[112]. A Message From A Poem – Has Warmth Of Nearness Changed To Coolness?

[112]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – HAS WARMTH OF NEARNESS CHANGED TO COOLNESS?

INTRODUCING THE POEM:

Our walk with the Lord is not always one on a smooth, sinless road. There is joy; there are times of peace, times of praise, times of contentment, but there are also times of hardship, times of despondency, times of faithlessness and times of failure and despair. Some might think they don’t fail, but don’t be deluded.

The Psalms hide nothing of the innermost thoughts of the psalmists. Their fears are written of, as are their hopes, joys, agitations, victories, failures, doubts, despairs, etc. Threaded through each psalm we see the faithfulness of God in all circumstances and the readiness on His part to protect, uphold and forgive.

I have been doing some extended writing on Psalm 42 which looks at the condition of one of the song leaders in the nation who had fallen into a time of despair and coldness with regard to his walk. Where does the solution then lie? The answer is self-contained in the psalm but that is too extensive to pursue here. Needless to say, the thoughts of Psalm 42 were the impetus for this poem.

I will repeat Psalm 42 here for you taken from the NASB.

{{Psalm 42:1-4 “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember, and I pour out my soul within me, FOR I USED TO go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God, with the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.”}}

{{Psalm 42:5-8 “WHY ARE YOU IN DESPAIR, O MY SOUL, AND WHY HAVE YOU BECOME DISTURBED WITHIN ME? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence. O my God, my soul is in despair within me. THEREFORE I REMEMBER YOU from the land of the Jordan, and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls. All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me. The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and His song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life.”}}

Psalm 42:9-11 I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” Why are you in despair, O my soul, and why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance, and my God.”}}

The word “blacksliding” is used in Christian groups. We know what it means. There are many reasons why a Christian walk is not as vibrant as it used to be, but I am not going to expand this introduction. Please consider the poem carefully.

The poem needs the accent to be on the FIRST syllable of each line in the longer stanzas and on the SECOND syllable in the shorter stanzas. The metre throughout is 13-13-13-13-13-13 and 8-8-8-8.

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HAS WARMTH OF NEARNESS CHANGED TO COOLNESS ?

Have you entered straits of greyness, in your Christian walk,

Where the things of God have cooled and at them now you baulk?

Former joys have dissipated like a rained-out cloud;

Songs of praise and hymns to God no longer sing aloud;

No desire for communion with the Lord your God;

Recognising not the road where formally you trod.

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Then realise this; things are amiss.

The former days are lost in haze.

When did depart that faithful heart,

To sever strings of godly things?

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Prayer has lost its vital link once faithfully maintained.

Gone from you that strong desire we once knew ingrained.

When you raised a ready voice that reached to God on high,

We all knew the glow of that when you to God drew nigh.

Prayerful voice and joyful strains know now a withered state.

To the saints of God, I fear, you scarcely now relate.

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Please note this, friend, it’s not the end.

That’s not the way you have to stay.

With all entailed, God has not failed.

Turn from this track; there’s a way back

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When you are from God estranged, how can you know His peace?

Must your soul remain cast down, for God’s love does not cease.

Occupied, your life is now, perhaps with lesser things.

Nothing though will mask the fact; your soul with disquiet rings.

Learn that one away from God knows ling’ring misery.

All that’s substituted, is in self-willed energy.

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You have a choice - lament, rejoice?

So rise up now - to God then bow.

In misery, there’s no pity;

Deflated life just makes for strife.

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Where commences then the path, that leads from this sad state;

From depression and despair to the full joyful gait?

Recall of God’s blessings past, of mercies He has shown:-

Dwell on them, retrace your steps, and understand what’s flown.

Turn to God in sole dependence; let your heart be soft;

Give God opportunity to carry you aloft.

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You wrongly tacked - off you tracked,

To your own way one fateful day.

Recall His face then full of grace.

When you believed, and Christ received.

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God commands His lovingkindness to the distraught soul;

Bathes him in refreshing mercy; calls him to be whole.

Songs of praise there will arise, as songs sung in the night.

Burdens lifted from the heart; priorities set right;

Steps regain their joyful vigour in the pilgrim walk;

Blesséd things of God will occupy his time and talk.

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His gentle hand helps you to stand;

To rise again from failure’s pain.

Joy’s song you’ll sing; the night will ring;

New peace arrived - a walk revived.

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If you find yourself depressed or cast down in your soul;

If despair has overtaken and has filled your bowl;

Those great blessings from the past, and God’s sweet dealings there,

Are the goad and crook you need to move back to God’s care.

Songs of joy will fill the night, and prayer will rise, not wane.

Christian fellowship will be renewed to you again.

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Distress may come, with life then glum -

Look up above; our God is love.

Recall the past; He’s held you fast -

His hand please heed; He’ll meet your need.

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21 March 1998 R E Ferguson 13-13-13-13-13-13 and 8-8-8-8