Saturday, November 18, 2023

If I Should Die Tonight

 note: Following today's post, I will take my usual holiday break. I'll be back in January with a brand new series. Today's post is a snatch of poetry. Between blog series, I like to throw some in. This particular piece was written when I was sixteen. I'm a different man now than I was then in many ways but I still have this same desire - I want my life to count for Christ. 


If I Should Die Tonight

 

If I should die tonight

I wish in someone’s heart

Would be a bit of sadness

Because we had to part

 

If I should die tonight

I wish in someone’s eye

A tear or two would form and drop

Because I was not nigh

 

If I should die tonight

I wonder, would they care?

The ones my life has touched

Would they notice I’m not there?

 

If I should die tonight

Would someone cry for me?

Would I be missed on this old earth

Would some weep bitterly?

 

If I should die tonight

Would my presence be sore missed?

Have I influenced enough of them

Am I on someone’s list?

 

If I should die tonight

Would someone say, “Oh no,

A force for right is gone from sight”

Would someone care below?

 

Oh, God, please help me live

While under this sun’s light

That some would care that I had gone

If I should die tonight

Friday, November 10, 2023

My Seventh Praise List

Praise 19

 

Along the way in this series, I have sought to emphasize to you what the Scripture emphasizes about praising God and to portray what that looks like in practical terms. In today's post, the concluding one in the series, I want to present one final method I incorporate in praising God: singing.

It is eminently biblical to do so. (Judges 5.3, II Chronicles 20.22, II Chronicles 23.13, II Chronicles 29.30, Psalm 7.17, 9.2, 21.13, 30.12, 33.2, 57.7, 57.9, 61.8, 66.2, 71.22, 98.4, 104.33, 108.1, 108.3, 135.3, 138.1, 146.2, 147.1, 147.7, 149.1, 149.3, Isaiah 42.10, Jeremiah 20.13, 31.7, Hebrews 2.12)

“Yes, Pastor Brennan, I agree. Which is why I do it in church.”

Good. I hope you do it and do it heartily. But just as worship and prayer may be found in a church service but should be incorporated elsewhere, so it is with this. Nor is it hard to do. Grab a songbook, find a quiet corner, and sing to Him for a while. It does not matter how well you sing. To Him, it will sound beautiful.

The songbook I use is one I compiled explicitly for this purpose. I searched all my hymnbooks for songs of praise directly to (rather than about) God. Then, I put them all in one notebook. Here, then, are the songs in that notebook.

 

Here is Love, William Rees (1802-1883)

Worthy of Praise, Ron Hamilton (1950-2023)

My Song, Bob Jones (1911-1997)

The God of Abraham Praise, Thomas Olivers (1725-1799)

Thou Art Worthy, from the German, translated by Frank Garlock (1930-2023)

Holy God, We Praise Thy Name, Ignace Franz (1719-1790)

We Worship and Adore You, Frank Garlock (1930-2023)

The Praise Song, Ron Hamilton (1950-2023)

And Can It Be That I Should Gain?, Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

When Morning Gilds the Skies, from the German, translated by Edward Caswall (1814-1878)

Thine Be the Glory, Edmund L. Budry (1854-1932)

For the Beauty of the Earth, Folliott S. Pierpoint (1835-1917)

How Wonderful Art Thou, E. D. Eden

Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee, Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153)

How Majestic is Thy Name, Ron Hamilton (1950-2023)

Shepherd of Eager Youth, Clement of Alexandria (170-220)

Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise, Walter Chalmers Smith (1824-1908)

O Worship the King, Robert Grant (1779-1838)

Come, Thou Almighty King, Italian hymn

Great and Marvelous, Ron Hamilton (1950-2023)

Strong in Salvation, Bob Jones (1911-1997)

Jesus, Lover of My Soul, Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

We Sing the Boundless Praise, Joseph C. Macaulay (1900-1982)

Oh, for a Thousand Tongues, Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

Hark! Ten Thousand Harps and Voices, Thomas Kelly (1769-1854)

Crown Him with Many Crowns, Matthew Bridges (1851)

I Sing the Mighty Power of God, Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

There Is a Fountain, William Cowper (1731-1800)

Holy, Holy, Holy, Reginald Heber (1783-1826)

Thank You, Lord, Mr. and Mrs. Seth Sykes

Be Thou My Vision, from the Irish, translated by Mary E. Byrne (1880-1931)

How Great Thou Art, Carl Boberg (1859-1940)

Great is Thy Faithfulness, Thomas O. Chisholm (1866-1960)

Fairest Lord Jesus, from the Silesian, translated by Joseph A. Seiss (1823-1904)

Come, Thou Fount, Robert Robinson (1735-1790)

Be Thou Exalted, Fanny Crosby (1820-1915)

Thanks to God, August Ludvig Storm (1862-1914)