Friday, March 18, 2011

Lent Series ~ From Psalm 139 ~ Towan Greene

If I make my bed in the depths
Or settle on the far side of the sea
If I rise on the wings of the dawn
Even there your hand will follow me

If I say surely darkness will hide me
The night will shine on me like the day
Holy Lord, draw me near to your glory
I know your warmth and your light will never fade away

Search me o God and know my heart
Test my ways and know my anxious mind
Leed me home to your peace
No greater love exists for me to find

This song was written by Towan Greene who was at that time a member of our music group.  He brought the song to a practice several years ago, the words have stuck with me.  They are words are taken from Psalm 139 and when I asked Towan if he'd be happy for me to share them, he suggested reading Psalm 138 v 6 onwards as well.

Psalm 138 v6+  (from the New Living Translation)

Though I am surrounded by troubles,
      you will protect me from the anger of my enemies.
   You reach out your hand,
      and the power of your right hand saves me.
The Lord will work out his plans for my life—
      for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.
      Don’t abandon me, for you made me


It's a cry from the heart of David,   A statement of belief  "Though I am surrounded by troubles, you will protect me from the anger of my enemies."
A statement of occurance   "You reach out your hand,
      and the power of your right hand saves me."
A statement of  hope "The Lord will work out his plans for my life—
      for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever."
And a statement of doubt " Don't abandon me for you made me"


Psalm 139 then goes on to affirm Gods love, Gods presence and Gods control.

I really love the Way that Towan's song verses end with such positive statements


Even there your hand will follow me

I know your warmth and your light will never fade away

No greater love exists for me to find

Great thoughts to carry with you.

1 comment:

  1. Stumbled across this whilst idly seeing what Google knew about "Towan Greene"...! I'm honoured by the mention :-)

    I like your use of Psalm 138, though I think mum may have miscommunicated my suggestion, which was actually that psalm 139 takes on a fresh challenge in light of 138:6:

    Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly,
    but the proud he knows from afar.

    - which to me puts a finger on the difference between knowing someone and merely knowing about someone. If Psalm 139 is true for everyone and God knows all about each person, then how can he say to some "I never knew you"? Well, I reckon Psalm 138:6 has the answer. The proud he can only know from afar, only know about; if I really want to be known intimately by God then I'd better be prepared to seek him in humility, to become lowly in spirit. Then I can know as I am known, and say with delight that "I am my beloved's and he is mine". Hallelujah joy!

    Blessings!

    Towan :-)

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