Break of Day Hymn or Election Day Hymn

It is Election Day in Canada

Ps.113:1-4

Praise, O servants of the Lord,

Praise the name of the Lord!

2 Blessed be the name of the Lord

From this time forth and forevermore!

3 From the rising of the sun to its going down

The Lord’s name is to be praised.

4 The Lord is high above all nations,

His glory above the heavens...

Ps.112:1&7

Praise[a] the Lord!

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,

Who delights greatly in His commandments...

He will not be afraid of evil tidings;

His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

Ps.111:1-4&10

Praise[a] the Lord!

I will praise the Lord with my whole heart,

In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

2 The works of the Lord are great,

Studied by all who have pleasure in them.

3 His work is honorable and glorious,

And His righteousness endures forever.

4 He has made His wonderful works to be remembered;

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion...

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.

His praise endures forever.

Breaking of day is brief; soon heaven's blushing grandeur pales

To workaday backdrops; where duty's common demands press

With weighted musts/mists of creature care and Future's un-blazed trails

Compelling us not to proceed without God's promises

The theater of dawn rings, rife with birdsong-orchestras

Praise He who cups and overflows the fountain of today

No matter what befalls Our God is worthy of applause

He is above all nations; nothing can His will dismay

...then do not be afraid because the Lord is on His throne

His goodness and mercy sustain all who call on His name

From rise to set of sun, pray, we will make His praises known

And love each other well till we return from whence we came 

Time's turn of leaf is brief where breaking of day-to-day tolls

Eternity is chief; let's set our minds on things above

While living here below, let's trust the Saviour of our souls

For all we do not know, then treat our fellowman with love

...for break of day is brief; time's turn of leaf soon filled and stilled

Eternity is chief; not this world's fleeting, noisy roar  

The works of God are great; seek His pleasure and be fulfilled

His everlasting righteousness endures forevermore 

Janet Martin

The theater of dawn rings, rife with birdsong-orchestras...

O Praise The Name (Anástasis) Lyric Video - Hillsong Worship

 

To Life, So Rich With Lovely Things

There is an incalculable silver lining to sorrow!

It reawakens us to life's wealth of joys

overflowing from God's fount of blessing! 

Our personal 'wealth' may differ in the details

but the Hand that grants it is

The Same and Changeless!

Ps.65:8 

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;

where morning dawns, where evening fades,

you call forth songs of joy.

A friendly book, a cup of tea...

The glory of heavens run wild...

The beauty of mother and child...

Each gear that turns the working world...

(are you ever blown away by how vital every single 'gear'

of the working world is?!!)

This life is rich with lovely things

The fount from which fresh morning rings...

This life is rich with lovely things

The fount from which fresh morning rings

As earth emerges, soft and still

To perch upon my window sill

A friendly book, a cup of tea

The precious gift of you-and-me

The humble happiness we feel

For handstitched quilt, or homecooked meal

The balmy breeze that melts the snow

The warm handshake to say ‘hello’

The smile across a crowded room

The bud instilled with perfect bloom

A front porch splashed with spring sunshine

A color-kindled laundry line

The glory of heavens run wild

The beauty of mother and child

The lamb that leaps in verdant mead 

That hand that doth the kindly deed

The laws of nature, undeterred  

The power of a gentle word  

Each fear in faith’s banner unfurled

Each gear that turns the working world

Each upsy-daisy where we fell

Each brook that tunes the sylvan dell

The green of youth, the sage of age

The thrill that fills the empty page

With lure of lyrics, wild and free

(The poet’s sweet insanity)

…for time and ink are not enough

Where the inventory of love

Pray, stirs a constant, conscious laud

For blessings from our gracious God

For unchartered, uncharted ‘new’

For common wealth of Task to Do

For much to touch and taste and learn

From Time's momentous no-return

Forbid, lest care our visage dims

We stumble on a vault that brims

With wonderment, God's goodness brings

To life, so rich with lovely things

© Janet Martin

Psalm 65

Praise awaits[b] you, our God, in Zion;

to you our vows will be fulfilled.

2 You who answer prayer,

to you all people will come.

3 When we were overwhelmed by sins,

you forgave[c] our transgressions.

4 Blessed are those you choose

and bring near to live in your courts!

We are filled with the good things of your house,

of your holy temple.

5 You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,

God our Savior,

the hope of all the ends of the earth

and of the farthest seas,

6 who formed the mountains by your power,

having armed yourself with strength,

7 who stilled the roaring of the seas,

the roaring of their waves,

and the turmoil of the nations.

