Author: astherainandsnow

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night,
to the music of the lute and the harp,
to the melody of the lyre.
For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

How great are your works, O Lord!
Your thoughts are very deep!..

The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the Lord;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,
to declare that the Lord is upright;
he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.” Psalm 92:1-5, 12-15

This was A Song for the Sabbath, for the day set aside from work to rest from labor and unto the God who’d provided it. A day for gladness, remembering, expressing thanks and praise. In the economy of time, what practice is through the hours over a day becomes a rhythm over weeks and years. All-day declaring becomes all-life living, all breath and effort given to the exaltation of the Lord, flourishing in fruitfulness that reflects His faithfulness.

To determine what a body declares takes an intentional mindset. Where am I relegating specific time and attention to praise my God, declaring with zeal in song, word, and deed His greatness? What Sabbath practices have become or will I develop as weeklong habits?

“I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Psalm 34:1

We fly borne by winds of culture or establish deep roots in the secret place with God. We either fall into new days with casual and haphazard let’s see what comes, or we set ourselves to lift high the name and character of God Almighty no matter what comes. We react from spontaneous emotion or respond from scripture-soaked discernment. We make capricious assessments from a vantage of self-victimization, or we perceive and accept circumstances through the lens of God’s sovereignty. We babble with empty words or we draw from the unchanging truth of the sure Rock. (Psalm 31:20; 90:12; 91:1; Isaiah 45:3; Matthew 6:6; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22; Hebrews 5:14)

“Through [Jesus] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” Hebrews 13:5

What will it be for me? Do I produce from days planted with purpose, or prattle through unmeasured time with ambiguity? What does my attitude at the start of the day, or in untoward circumstances, declare of God’s goodness? What do my demeanor, words, and actions portray of His character? Do people with whom I interact know more of Him having spent time with me? Do my actions and reactions mimic His grace, wisdom, and love?

Lord, keep me singing from morning till night and day to day of Your wondrous worth, Your deeds and ways. May Your glory be my ongoing declaration. (Psalm 96:2,7-9; 98:1)

“Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, ‘Come!’..

“When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, ‘Come!’ And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers^[c] should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.” Revelation 6:1,7-11

Transported to heavenly visions while in exile on Patmos, John watches the Lamb unseal the scroll revealing the determined future. The juxtaposition between certain judgment of the wicked and relief and redemption for those slain in Christ is stark. For one, the specter of the pale horse of death and Hades; for the other, bright and certain hope in life awaited fulfillment. For one, rebels meeting their Maker’s horrid punishment; for the other, robes of rest and promise that they’d wait just a little longer for God’s consummation. (Revelation 1:9-10,19)

We are all destined for death. Since Eden that is our certain earthly end, our days here below numbered by our Heavenly Father. And God has also determined eternity thereafter. Are we facing pallid hopelessness in judgment, or bright color-rich everlasting life? Those who believe in Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection in their behalf will be with Him forever in gladness and light. Where do we stand in faith? (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:19; Psalm 139:16; John 3:16; Hebrews 9:27)

Those sealed in Christ need not fear any seal opened. Knowing we are secure in Christ fills us with palpable hope in hard times and perspective in uncertainty and longing. Christ’s robe of grace gives perseverance in temptation and deep peace in pain. We can bear consternation and suffering with soul rest, and agonies of earthly grief with heavenly solace. (Revelation 7:2-3)

What difference is a future of promise making in present circumstances? It should be substantial. How has hope lifted heaviness and depression, or enriched meaning in challenging work and relationships? Where will we apply the balm of ultimate relief to ongoing physical pain or sadness? What scripture memory or practice of thanksgiving could transform current woes and complaints, and make us easier to live with? How can our hope-filled outlook lift another to bring relief and refreshment? What are we doing to share it? (James 1:2-4; Revelation 7:9-17)

Lord, help me live so obviously in Your promise that You are continually exalted and others are drawn to the eternal hope You offer.

“There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
    nor are there any works like yours.
All the nations you have made shall come
    and worship before you, O Lord,
    and shall glorify your name.
For you are great and do wondrous things;
    you alone are God.
Teach me your way, O Lord,
    that I may walk in your truth;
    unite my heart to fear your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
    and I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your steadfast love toward me;
    you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.” Psalm 86:8-13

David asks for an undivided heart, whole and united in and under his Lord. His desire is the outflow from a full heart that knows his God is unique, omnipotent, all-wise, worthy of worship, trust, and thanks. With sights filled with adoration of his Savior, why would he want to share his affection or devotion with idols, why would he seek any other wisdom? He’d been captivated by his Sovereign’s irresistible love, and so his heart belonged to Him. If one could poke David’s divinely-shaped heart, it would express the heart of God. (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22)

We are so fickle in the flesh. The human heart swells with pride and lust, shrinks in greed, and hardens toward compassion. It is sucked in by exaggerated emotions and warped by perverted values. When we put our importance or agenda or passions on life’s pedestal, our view of the true God is dimmed. In our divided heart His supremacy is distorted, He gets demoted by lesser lovers. To gaze at the Lord, to recount His deeds, to lift high His name and seek His truths all guard the heart and keep it whole.

