Watchman's Word: He is Risen!

“Great is the LORD… His greatness is unsearchable... Men shall… abundantly utter the memory of Thy great goodness, and shall sing of Thy righteousness… The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon Him… He also will… save them” (Psalm 145:3-19).  “Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction” (Proverbs 31:8).  “For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth… Watchman, what of the night?” (Isaiah 21:6,11).  “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ… For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:6-21). 

Set a watchman to proclaim

The wondrous works of God the Son!

Declare that Christ our Savior came    

And His redeeming work is done!

The watchmen waited at the grave

Where Jesus Christ had been entombed. 

The word is out!  He lives to save!

The grave is conquered!  Death is doomed!

The watchmen now are those who speak

To show the lost their need of Christ.

Destruction waits unless they seek

The Lamb of God once sacrificed!

O watchman, look into the night:    

Behold the souls that long for peace! 

Now show them Christ who won the fight

That fear of sin and death may cease!

So being confident of this, 

Since Jesus Christ forever lives,

As watchmen we shall be remiss,

Unless we show the gift He gives. 

Indeed, we also show His pain

And how unsearchable the cost

That Christ endured for sinners’ gain,

That He might thus redeem the lost!

As watchmen now we look ahead

To future times that we discern:

Our Savior, risen from the dead,   

As He has promised, shall return!

O Lord, as watchmen, we rejoice

To know You live forevermore,

And we delight to hear Your voice

That we may grow to know You more!

Fortified Family

“Deliver me from the hand of strange children…that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones… happy is that people, whose God is the LORD” (Psalm 144:11-15).  “Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him… There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness” (Proverbs 30:5,12).  “Behold, such is our expectation whither we flee for help to be delivered… and how shall we escape?” (Isaiah 20:6).  “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.  And, ye fathers… bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord… and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:1-17).

Consider well this battle field:

We see the family now attacked!

Take up the Spirit’s sword and shield,

For God’s defense has never lacked. 

The Spirit’s sword, the Word of God,

Is surely needed in our day.

This world’s counsel is so flawed

Whereby so many go astray.

We see this in the generation

That still declares that they are pure,

That sees no need for God’s salvation,

And spurns the Gospel and its cure. 

There’s only one place we may flee

To be delivered from this danger,

To fortify our family

Against the falsehood growing stranger.

The Word of God has never failed

By which we may be fortified.

Its perfect doctrine has prevailed

Against the filthiness of pride. 

The precepts in God’s Word are right

For nurturing and admonition.

The entrance of His Word gives light

To save a soul from its perdition.

Salvation’s helmet has sufficed,

And with it, too, the Spirit’s sword,  

To lead our family to Christ

And live our lives to please the Lord.

Lord, thank You for the happiness

That You bestow in every place

On those who trust in You to bless

And fortify them with Your grace.

Listening for Lovingkindness

“Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in Thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto Thee” (Psalm 143:8).  “Whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe” (Proverbs 29:25).  “They shall cry unto the LORD… and He shall send them a Savior, and a great One, and He shall deliver them… and He shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them” (Isaiah 19:20-22).  “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor… redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians  5:1-16).

The voice of deception, of hatred, and scorning

In these days is not hard to find.

We need to be hearing God’s voice in the morning

To give us a right state of mind. 

He speaks to our hearts with such great lovingkindness

So we may be ready to live

With God’s true perspective amidst all the blindness,  

Redeeming the time He will give.

So many around us are trying to cope,

Distressed by the things that they see,

Yet we have God’s Word of salvation and hope

With truth that will make the soul free!

Praise God for the mercy that He shall extend

To all who will yet seek His favor.

How great is His promised salvation He’ll send

To all who will call on the Savior!

O Lord, we can see there is much now to do

In days that we ought to redeem

To show the salvation provided by You,

With love that You proved is supreme.

O Lord, send us forth to declare that You came

With love that has purchased salvation,

That sinners, so hopeless, may call on Your name,

And thereby escape condemnation.

Blunder of Blindness

“When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then Thou knewest my path… refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.  I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my Refuge and my Portion in the land of the living (Psalm 142:3-5).  “Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all things… He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered” (Proverbs 28:5,26).  “All ye inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when He lifteth up an ensign on the mountains, and when He bloweth the trumpet, hear ye!” (Isaiah 18:3).  “Walk not… in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:17,18). 

“To err is human,” it is said,

Yet consequences still remain;

And with eternity ahead, 

To trust our OWN heart is insane!

The consequence of coming wrath

Is one we do not have to face:  

For all who seek Him on their path,

Have found in Christ His saving grace!

There surely is no greater blunder

Or consequence for sinful man

Than never bothering to wonder

If God provides a rescue plan. 

The fool will blindly walk along

Without considering the loss

Of finding out that he was wrong

About our Savior on the cross!

Now come, inhabitants of earth:

Behold the cross on Calvary’s mountain,

And hear the trumpet of new birth

That calls you to salvation’s Fountain!

How strange is this insanity

That marches on into the night

As God pleads with humanity

To turn that He may give them sight! 

We dare not walk as do the blind,

Forgetting the great consequence

Of being darkened in their mind

Without the Lord as their Defense!

O Lord, Your truth has made us free

Which once to us had been concealed.  

We once were blind, but now we see

The greatness of Your love revealed.

We thank You, Lord, our great Defender,

For showing us Your love so true!

Our wisdom now is to surrender

With all our vision filled with You.

Unsearchable vs. Unsatisfied

“But mine eyes are unto Thee, O GOD the Lord: in Thee is my trust” (Psalm 141:8).  “The eyes of man are never satisfied” (Proverbs 27:20).  “At that day shall a man look to his Maker… and he shall NOT look to… the work of his hands” (Isaiah 17:7,8).  “I should preach… the unsearchable riches of Christ… to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:8-21). 

There is a choice that we must make 

To seek the Lord and in Him trust, 

Or we’ll lament the great mistake

Of longing for the things of dust.

The eyes are never satisfied

Which long for earthly things they see.

The day will come when they have died,

And then, at last, whose shall they be? 

The day is surely coming when

We all before the Lord shall stand.

We’ll look upon our Maker then

And not the works of our own hand.

And knowing this, we ought to preach

Of riches so unsearchable

We find in Christ whose love can reach

And satisfy the longing soul!

We search the riches of His love,

Their breadth and length, their depth and height,

Which yet amaze the saints above

Where Christ has filled their joyful sight. 

O Lord, we scarcely comprehend

The treasures of Your great salvation! 

Unsearchable, they never end

And fill our hearts with adoration!

You are unsearchable, O Lord,

Yet searching You still satisfies

Our hearts the more we have explored,

As more of You has filled our eyes.