8 The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;

where morning dawns, where evening fades,

you call forth songs of joy.

9 You care for the land and water it;

you enrich it abundantly.

The streams of God are filled with water

to provide the people with grain,

for so you have ordained it.[d]

10 You drench its furrows and level its ridges;

you soften it with showers and bless its crops.

11 You crown the year with your bounty,

and your carts overflow with abundance.

12 The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;

the hills are clothed with gladness.

13 The meadows are covered with flocks

and the valleys are mantled with grain;

they shout for joy and sing.

Fernando Ortega-Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing with lyrics

God Gives; We Take...

Yesterday's hold-and-letting-go 'lament/minuet'

inspired today's give and take contemplation...

James 1:17

Every good and perfect gift is from above,

 coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, 

who does not change like shifting shadows.

Acts 17:28

For in him we live and move and have our being.

’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

How often we are like this robin,

who took full advantage of a freshly-filled birdbath!

We soak and splash in the faithfully-replenished fountain of blessing.

Pray we thank the Giver for all we take! 

God gives; we take. All we receive precedes relinquishment

Each accomplishment we achieve the fruit of favours lent

Goodness and mercy’s wellspring spills; we drink, with gifted breath

Too oft mindless of He who fills the fount of life-to-death

God gives; we take. A treasure trove of generosity

Anoints our touch-and-taste with love’s accountability

Where all we have is what we take while He ordains the chance

And it is up to us to make the most of all He grants

God gives; we take; and if we suffer loss tis but the part

Of gain we often overlook until it breaks our heart

And bids us contemplate the sum of grace till we are awed

For all we have is given from the outstretched Hand of God

God gives today; we wake and take it, consciously or not

Ah pray, that what we make of it is the best we have got 

He gives; we take. Forbid we boast in anyone but He

Who loves us to the uttermost for all eternity 

© Janet Martin

John 19:10-11

So Pilate said to Him, “Do You refuse to speak to me?

Do You not know that I have authority to release You 

and authority to crucify You?”

11Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me

if it were not given to you from above.

Therefore the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of greater sin.”

Olives That Have Known No Pressure - Hymn 626

Olives that have known no pressure

No oil can bestow;

If the grapes escape the winepress,

Cheering wine can never flow;

Spikenard only through the crushing,

Fragrance can diffuse.

Shall I then, Lord, shrink from suff’ring

Which Thy love for me would choose?

Each blow I suffer

Is true gain to me.

In the place of what Thou takest

Thou dost give Thyself to me.

Do my heart-strings need Thy stretching,

Songs divine to prove?

Do I need for sweetest music

Cruel treatment of Thy love?

Lord, I fear no deprivation

If it draws to Thee;

I would yield in full surrender

All Thy heart of love to see.

I’m ashamed, my Lord, for seeking

Self to guard alway;

Though Thy love has done its stripping,

Yet I’ve been compelled this way.

Lord, according to Thy pleasure

Fully work on me;

Heeding not my human feelings,

Only do what pleases Thee.

If Thy mind and mine should differ,

Still pursue Thy way;

If Thy pleasure means my sorrow,

Still my heart shall answer, “Yea!”

’Tis my deep desire to please Thee,

Though I suffer loss;

E’en though Thy delight and glory

Mean that I endure the cross.

Oh, I’ll praise Thee, e’en if weeping

Mingle with my song.

Thine increasing sweetness calls forth

Grateful praises all day long.

Thou hast made Thyself more precious

Than all else to me:

Thou increase and I decrease, Lord—

This is now my only plea.

Life's Hold-and-Let-Go Minuet

 

Off on a long anticipated trip to England!

...before moving out for the summer.

Last night the sun set on life-as-I-know-it for a while...

Today marks the beginning of a four-month empty-nester season

...though, thankfully this 'nest' is rarely empty for long!

Eccles.3:1

To every thing there is a season, 

and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

...so here's to cherishing every moment

of every fleeting season of life!

