber on my way,

he does not sleep on my way,

on the way to Jerusalem. 

 

He is the shadow on my right hand,

on the way, on the way;

he is the shadow on my right hand,

on the way to Jerusalem.

 

He watches over me in the day

he watches over me in the night,

he protects me from all evil things,

on the way to Jerusalem. 

 

Photograph by Dariusz Kanclerz via Unsplash used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Astounded and amazed: A sermon on a reading on Mark 1 – Dan King at Bibledude.

 

363 – poem by Petrarch at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin). 

 

Is the Book of James Really ‘An Epistle of Straw’? – Michael Kruger at Canon Fodder.

 

Plato’s Big Mistake – Louis Markos at The Imaginative Conservative.

A Sonnet for Candlemas -- Malcolm Guite.

The keeper

After Psalm 121 

When you see the hills,

do not consider the creation

but the creator, the one

who sculpted and shaped

the hills. It is not the creation

that keeps you or protects you;

it is the creator who keeps you,

who protects you, who provides

for you, without ceasing,

without sleeping, without

resting, protecting you against

all evil, keeping your life,

keeping your walk, watching

over your going out, watching

over your going in, always

and forever.

 

Photograph by Markus Spiske via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Apostle! A sonnet for St. Paul – Malcolm Guite.

 

Don’t Forget About Nigerian Christians – Samuel Sey at Slow to Write.

 

Failing to ‘get’ religion helped create schism between readers and newsrooms – Terry Mattingly at Get Religion. 

 

Making the Call to Worship Great Again – Graham Heslop at The Gospel Coalition.

A tent is a refuge

After Psalm 61

Tent: a place to rest,

a place to take refuge

from the desert storm,

wind raging and sand

scouring, the tent

offering a respite,

a shelter, the shelter

of huddling under

the wings of the great eagle,

the eagle who hears

the cries of the voice,

the cries of the heart,

swooping low to rescue

from the storm as it rages.

We soar above it,

protected.

Photograph by Karl JK Hedin via Unsplash. Used with permission.