Committing my Cause

"I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvelous things without number" (Job 5:8,9).  "My son, be wise, and make My heart glad... A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself" (Proverbs 27:11,12).  "He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint" (Luke 18:1). 

Committing my cause to the Lord

Is surely the right thing to do. 

Let all of my heart be outpoured

To Him who is faithful and true! 

Consider the great things He does,

Unsearchable things without number! 

He saved me from what I once was;

His care for me never will slumber. 

He gives me the singular cause

Of wisdom that makes His heart glad. 

How simply My Father thus draws

My heart with this longing I've had!   

Let all my petitions conform

To pleasing my Lord above all.

In peace or in turbulent storm,

His pleasure remains my high call.   

My strength is derived from His grace:

I pray, or I surely will faint.

The Lord is my sure Hiding Place;

Let thankfulness silence complaint!

Lord, teach me to pray as You did,

Committed to counting the cost.

The cause that You came was not hid:

You laid down Your life for the lost.

Lord, thank You for hearing each prayer,

Committing my cause with this goal:  

To please You and cast all my care

On You, the Defense of my soul.   

Spurred to Speak

"If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved?  But who can withhold himself from speaking?" (Job 4:2).  "The curse causeless shall not come" (Proverbs 26:2).  "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.  They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all" (Luke 17:26,27). 

In view of coming consequences,

How can we withhold from speaking? 

Though many raise up their defenses,

The Lord will draw those who are seeking.

If judgment does not have a cause,

Then let us rather hold our peace.

If God is silent, let us pause,

That vain opinion thus may cease. 

Alas, the curse has made its case,   

For sin demands God's holy wrath! 

Yet now the Lord extends His grace

Through Christ, His only saving Path. 

For Christ is likened to the ark

Which Noah built by God's command. 

When clouds had gathered full and dark,

There was a refuge in the land. 

Yet as it was in Noah's day,

The multitudes are not concerned,

Though evidence is on display

To prove the Gospel they have spurned. 

O Lord, how clearly You have spoken

Of things today which have occurred! 

Your Scriptures never have been broken,

And so we speak as we are spurred. 

Lord, guide us daily in Your truth,

As we are spurred to speak for You

To reach the lost, to train our youth,

And show the proof of what is true.  

Building, Battling, Believing

"Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it:  except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.  It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows:  for so He giveth His beloved sleep" (Psalm 127:1,2). 

The "How-To" books upon our shelves

Can never change the fact

That we are hopeless by ourselves,

Unless our God will act.

Except the Lord through us will build,

Our labor is in vain,

But as we do as God has willed,

Our work He will sustain.

Except the Lord shall safely keep

Our souls by His own power,

The watchman vainly loses sleep,

Though vigilant each hour.

Except the Lord shall give His peace,

We vainly strive and fret,

But when we trust Him, worries cease

With which we were beset.

We thank You, Lord, that You have shown

That triumph over strife

Is found in trusting You alone

In every part of life.

Rejoicing in Repentance

"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.  He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him" (Psalm 126:5,6).  "Deliver them that are drawn unto death" (Proverbs 24:11). "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth" (Luke 15:10). 

Our tears precede our shouts of joy

When we in time shall surely reap. 

Behold those Satan would destroy;

Go forth with seed and for them weep!

The laborers are very few;

The need eternally is great. 

The Lord is calling us to do

A work of love that cannot wait. 

We labor at the Throne of Grace

As we draw near in earnest prayer

To call on God, to seek His face,

And find His grace to help us there. 

We take the Gospel with compassion

To sinners who to death are drawn

By every means in any fashion

Before repentance time is gone. 

The Lord has shown us that above

The angels joy in the event

A sinner finds the Savior's love

And thereby truly will repent. 

We thank You, Lord, that heaven's court

Partakes with joy and celebration

When there has been the glad report 

That one has entered Your salvation! 

Lord, send us forth in this endeavor

To show the lost they have a choice

To now repent and know forever

The truest reason to rejoice! 

Wings of Wealth

"The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).  "The LORD is round about His people from henceforth even forever" (Psalm 125:2).  "Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?  For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven... For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off" (Proverbs 23:5,18).  "For which of you... sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost?...  Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:28,33). 

There is a wealth that lasts forever,

But fleeting riches of this earth 

May yet consume our life's endeavor,

Then leave us empty, as at birth. 

The Lord may give, then take away,

Provisions held in earthly things. 

The riches that we hold today

Tomorrow may take flight with wings.

Remember that there is an end

And that we have an expectation:  

A wealth on which we can depend

Forever in our Lord's salvation! 

Perhaps it's time for us to pause

And count the cost of things that matter,

Investing in our Savior's cause

Instead of things the wind will scatter.   

Discipleship is very plain: 

The things we have we must forsake. 

To live for Christ is greatest gain;

To miss that cause, our worst mistake. 

We thank You, Lord, for truest wealth

Which we have found and we declare

Is in Your gracious saving health; 

This world's wealth cannot compare.  

Though wings of fleeting wealth shall fly,

O Lord, we trust in You alone, 

That we may thereby testify

To make Your great salvation known.