A Thousand Thoughts
(Psalm 76; 82; 84; 90; 92; 112; 115)
“The way you think determines the way you feel,
and the way you feel determines the way you act.”
Rick Warren
American pastor (Saddleback Church)
and author (The Purpose-Driven Life)
(1954 - )
The Beauty of the Lord
By Bess Bruce Cleveland
20th Century – Public Domain
How the Psalms stir my heart and soul. I suspect you may feel the same way. God reveals His own heart through the poetic phrasings of the Psalms. Several of the passages we read today were actually sung by the Levite worship leaders, accompanied by their musical instruments, as celebratory praise songs to the Lord.
Can’t you just feel His love and sense His great mercy? Have you caught a longing for His Presence and a hunger for Heaven?
What do these Psalms tell you about the way God feels about you?
How is God touching your heart through His Word today? Is He giving you a glimpse of His great love for you? His love is beyond length and breadth, and His mercy is immeasurable.
How can we not love Him in return?
A Poetry Prompt
Throughout the month of April, creative writers and lovers of literature have celebrated National Poetry Month in the United States (and Poetry Month elsewhere). Marking this momentous month, instead of a sestina or rondo, the Lord has laid a sonnet upon my heart today, based on our Bible readings for the day.
The format matches the meter and rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet. I pray the Lord may touch your heart through the words He gave me this morning.
Elysian Fields
By Carlos Schwabe
1903
“A single day in Your courts
is better than a thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God
than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.”
Will you pray with me?
A Sonnet Scripted for the Sacred One
I magnify Your Holy Name. O God,
For You alone may ride upon the clouds.
Your majesty unmatched marks where You trod,
Beyond the bleakness, clad with ragged shrouds.
How lovely is the home in which You dwell.
To stay forever with You my soul yearns.
Your glory is revealed, even to hell,
So for Your favor mortal heart, it burns.
A thousand days of lowly service bests
One single moment in the world’s acclaim.
Your Presence in my personhood attests
That to my life forever You’ve laid claim.
With all I am, my spirit now implores,
May all the glory evermore be Yours.
Posted in response to these prompts:
AC (sonnet)
Easy Street Prompts (“playing instruments”)
In Other Words (Rick Warren quote)
Meme Express (Pick-a-Prompt)
Poetic Asides (April P.A.D. Challenge – sestina or poem about sestinas)
Read Write Poem (NaPoWriMo – “red” – changed to “read”)
Bravo! So lovely. The Psalms are the ultimate poetry tribute.
ReplyDeleteLife has been crazy lately, sorry I haven't been around much. I miss all these lovely words!