Let me let nothing

pass me by

Let me leap for joy,

let me fly

And fall and taste

the salt of tears

Let me smile in the face

of fears

And never shirk

the work it takes

To make love’s

Memory-keepsakes

Like dreams come true

and birthday cakes…

Let me crave love’s pangs,

And the sting

That season change

is bound to bring

Then brave the brunt of

yes and no

To learn a humbler

letting go

Let me linger

but not too long

to catch the lyrics of

love’s song

That, as it fades

Grows sweet and strong

…still tangible

where echoes waft

The noise of boys and girls

grown soft

Upon the air

of night to night

And prayer on prayer,

oft taking flight

As hello hugs

and farewell tears

and tender tugs,

love's souvenirs

Compose tableaus

of yesteryears

...where, in the wake

of noon to noon/June to June

The ache of happiness

is strewn

Like minuets that

ebb and rush

Across shorelines,

blurred by a brush

that leaves no trace

save on my brow

where once-upon

a younger Now

Turned older

And meeker, somehow

...where love now wears

The priceless pain

Of sorrow like

A diamond-chain

I bind  it round

My neck and heart

Like a valuable

Work of art

That I would never

Choose and yet

That I never want

To forget

Life's Hold-and-let-go

Minuet

© Janet Martin

Luigi Boccherini: Minuetto (classical)

Strauss - The Blue Danube Waltz

A Long Joy-Song or Before The World Began

John 17:1-5

“Father, the hour has come. 

Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 

2 For you granted him authority over all people 

that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 

3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, 

the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 

4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 

5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory 

I had with you before the world began...

***

Someday we will enter eternity,

where there will be no time constraints on our joy song!

where poetry won't be criticized for being 'too wordy' or long,

and where no words will be needed

to worship our Saviour!

Hallelujah!

ready? Set...Go!!

The past weekend had many 'glad' moments

but all pale in comparison to the reason for the Easter-season!

This was the Easter sunrise!

(I would have loved to do this post on Easter morning but

dinner-prep and early church service kept me hopping!)

He makes me glad; no eloquence of loving speech can tell

Salvation’s joy, blood-bought; enough to cheer my soul full-well

Wonder confounds thought’s finite scope; awe utters ‘what is man

That Triune God would anchor Hope before the world began?’

He makes me glad; praise He from whom redemption’s wellsprings roar

When I confess my sin, mercy remembers it no more

Though I have played the harlot and Judas, He loved me so

Though my sins were as scarlet; He has washed me white as snow

He makes me glad; I shall not want because at Calvary

He bore the cross, its gore and taunt and sword, to set me free

Obedient to death, to prove the power of His Name

He rose again; He overthrew death and hell’s hopeless claim

He makes me glad; joy bids me sing in awed humility

O death, where is thy sting, O grave, where is thy victory

Thanks be to God who gives us victory through Jesus Christ

Who saw beyond the agony of his Son, sacrificed

He makes me glad; God knew His will would prosper in His hand

And only Jesus could fulfill salvation’s grim demand

He saw the Light of life proclaimed through horrors humbly braved

The power of the only name whereby man can be saved

The Name above all names, the King of kings and Lord of lords

Jesus! Sin’s outpoured offering God’s gift of grace affords

He makes me glad; though oft we grieve this world’s darkness-filled boast

For all who repent and believe receive the Holy Ghost

He makes me glad for what eye has not glimpsed nor ear yet heard

Nor entered into human hearts the things God has prepared

For all who love Him, truly love with heart, soul, strength and mind

Whose affections are set above this world’s vain glory-grind

He makes me glad; though all else fails God is not overthrown

He is not mocked, His truth prevails; by fruit the tree is known

And though many are sick and weak, by His goodness unstirred

He looks with favour on the meek who tremble at His word

He makes me glad; though oft I rue the tempter’s cunning vice

Accomplishing mad blindness to salvation’s purchase price

Not of silver or gold but blood; the precious blood of He

Who satisfied the wrath of God through love’s divine decree

He makes me glad, though often love makes me too sad to laugh

He understands the tear-filled trove I lift on their behalf

So many Gospel-unshod feet, no faith to make them whole

Fearless, though unprepared to meet the Saviour of their soul

He makes me glad; goodness and mercy follow me always

His comfort strengthens tenderly and fills my heart with praise

For He has made me glad; my prayer, my joy cries ‘what is man

Oh God, You knew the cross was there before the world began’

© Janet Martin

Eph.1:3-6

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. 

4For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world

 to be holy and blameless in His presence. 

In love 5He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ,

 according to the good pleasure of His will, 

to the praise of His glorious grace,

 which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.

1 Pet.1:18-19

For you know that it was not with perishable things 

such as silver or gold that you were redeemed 

from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors,

 but with the precious blood of Christ,

 a lamb without blemish or defect.

Jesus Paid It All 

A Breathless Pause...

I felt it the other evening on a twilight trek,

and this morning where, after last night's thunder that rattled our windows

it seems to have cracked a vault!

The temps are climbing!

Do you feel it too 

on this day between Somber Good Friday

and glorious Easter Morn?!

A breathless pause...

