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
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.
