Songs in the morning

 Yesterday I woke up with a song singing itself in my head.  We first heard it when we went to a Gospel Truth conference in Colorado Springs a good number of years ago.  The worship and praise was led by Charlie and Jill Leblanc and this was one of their songs we learned: 

God is my refuge and my strength, a very present help in need.                                                                    

He is my fortress, my deliverer, my Father, my friend indeed.

God, You're my refuge and my strength, a very present help in need.                                                         

You are my fortress, my deliverer, my Father, my friend indeed.

Lord, You're my Shepherd, I shall not want;                                                                                                     

You make me to lie down in peace.                                                                                                                     

You lead me beside the still waters of life;                                                                                                                

My soul is restored at Your feet.

God, You're my refuge and my strength, a very present help in need.                                                             

You are my fortress, my deliverer, my Father, my friend indeed.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of death,                                                                                                            

I will not fear any harm.                                                                                                                                            

Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.                                                                                                              

You will not leave me alone.

God, You're my refuge and my strength, a very present help in need.                                                             

You are my fortress, my deliverer, my Father, my friend indeed.

It's based on Psalm 46:1 and Psalm 23.  They have made a lovely video of this song with nature scenes; you can find it on YouTube.

This morning, the song that I found in my head was "Here I Am to Worship."  These are its lyrics:

Light of the world, You stepped down into darkness,                                                                                       

Opened my eyes, let me see                                                                                                                                

Beauty that made this heart adore You,                                                                                                                  

Hope of a life spent with You. 

Here I am to worship; here I am to bow down;                                                                                                     

Here I am to say that You're my God.                                                                                                                  

You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy,                                                                                                       

Altogether wonderful to me.

King of all days, oh, so highly exalted,                                                                                                                

Glorious in heaven above,                                                                                                                              

Humbly You came to the earth You created,                                                                                                            

All for love's sake became poor.

     And I'll never know how much it cost                                                                                                                    

     To see my sin upon that cross.                                                                                                                                      

     I'll never know how much it cost                                                                                                                             

     To see my sin upon that cross.

Here I am to worship; here I am to bow down;                                                                                                         

Here I am to say that You're my God.                                                                                                                   

You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy,                                                                                                        

Altogether wonderful to me.

Both of these sort of tie in with the theme I've had going recently of who God is.  I'd like to add one more.  It's by our own Jaylene Johnson who uses less traditional words to describe who God is, and it's called "Lord of All":

Maker of the moon and stars, Stirrer of the seas,                                                                                                     

Tender of the earth that feeds me, Clother of the lily fields,                                                                             

You are Lord of all.

Giver of the air I breathe, Keeper of my soul,                                                                                                          

Author of the endless story, Love that never lets me go,                                                                                          

You are Lord of all.

You're Lord of all the hurricanes I'll never handle on my own,

You're Lord of all the suff'ring, all the pain and sorrow that I've known.                                                         

You're Lord of all, and I will lift my voice and praise Your holy name.                                                                         

Whatever may befall me, You are Lord of all.

Mighty God and Holy One, Father, Spirit, Son,                                                                                               

Wisdom of eternal ages, here before the worlds were spun,                                                                          You are Lord of all.

Living Word

 I was thinking about certain times in my life when the scriptures I was reading came alive and had a real and immediate effect in my life.  Sometimes something we have read a hundred times suddenly stands up and gets noticed.

Once, as a young mother, I was doing just a routine reading in the evening before bed, and I read Luke 11:13 which says, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"  Even though I had read my Bible since I was a child, and must have read this verse dozens of time, I had never seen it as it is.  I had only seen it as it is in Matthew 7:11:  "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"  I thought, "I have never asked for the Holy Spirit!"  So I did, put off the light and went to sleep.  There was no earth-shaking evidence that anything had changed, but the first thing I noticed as early as the next day was that the Bible was much more alive and interesting.  And there were references to the Holy Spirit everywhere that I had just not noticed before.  My spiritual life went quickly from routine and humdrum to alive and exciting.  

Another time, I was sliding into a depression.  Nothing was interesting, I had no desire to see people, everything was kind of grey.  Still, I was doggedly following a "read through the Bible in a year" plan and was in the stimulating book of Leviticus, which was really not helping.  But the Holy Spirit is so sneaky sometimes!  I was reading the instructions regarding oil for the lampstand in the tabernacle, and there was a cross-reference to Philippians 2:15 concerning how we are to live "in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world."  I read that and my eyes strayed back to verse 14:  "Do all things without grumbling and disputing."  Even though Philippians was not on the schedule for a good long while, the Holy Spirit got me there in a sort of back-door way.  Then He spoke up on the inside of me and said, "That is your problem.  Don't be a grumbler.  Be a praiser."  I began to praise God for things big and small, and have never had a problem with depression since.  Even when my husband and I were dealing with cancer in the same year, and he died, I felt there was always much to be thankful for.

We were given an assignment from the Lord at one time that was too big for us.  All I saw was obstacles and opposition, and fear began to attack me.  I was led to Isaiah 41:10 and 13 which says, "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand...For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Fear not; I will help you.'"  And a third time in verse 14, He says, "I will help you" along with another "fear not".  I hung onto that and that has been my go-to ever since if I face a fearful situation.

So I just want to encourage you, and me as well, to keep reading His Word with our hearts open.  It's His letter to us, and Hebrews 4:12 says it is "living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword."  It is "a lamp to (our) feet and a light to (our) path" (Psalm 119:105).