A breathless pause before applause erupts in verdant wow

And laughter roars through bud-shaped doors studding still barren bough

Where Sense of Verge ignites an immense urge to dance and sing

Because the earth replete with birth kindles hope’s song of spring

…and windowpanes and puddled lanes wear raindrop’s happy tears

They tickle timid shoots and quicken woodland’s teeming cheers

And robin trills and daffodils and dormant hills reply

And all the world is silver-pearled beneath a beaming sky

The lawn is full of sticks where nature’s arborist pruned trees

And eggs are full of chicks that youngsters are eager to squeeze

The garden smiles, the breeze beguiles us to linger to gaze

At sanguine scenes played out in dreams of flower-precious days

…and we all feel youth’s fresh appeal; the zeal of joy renewed

Ambition streams with hopes and dreams and humble gratitude

To God, because a breathless pause captures Life held at bay

Before applause erupts because the stone is rolled away

© Janet Martin

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. 

He who believes in Me, though he may die,

 he shall live.

Selah - How Deep The Father's Love For Us [with lyrics]

Behold, The Hour Is Come (Good Friday Meditation)

John 17:1
When Jesus had spoken these things, 

He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said,

 “Father, the hour has come. 

Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You.

O Sacred Head Now Wounded

There is a Fountain Filled with Blood

 

Behold, the hour is come

For God would not withdraw

The Cornerstone of Christendom;

the cross confounds the law

As Deity and dust

In  holy horror meet

As the unjust condemns the Just

The King who washes feet!

The hour of love's plan

Summons salvation's cost

The gaping void twixt God and man

Will be forever crossed

Bridged by a cross that bore  

Power's grisly showdown;

Love's bleating/bleeding Lamb, and Lion's roar

Death's verdict and Life's Crown

Behold, His blood runs rife

Redemption is not free

The Son of God lays down His life 

 To ransom you and me

Sinless, He becomes sin

His agony complete

And though it seems that death will win

His death is not defeat...

...behold, love's misery

The suffering Saviour cries

(For all who were, are and will be)

'It is finished'  and dies

And in the crashing gloom

The temple's veil is torn

Final breath rends the cross-shaped Womb

Eternal life is born 

Behold the hour is come

For all to kneel and pray

The Cornerstone of Christendom

Washes our guilt away

Behold, the Son of God

Triumph misunderstood

The silence of the grave's façade 

Resurrection's prelude 

Janet Martin

John 19:28-30

Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, 

and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 

29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it,

 put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 

30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” 

With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Amos Raber - Scarlet Purple Robe (Official Music Video)

 

He Makes Every Morning Glorious...

From yon formless fount of ages

Marmalade-hued mercies brim...

It is Good Friday Eve.

I wrote this poem this morning but was unable to post it

before heading to my mother to help with some spring cleaning

so what began as an aubade is now a vesper!

***

Acts 2:23

He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, 

and you, by the hands of the lawless, 

put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.

Acts 2:21
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Acts 4:12
Salvation exists in no one else, 

for there is no other name under heaven given to men 

by which we must be saved.”

John 3:16
For God so loved the world 

He gave His one and only Son, 

that everyone who believes in Him 

shall not perish but have eternal life.

***

From yon formless fount of ages

Marmalade-hued mercies brim

Over Bygone’s battered stages

Roll the lyrics of hope’s hymn

As night’s brooding backdrops dim

Hark! What holy favours fashion

Melodies of grace unfurled

Pulsing with divine compassion

Like springtime’s first bud uncurled

From the Savior of the world

He, who bore sin’s gory pardon

Whose blood poured in agony

First in Gethsemane’s Garden

Then in full, at Calvary

As He died for you and me

He, who did not scorn love’s calling

Knowing from the start, its price

On the cross, crude and appalling

Only Jesus could suffice

To be sin’s last sacrifice

Look! In every hand a hammer

Hark! On every tongue, vile jeers

While like a Lamb, led to slaughter

Obedience perseveres

Through atonement's lonely tears

He who rose again, victorious

Overthrowing death and hell

He makes every morning glorious

Sweetens suffering’s citadel

With hope’s unrelenting bell

…pealing from morn’s formless fountain

Mercies brim, marmalade-hued

Heavens throbbing with redemption

-anthems of God’s grace renewed

Worship bursts with gratitude

Jesus, Jesus, darling Saviour

Ransom for me, wretched clod

Forgives all who ask this favour

Salvation, a gift from God

Purchased by His Son's shed blood   

© Janet Martin

Without The Cross

Amazing Love (and can it be)