Where have we allowed a breach? Have we smugly assumed we can share our heart’s throne with idols, or grown lukewarm in our love for Christ? Are we more intent on counting our achievements than the deeds of the Lord? What needs be reordered, set aside, redirected, in order for us to offer undivided, fiery devotion to the worthy Lord of Lords? (Revelation 3:15-16)

How might a whole heart be expressed anew toward the Lord in adoration and thanksgiving? Toward the needy in benevolence and generosity? Within the fellowship of church in encouragement and mutual edification? The more we fill the cracks with right effort and affection, the fuller it will be.

“There have been days when I would die for You
And days when I would not die to me
There have been nights when I would cry with You
For the sins of the world and the pain in the city
But some nights I cried only tears of self-pity
I need a love that will always endure
Give me a love that is simple and pure

“Give me an undivided heart
Place a new spirit in me
Give me an undivided heart
That I may fear Your name.” ~Twila Paris (1990)

Worthy Lord, receive my soul, my life, my all in thanksgiving and praise. May my heart beat wholly for Your glory.

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.  It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,  but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.  Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.

“The Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers.  He will love you, bless you, and multiply you…  You shall be blessed above all peoples.” Deuteronomy 7:6-9,12-13a,14a

“There is none who does good,
    not even one.” Psalm 14:3

“You did not choose me, but I chose you.” John 15:16a

From the outset, God wanted His people to know that they were chosen, and why. He selected Abraham from a heathen background to come out from Ur, then Haran, to be a new nation in a new land, a new relationship, a new faith, a new purpose. He set His affection on them and set them apart to bring blessing to the world, ultimately His word and the Living Word, Jesus. His lure of their will and the light of His face would lead them. The call, the choice, the regeneration was all of Him; the obedience was Abraham’s. (Genesis 11:31-12:4a; Psalm 89:15,28,33-34)

Man likes to think of himself more highly than he ought. It feels good to compare ourselves with others and come out on top: more righteous, superior in knowledge, experience, strength. The better we are, the more we deserve. Hard work, latent talent, successes all contribute to an inflated self-esteem. But before Almighty God we are put in our place. We’ve all fallen short of His glory and perfection, and deserve not His favor. (Romans 3:23; 12:3)

His grace shines into our dark flesh to awaken faith. His undeserved mercy woos and transforms us to realize we are loved because He is loving, and love itself, not because we have earned it. (Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 John 4:8)

When did we last marvel at the deep love of the Father, allowing it to soak in and invigorate our love for Him and others? Would we spend alone time in meditation or song? When have we last confessed our smugness in thinking we deserve His affection? How does security in His steadfast love embolden our confidence and hope, and free us to love others?

“I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart –
His wounds have paid my ransom.” ~Stuart Townend (1995)

Lord, may I sing of Your steadfast love forever, and live as Your chosen to bring You the glory You deserve. (Psalm 89:1)

“And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, ‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ But the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again.  Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan.'” Deuteronomy 3:23-27

“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.  For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.¹⁵ If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” Hebrews 11:13-16

“After six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.  And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. ³ And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.” Matthew 17:1-3

Humble, faithful Moses wrestled with God’s pronounced punishment at the rock. Now, after 40 years of leading hundreds of thousands of grumbly Israelites through the wilderness, couldn’t he stand in the land that God promised? Couldn’t every sense take in the divine possession? Couldn’t he feel its grass and breathe its air and smell its cedars? Please? But the word of his great and mighty God held true. He would not enter the land, but would experience the heavenly fulfillment of earthly longing that faith enables. God’s grace was sufficient for the hard answer, the hope for the unseen, the waiting for glory. (Numbers 20:10-12; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Hebrews 11:1)

Unmet longings can train us to reorient perspective and desire. While Moses wanted to take in the new land, along the way he’d taken in remarkable and life-enriching knowledge of God. The journey became opportunity, and he seized it wholeheartedly. He turned his own disappointment into potent instruction and rich worship. (Deuteronomy 4:32-40; 34:10-12)

