[017] A Message From A Poem - Altogether Lovely One

[017] A MESSAGE FROM A POEM - ALTOGETHER LOVELY ONE

There are times when we feel our hearts going out in worship to our Lord. What is the difference between praise and worship? This is not a sermon so I won’t be answering that question here, but I hope you think on it and that it might warm your souls and bring you to the place where you can say, “Jesus is the Altogether Lovely One.”

Consider this incident with the Magi for a moment - Matthew 2:11 “and they came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother and they fell down and worshipped Him and opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.”

The presents they brought were gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. These were highly significant. The gold spoke of divinity – the divine One, the Son of God; God the Son. The frankincense spoke of His beautiful life, a sweet aroma before the Father. He is worshipped for all He is and means. The myrrh spoke of the burial spice and the fact that Jesus was this also (death, suffering) - Isaiah 53:3-4 “He was despised and forsaken of men, A MAN OF SORROWS, and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore and OUR SORROWS HE CARRIED, yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted”

Just in those gifts alone, the picture of the divine, lovely, sorrowful, One comes through. The Magi worshipped Him because of that, and so must we.

Psalm 150:1-3 “Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds. Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with trumpet sound. Praise Him with harp and lyre.”

Praise and worship belong to our Lord. This poem is my tribute to the loveliness of the Lord we adore and worship. He is worthy.

I hope you appreciate this poem as I want it to reflect who the Lord is. Too much modern singing is about ME and not about the LORD. The Magi did not go there and praise themselves; they worshipped the Lord Jesus.

ALTOGETHER LOVELY ONE

O Lamb of God so wondrous fair

Whose stamp is from eternity,

Creator perfect, and whose touch,

Is bathed in Your divinity.

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O blesse’d Lord above all rule

Of men’s decaying ambitions,

Where falsehoods and deceits are set

In time-marked paths of traditions.

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O Son of God who counted all

The joy that was before Him laid;

From heaven’s glory Jesus came,

And sin’s exacting price He paid.

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O Saviour of the world, You died;

The grain of wheat sown in the earth,

That grew into redemption life

To purchase sinful man’s new birth.

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O resurrected Lord above,

You serve Your people faithfully.

As tender Shepherd all Your care,

Your own receive so gratefully.

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O resurrected Lord above,

You demonstrated Your faithfulness.

As tender Shepherd, all Your care

Your own receive with gratefulness.

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O Lord, with triumph You shall come,

In victory with mighty voice.

Your saints shall rise with bodies new;

Forever with You, they’ll rejoice.

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O fairest One enthroned above;

Chief heaven’s delight upon that throne,

We worship You, and we adore,

For we’re the people that You own.

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11 August 2021 R E Ferguson 8-8-8-8 ABAB