The Lord
Posted by: jas <jas@...>
http://www.cloudburstpoetry.com
Copyright (c) 2006, J. Randal Matheny
A work much longer than usual, but equally
useful, I trust.
THE LORD
by J. Randal Matheny
The Christ is Lord, both First and Last,
To future yet, from History past,
In summer heat and winter blast;
>From sea to sea, and pole to pole,
On hoary peak or grassy knoll,
Over speechless rock or living soul.
The unsteady blink of distant star,
The blackest hole light years afar,
Fall underneath his judgment bar.
The circling chariot of the sun
Each day renews his faithful run,
To hear his Sovereign say, "Well done!"
The tender moon to wax and wane,
Smiles wan upon a dark domain,
Which groans for God's eternal reign.
The troubled oceans dip and rise,
Their hazed horizons dare the skies,
But not a single wave defies
The Man who walked the holy lake,
Left storms of stillness in his wake,
With but a word for a tempest's break.
His footsteps made the demons cower,
Who oppressed the weak with wicked power;
They trembled at his human hour.
But little did the the devils dream,
When, sure they'd won their black regime,
The risen Lord showed God supreme.
Sequestered safely by their grief,
His men, in utter disbelief,
Shook with fear like a gale wind's leaf.
"Peace, peace! 'Tis I! Be not afraid.
The King went willingly, betrayed;
The damning power of sin was weighed
And found wanting, helpless, weak
To win against the might of the meek;
I am he, it's I who speak!"
For forty days they heard his plan
To save the world, the eternal span
In thirty years, in a dying man
With lasting life and full of blessing.
No more need of fretful guessing,
Of tattered works for naked dressing!
They saw the angels in the clouds
Receive him, far from watching crowds,
Who last they'd wrapped in burial shrouds.
This same man Jesus, whom they saw
Rise to heaven in glorious awe,
Is reigning Lord, whose word is law.
Fulfilled his task, man's sins atoned
By death, the devil's claims disowned,
At God's right hand he sits enthroned.
>From that throne he'll leap and come,
With angel's trumpet, cherubim's drum,
In clouds of glory, enemies dumb,
But from his people shouts of praise,
Upon his majesty all eyes gaze;
Salvation knows no long delays.
The wicked seek the clefts to hide,
The falling rocks to crush their pride,
The planet's core to turn aside
The molten wrath of mercy spurned,
The searing pain of justice earned,
At the glorious Son of God returned.
At last! Salvation! To see his face,
We greet his act of final grace,
And rise to meet his full embrace.
Among the rising righteous dead,
With earthly shackles quickly shed,
All human cares and worries shred,
We go to meet him in the air,
(On earth he treads not anywhere),
To be forever with him there.
The old collapses, burned with fire,
While sinners saved by grace admire
New earth and heavens of desire.
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