Meditation on Isaiah 55

Your word, once sent, will not return
Without accomplishing its task
Its working is not our concern
But to be ready when you ask
Acknowledging our role in this
Is knowing not your detailed will
Your movement here our eyes might miss
But you, we know, are moving still
With thoughts far higher than our own
In ways unsearchable to men
You are the God unknown yet known
Triumphant o’er the curse of sin
You give the food and drink we need
Though we are poor and cannot pay
We, from futility, are freed
For you, O God, have made a way
So let us, humbled, seek your face
Forsaking all unrighteousness
And pardon us with perfect grace
To worship you in holiness

The Almighty

You are the truth in a time of confusion
You, the reality in the illusion
Strength and supply for the weak and the weary
Steadfast in wisdom with every query
Faithful and flawless, you are the defender
Fixed as the victor, you never surrender
Perfect in holiness, pure in your vision
Power and glory demanding submission
Reigning in sov’reignty, rivaled by no one
Revelation of the heaven you open
Gracious and merciful, ever forgiving
God: ever light, ever love, ever living

Questions

Is God still good when I have been so wrong?
Or when I’m wronged, does love still win the day?
I read that he’s been with me all along,
But can it be when pain and sorrow stay?
Or might it be that his exalted might
Is meant not to pluck out but to uphold?
And could it be my eyes so weak of sight
Cannot perceive his plan of ages old?
Could he be working all things for my good
Although it seems that he is nowhere near?
Is this my furnace, this my cross of wood,
That shows me through my death that God is here?
How can I then bemoan the fiercest throes,
The holy forging, sanctifying blows?

Thoughts from Psalm 8 and John 2

How can it be
That he would see
From heaven’s highest throne
A broken man
With fallen plan
And call him for his own?

The earth and sky
Before his eye
Submit to his command,
Yet by his grace
This human race
Is set above the land.

This God above
Is rich in love
And stoops to care for men.
He came in night
To shine his light
And save our souls from sin.

Oh mystery
Of sov’reignty
Who knows our mortal state:
The Lord of life
Embracing strife
To change the sinner’s fate.

Count It All Joy

The tragedies and maladies of life
All serve a saving purpose for the saint
For struggles that surmount a life with strife
Become the hues with which our Lord doth paint
O’er ev’ry evil, Elohim prevails
Effulgent Savior, holy thaumaturge
From death’s embrace, the true Messiah hails
And makes what brought despair to heal and purge
Now watch as broken daughters rise to dance
Now see as sickly sons stand up to praise
The vilest horrors help to fix our stance
The worst oppression only lifts the haze
No pow’r is held by any enemy
All things do work as one for good to me