What unfulfilled longings in my life might God be using to develop my faith in Him? Where could temporal sight be transformed to spiritual sight? Where might long waiting become long worship? How has God used time I would not have orchestrated to work miracles in mind and circumstance I would never have dreamed? (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Lord, please translate my every longing to sure and robust faith. Fill and fulfill the number of my days so You are trusted and exalted. (Exodus 23:26; Psalm 38:9; 87:7)

“They are a rebellious people,
    lying children,
children unwilling to hear
    the instruction of the Lord;
who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’
    and to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us smooth things,
    prophesy illusions,
leave the way, turn aside from the path,
    let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.’
Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
‘Because you despise this word…
therefore this iniquity shall be to you
    like a breach in a high wall,..
    smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a shard is found…
    to dip up water out of the cistern.’

“For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
‘In returning and rest you shall be saved;
    in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’
But you were unwilling…

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
    and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
    blessed are all those who wait for him.

“For a people shall dwell in Zion; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry...  And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction,..  your eyes shall see your Teacher.  And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left… 

“And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous…  And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water,.. Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold,.. in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow…

“You shall have a song.., and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the Lord.” Isaiah 30:9-15,18-21,23,25-26,29

The way of the frenzied heart meanders far and wide, distant from the narrow path, down into self-sufficiency, idolatry, and rebellion. The more we run the more wayward we go, to our detriment and spiritual barrenness. But merciful God issues the call, Return, rest, be still. It is here before God we get re-centered, refueled, redirected. The blessed result of returning is fruitfulness, fullness of Spirit and peace. (Exodus 14:14; Isaiah 32:17-18; Hosea 14:1-2a; Matthew 7:13-14)

Where am I tending rebellion, self-sufficiency, or urgency? What causes me to close my ears to my Teacher and resist His word? Am I willing for the Lord to break my unwillingness? I can take one pause of restless driving, one step toward the holy mountain, to return. God in His grace welcomes, pardons, refreshes. He replaces craving with quietness, and our every cry becomes joyful song.

O God of my salvation, restore me again. Remove the rebel-bent and revive a whole heart and Spirit-filled mind that I might rejoice in You, increase in fruitfulness, and honor You all my days. (Psalm 85:4,6,12)

“We turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. And the Lord said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the people of Lot for a possession.’ (The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim. Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, as Israel did to the land of their possession, which the Lord gave to them.) ‘Now rise up and go over the brook Zered.’ So we went over the brook Zered…

“The Lord said, ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot.’ (It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place)… ‘Rise up,.. go over the Valley of the Arnon.'” Deuteronomy 2:8b-13,18-21,24

The Lord gave explicit instructions to Moses as he led Israel toward the promised land- where to traverse, where to avoid. They’d encountered enough temptation and refused to trust God against formidable foes, so there were some to avoid altogether. In his command not to contend with Moab, he took a long parenthesis to describe their dispossession of Emim. Do not flirt with places that have been dispossessed. Keep them in parentheses. (Numbers 13:7-14:4,36-45)

What God has forgiven He casts into the sea to be removed and remembered no more. Idols are to be destroyed. Love keeps no record of wrongs. Shame, strange gods, and resentments are all enclosed by the parentheses of Christ’s mercy and blood. What prohibitions do we keep dragging out to possess them again? (Micah 7:19; 1 Corinthians 13:5)

In our lives there are practices and situations we’d do better to stay away from than have them bring our ruin. God knows how tall and strong they are. There are habits and temptations He’s enabled us to put away, or in His grace removed, and those are not to be revisited. There are hurts and transgressions we’ve forgiven we’re not to recall. No good comes from flirting with what He’s destroyed and wants us to reckon as such.

Are we daily seeking His plan for where to journey? How willing are we to accept His no? How easily do we succumb to distraction? When we keep prohibited places where they belong, we have the strength to take on the enemies He would have us fight and conquer. (Deuteronomy 2:31-37)

Lord, keep me on Your straight and narrow. Help me keep in parentheses every distraction from wholeheartedness and full trust in You and what You have done.

