Security

Who is sufficient for these things? 2 Cor. ii. 16.

O Comfort from the Lord,
Who all his depths declares,
Who plants in us the living word
And girds our prayers:
For thorns and flaming darts,
Be all sufficiency,
And unto glory seal our hearts
As guarantee.

O Wisdom from on high,
Who sojourned here below
And intercedes unceasingly
In us to grow:
Guide every step we take,
Watch o’er us while we sleep,
And still be with us when we wake
To converse keep.

O Patriarch of Lights,
In constance shining e’er,
Who every blessing in the heights
Dost freely share,
Predestining in love,
Adopting by thy grace:
We lift our eyes to thee above
With fear and praise.

—10/20/25. To “Leoni” (“The God of Abraham Praise”).

Vineyard Cycle (Imperfect)

I. Isaiah v. 1–4

A ballad let me sing for my beloved,
Who had a vineyard on a fertile slope,
Who cleared and dug and watered with the hope
That vintage fine to flourish would be moved.
He built a tow’r amid the trellises;
Under its shade a vat and press he hewed;
Thus in his former wilderness he would
Enjoy the fruit of all he toiled to dress,
But lo! no sweet it yielded, only sour.
Now judge ye for my love between his plot:
What untried care remained within his pow’r?
What else could he have done that he did not?
O men of Judah and Jerusalem,
Why only wildness hath he got of them?


II. Isaiah v. 5–7 ; Hosea xi. 8–9

Hear ye my love declare that he intends
His faithless arbor not with love to prune,
Its hedge with fire and grazing to consume,
Its wall against with trampling to contemn,
To lay it waste, be neither dressed nor hoed,
But thorns and briers on its frames be grown,
And barren clouds with nothing wilt the ground,
Since it with holiness be unendued.
And yet, love’s fire declares— and yet— and yet—
How can I hand them over to their fate?
How can I give them all they ought to get?
Am I not greater than their sin is great?
O men of Israel and Ephraim,
How can I make a perfect end of them?


III. Psalm lxxx. 8–11, 14–19

My Lord, my love, a vine thou drewest out
Of nations, planted, tended, and you bade
The tree-lined mounts find respite in her shade
And Sea and River stand her twinned redoubt.
Look down from heaven, God of hosts, and see
The fiery waste wherein thy vineyard lies,
How by th’ Accuser’s sword thy planting dies,
And how, great God, by this he spits at thee.
Have pity on thy bruised and smoking stem,
And gird the holy Son in perfect might;
To green abundance resurrect thou them;
Thy hand be on the man upon thy right.
O son of God and yet the son of man,
Shine on us, save us, for thou only can.

—Completed 10/9/25

Mortifying Sin

The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. 2 Chron. vi. 1.

“God has said in shadow clouded
He will dwell,” all else apart,
From the dark by darkness shrouded,
And in such has lain my heart,
Yet thy glory’s pillar, blazing
Like the first Creation morn,
Shines within, my spirit raising:
“Let there be” the dead reborn.

When the Adversary’s temptrance
Lies in wait to lead astray,
Grant us easy, quick repentance
To regain thy narrow way,
Till our heart and soul and vigor
Join in glorified accord,
Freed from flesh-restraining rigor,
To enjoy thee as their Lord.

Gracious Spirit, our salvation
Keep till grace’s work is done;
Let us fear no condemnation
As we live within the Son;
Bid us seek the Father’s glory
Till to glory we draw nigh,
Where our endless, laudatory
Song will praise thee, Lord on high.

—To Nettleton (“Come, Thou Fount”).

Meditations: September 2025

The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness,
And such is my heart:
The thick darkness in which he dwells.
His mercies are new every morning;
One morning, his mercies will not need to be new.
That day will never end.

(2 Chron 6:1; Lam 3:22-23; Rev 21:25)

That is actually the last, chronologically, of the meditations below, but it is a wonderful summary of my month.