Where Unholy Thoughts Could Play...

Ps.86:5&10-13

For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving,

rich in loving devotion to all who call on You...

...For You are great and perform wonders;

You alone are God.

11Teach me Your way, O LORD,

that I may walk in Your truth.

Give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear Your name.

12I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart;

I will glorify Your name forever.

13For great is Your loving devotion to me;

You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.

A few glimpses at what helped to inspire today's poem...

From the book George Mueller of Bristol

and The Building of Character by

Rev. J.R. Miller D.D.

Lord, where unholy thoughts could play

And tempt ‘the good I would’ to stray

Where dark despair could defeat joy

And bait worship with cunning ploy

Where judgement could bar/mar gentle grace

And would make me forget my place

Where pride, could with subtle disguise

Deceive good intention with lies

Where I am often boldly prone

To pursue int’rests of my own

Rather than do the best I can

To encourage my fellowman

Where opportunity abounds

And oft humility confounds

Where self-indulgence could creep in

And blind me to its crafty sin

While wisdom calls out in the streets

While excuse grooms its masterpiece

Where unholy thoughts could conceive

A religion of make-believe

Lest by imagination’s whim

The light that I could be grows dim

Lord, let Thy mercy hear my plea

Restore my zeal and love for Thee

Fain and vain is the good I would

Save through the power of Thy blood

Thus, may my utmost longing be

Love’s thankfulness for Christ in me

Lest, where unholy thoughts could play

I slowly, surely go astray

Bind round my neck, write on my heart

These precious words; how great Thou art

© Janet Martin

How Great Thou Art

An oldie!!

Alone With God

Lyrics by Johnson Oatman, Jr

1. When storms of life are round me beating,
   When rough the path that I have trod,
   Within my closet door retreating,
   I love to be alone with God.
   • Refrain:
     Alone with God, the world forbidden,
     Alone with God, O blest retreat!
     Alone with God, and in Him hidden,
     To hold with Him communion sweet.
2. What though the clouds have gathered o’er me?
   What though I’ve passed beneath the rod?
   God’s perfect will there lies before me,
   When I am thus alone with God.
3. ’Tis there I find new strength for duty,
   As o’er the sands of time I plod;
   I see the king in all His beauty,
   While resting there alone with God.
4. And when I see the moment nearing
   When I shall sleep beneath the sod,
   When time with me is disappearing,
   I want to be alone with God.