“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded... You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter…

“Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” James 5:1-5,8

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal,  but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” Matthew 6:19

“So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God… Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” “Jesus said to him, ‘One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.’” Luke 12:21,33-34; 18:22

“Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith… As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.  They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” 1 Timothy 6:9-10,17-19

So many efforts go toward building and amassing that we don’t always realize what’s been collected and taking up earthly and head-space. Bit by dizzying bit we collect meaningless lovers, idols that vie for our affection, objects that crowd orderly living, and at the end are faced with ‘what can I offer Jesus?’ (1 Corinthians 3:12-13)

If treasure is important to God, if He’s entrusted us with amazing bounty and beauty to employ fruitfully, if He is indeed our very great reward, what should we make of treasure keeping? It’s easy to disorder treasure when we value the wrong things, objects and accolades that have only temporal significance. They have no proper home in God’s child, so they twist our attention when we finagle to make them room.(Genesis 1:27-28; 15:1; Isaiah 45:3; Luke 19:11-27)

So how do we keep the main thing the main thing, how keep desire pure and laying up noble? What if we held our labors before the Lord and said, ‘all for Thee, Jesus, all for Thee’? How might efforts increase in zeal, affections be reordered, conversation elevate, goods be shared with new generosity, if all were expended toward heavenly treasure? Fresh enthusiasm, favor, and joy comes to those whose heart has shifted direction.

Lord, may I lay up treasure for You and forever, to the praise of Your bounty and grace.

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,  who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written, for the time is near.

“John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

“Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come.., and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood  and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.  Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him…

“’I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and was and is to come, the Almighty.’

“I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, ‘Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches.’” Revelation 1:1-11

God gave His servant John visions for His servants, not just for him. He had called and equipped this faithful apostle, His chosen instrument for this specific role. He knew He could entrust these vital truths to him for description and conveyance. John received and executed the assignment with exquisite care. He understood God’s intent and accomplished it as a devoted servant and fellow partner with his readers.

John models one who, because he was in the Spirit, knew the Lord intimately and understood his calling. He eagerly received, then delivered God’s message with grace and peace and a high view of God in order to inform, fortify, and bless His people. He came alongside as a fellow servant, one in the fray and in the faith with them, to encourage and give hope.

The Lord has saved each of us to serve the present age. He’s appointed our time and place and days to know Him and fulfill His plans. He’s called us to do our part to put forward His work in the church and world. How am I handling my specific assignments? Where and how am I spreading His truth and grace? (Acts 13:36; 17:25-27; Ephesians 4:16; 1 Peter 2:4-6)

Serving others takes time, intention, and abiding in the Spirit. It requires humility before God, love for Him and His people, and much grace. It may involve sacrifice and hardship. What do my daily decisions and activities reveal about whom I am serving with time and resources? Are my efforts for self or others? How am I helping the Body know and prepare to meet Jesus?

Lord, may I faithfully serve You in this present age by serving the church and world to Your renown and glory.

“I bow my knees before the Father,..  that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit… that you… may have strength to comprehend what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:14,16-19

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?.. 

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35,37-39

To understand the vastness of the love of God in Christ there is a component of plumbing the profundity our own depravity. Unending meets unending in no neutral middle ground. God’s love and grace are high, measureless, uncontainable, and we sheep are sorely low and lost in interminable sin and need. Only Jesus bridges the chasm, only the Holy One reaches the depth of flesh with the highest of heaven. Who else can connect perpetual sin with my highest good by His fathomless mercy but the Infinite One?

There is no distance we can go to escape our Lord’s presence, no torrent of particular sorrow or grief the God of all comfort cannot assuage. There is no longing or want He cannot fulfill with His treasure, no destitution or confusion He cannot meet with hope and wisdom. To us belongs unending need, to Him belongs unending riches and joy. (Psalm 139:7-10; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4; Ephesians 1:3; Philippians 4:19)

Where do we take our dearth, our shame, our desire? Between Eden and heaven we will always be lacking, but the Lord is nigh with unending supply. Held in such a great salvation, will we daily drink deeply of His life? (John 4:14; Hebrews 2:3; 1 Peter 1:3-5)

“O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer
Greatest Treasure of my longing soul!
My God, like You there is no other.
True delight is found in You alone.
Your grace, a well too deep to fathom!
Your love exceeds the heavens’ reach!
Your truth, a fount of perfect wisdom,
My highest good and my unending need.

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer,
Strong Defender of my weary heart.
My Sword to fight the cruel deceiver,
And my Shield against his hateful darts.
My Song when enemies surround me,
My Hope when tides of sorrow rise,
My Joy when trials are abounding!
Your faithfulness, my Refuge in the night.

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer
Gracious Savior of my ruined life.
My guilt and cross laid on Your shoulders,
In my place You suffered bled and died.
You rose! The grave and death are conquered!
You broke my bonds of sin and shame!
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer
May all my days bring glory to Your Name!” ~Nathan Stiff, Sovereign Grace Music (2017)

Father, may my grateful heart and all my days issue endless praise for Your unending glory and grace.