Jerusalem

by William Blake

And did those feet in ancient time,
Walk upon England's mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On England's pleasant pastures seen!

And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In England's green & pleasant Land

Girl Afraid

by Steven Morrissey

Girl afraid
Where do his intentions lay?
Or does he even have any?
She says, 'He never really looks at me
'I give him every opportunity
'In the room downstairs
'He sat and stared
'I'll never make that mistake again'

Boy afraid
Prudence never pays
And everything she wants costs money
'But she doesn't even like me
'And I know because she said so
'In the room downstairs
'She sat and stared
'I'll never make that mistake again, no'

The Strife Is O'er, the Battle Done

Latin hymn
Trans. by Fran­cis Pott

The strife is o'er, the battle done;
The victory of life is won;
The song of triumph has begun.
Alleluia!

The pow'rs of death have done their worst,
But Christ their legions hath dispersed:
Let shouts of holy joy outburst.
Alleluia!

The three sad days have quickly sped;
He rises glorious from the dead:
All glory to our risen Head!
Alleluia!

He closed the yawning gates of hell;
The bars from heav'n's high portals fell:
Let hymns of praise his triumphs tell.
Alleluia!

Lord, by the stripes which wounded thee,
From death's dread sting thy servants free,
That we may live and sing to thee.
Alleluia!

Sorrows

by Melanie Penn

It's a quiet night in Sorrow
On every street the lights are out
I am heading east along the far road
Starts a quarter mile from town

I've been there for a long while
I loved the people well
They listened when I sang for them
Of Jerusalem
Though I sing only for myself

So long, sad town
So long, Sorrow
I'll be long gone
Before dawn tomorrow
So long, Sorrow

I know the governor of Sorrow
A ruler with a heavy hand
Crouching at the doors of all the townfolk
Driven there by circumstance

He's been there for a long while
But his days are running out
Since he came it's never rained a day
People thirst and pray
Wait around to see, will water come down

Rumors of a man of sorrows
Circulating far and wide
That He'll come back again
I'll wait until then
I just passed by the town limit line

I walk east
Leaving Sorrow behind me
Maybe that Man of Sorrows
Will find me
Won't you find me?

Beneath the Cross of Jesus

by Elizabeth C. Clephane

Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand
The shadow of a mighty Rock
Within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness,
A rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noontide heat
And the burden of the day.

Upon the cross of Jesus
Mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of One
Who suffered there for me:
And from my stricken heart with tears
Two wonders I confess,
The wonders of redeeming love
And my unworthiness.

I take, O cross, thy shadow
For my abiding place:
I ask no other sunshine
Than the sunshine of his face;
Content to let the world go by,
To know no gain nor loss;
My sinful self my only shame,
My glory all the cross.

God's Good Will

by Dr. James Montgomery Boice

[Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from the final address which Dr. James Montgomery Boice gave to his congregation, as he informed them he had inoperable liver cancer. He would die a month later.]

A relevant question, I guess, when you pray is, pray for what? Should you pray for a miracle? Well, you're free to do that, of course. My general impression is that the God who is able to do miracles—and he certainly can—is also able to keep you from getting the problem in the first place. So although miracles do happen, they're rare by definition. A miracle has to be an unusual thing.

Above all, I would say pray for the glory of God. If you think of God glorifying himself in history and you say, 'Where in all of history has God most glorified himself?' He did it at the cross of Jesus Christ, and it wasn't by delivering Jesus from the cross, though he could have. Jesus said, 'Don't you think I could call down from my Father ten legions of angels for my defense?' But he didn't do that. And yet that's where God is most glorified.

If I were to reflect on what goes on theologically here, there are two things I would stress. One is the sovereignty of God. That's not novel. We have talked about the sovereignty of God here forever. God is in charge. When things like this come into our lives, they are not accidental. It's not as if God somehow forgot what was going on, and something bad slipped by. God does everything according to his will. We've always said that.

But what I've been impressed with mostly is something in addition to that. It's possible, isn't it, to conceive of God as sovereign and yet indifferent? God's in charge, but he doesn't care. But it's not that. God is not only the one who is in charge; God is also good. Everything he does is good. And what Romans 12:1-2 says is that we have the opportunity by the renewal of our minds—that is, how we think about these things—actually to prove what God's will is. And then it says, 'His good, pleasing, and perfect will.' Is that good, pleasing, and perfect to God? Yes, of course, but the point of it is that it's good, pleasing, and perfect to us. If God does something in your life, would you change it? If you'd change it, you'd make it worse. It wouldn't be as good. So that's the way we want to accept it and move forward. And who knows what God will do?

'Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among the peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy is his dwelling place. Ascribe to the Lord, O family of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength, ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him and worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. Tremble before him, all the earth!'

All Glory, Laud, and Honor

by Theodulph of Orléans
Trans. by John M. Neale

All glory, laud, and honor,
To Thee, Redeemer, King,
To Whom the lips of children
Made sweet hosannas ring.

Thou art the King of Israel,
Thou David's royal Son,
Who in the Lord's Name comest,
The King and Blessèd One.

The company of angels
Are praising Thee on High,
And mortal men and all things
Created make reply.

The people of the Hebrews
With palms before Thee went;
Our prayer and praise and anthems
Before Thee we present.

To Thee, before Thy passion,
They sang their hymns of praise;
To Thee, now high exalted,
Our melody we raise.

Thou didst accept their praises;
Accept the prayers we bring,
Who in all good delightest,
Thou good and gracious King.