Sparks of Praise: Remembrances 2010 – Part One

Michael E. Wood

With increased opportunities and responsibilities of being used as a vessel of mercy through which I trust the Spirit of God is writing the truth of the gospel upon the hearts of men and women unto the glory of God the Father and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent, I am likewise finding it more difficult to maintain the pace of writing poetry of which I once enjoyed. Working on memorizing some of the songs that have been previously given also takes a toll on having time to devote to new writing, but with the added blessing of being able to have the capacity for recall has its own set of benefits as well.

There are many times that a couple of lines of praise or prayer may come to mind in the form of poetry, but I do not have the time to write them down and sometimes I am just plain lazy. There are yet other times a desire for excellence is given and thus delay putting pen to paper. With that said, there have been a number of times that a simple spark of praise has been given over the past couple of years that have been written down with the intent of writing more later. Since it seems that I may never get around to expanding upon these, we thought we would simply publish them as is, so that they would be included in our books of remembrances. So then, the next few posts will be entitled, “Sparks of Praise; Remembrances”

July 15, 2010

I will delight in who You are,

Oh You who are my God

For all in love You do for me

Though chastened by Your rod.

For You know best, withholding not

To show Your loving favor

To make me more like Christ my King,

Who is my Lord and Savior.

Instruments of Righteousness

August 1, 2010

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.  Romans 6:13

Trombone, guitar, and piccolo

Engaged by Christ, His glory show

In harmony let all proclaim

The splendor of our Savior’s name.

As God our Father orchestrates

Our hearts, while Him we contemplate;

Oh by His mighty Spirit sound

The name of Jesus with renown.

The Knowledge of How Great Thou Art!

Michael E. Wood

June 18, 2012

The following is part of a post you can find on the Gospel Coalition blog, written by Paul Tripp, June 3, 2012

No Longer Amazed by Grace

“He spoke matter-of-factly, probably not understanding the significance of his words, but I couldn't get them out of my head. He was the head of a national ministry. We were in a meeting talking about ministry partnership. I was sharing my excitement over what I saw happening in the church around the world, and he said, "I don't think anything excites me anymore." It wasn't my place to respond, but I immediately thought, You better be excited, you are leading a ministry, and if you can't get your excitement back, maybe you shouldn't be doing what you're doing. He had lost his excitement, left only with duty to do the repetitive business of ministry day after day. What a sad and dangerous place to be!

Perhaps it begins in seminary with the up-close examination of faith. Perhaps there is a moment when the glory of God just doesn't seem all that glorious anymore. Perhaps living in the middle of a theological community begins to dull my excitement and numb my amazement. Perhaps the Bible gets reduced to little more than a theological manual. Perhaps even God himself becomes more an object of study than the Lord of glory.”

Upon reading the above article in its entirety along with Paul’s post from June 17, entitled The Motivation Behind Every Thing We Say and Do, the following words came to mind.

Oh help us more by You be awed

In holy reverence more enthralled

To know and love You as we ought,

Reflecting Christ by whom we’re brought

To see Your presence new each day

As darkness flees with each new ray

Of light cascading from the sky

Into our hearts by Your own eye

And melting all remains of sin,

As holiness now dwells within,

As by Your Spirit You impart

The knowledge of How Great Thou Art!

Oh Father thank You for the wealth

Of Christ within; renewing health

To praise You more in every thought

As sin and self is brought to naught;

As more consumed we are with Thee

Our passions rise that glory be

Forevermore to You displayed

By what we do and what we say.

And though we fail now miser’bly

Our hope and trust resides in Thee,

Who by Your pleasure we are blessed

By grace through faith in peace; and rest

In knowing You alone impart

The knowledge of How Great Thou Art!

Thy Kingdom Come

Michael E. Wood

June 13, 2012

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10

As the schedule of which I am being called to keep is becoming increasingly busy, I rejoice in the opportunity to be used as a vessel through which the Holy Spirit may write the truth of the gospel on the hearts of men and women. A certain by-product of this usage seems to be having less time for the writing on paper of new poetry and songs, as the flow is reduced by the lack of time to devote as the output of the things which are given are more keenly developed for the purpose of direct deposit into the lives of those that are in need at the present, rather than those that are yet to come. Never the less, while contemplating the current course of study concerning the model prayer as instructed by our Lord, the following came to mind.

Thy kingdom come, Oh Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Oh help us embrace Thy truth in the face

Of glory in Christ as the leaven

At work in this dough, Your presence to show

His image though now but a taste,

That others may see, to Him glory be

Preparing His bride as the chaste

Virgin with whom, shall overcome doom

When comes then the end of the age

And shine as the sun, as all will be done

In Him who did for us engage

God’s wrath by His cross, to save us from loss

Which would be our due for our sin,

But clothed us in blood, His mercy the flood

Of righteousness filling within

Each day; this will last, as eternity past

Will come to fruition by Him

On whom we will gaze, forever amazed

As we praise Him in song and in hymn.

He delighted to join us with them.

Happy Birthday United States of America

Michael E. Wood

July 3, 2012

I do not consider myself a pessimist, but rather an optimist and yet, at the same time, a realist.  Though I am thankful for this great nation of which we have tremendous privileges, it is yet painful to be a witness of what may very well be its soon demise apart from God sending revival.

Two hundred, thirty-six years ago

Is like unto just a few hours,

As God ordained this nation to raise

To become one of world powers.

And Oh what agony first was then felt

As He brought it then into birth

And grew it strong, as many did long

To show forth His blessing and worth.

And time marches on, as it crumbles and falls

As covetous idols can not

Feed all the greed of its people so vast

As God over all we forgot.

With so many forms of religion and freedom,

Perverse blinding darkness prevails,

As true to his task, the great Serpent offers

Peace but not peace that entails

The honor and glory that is due only

To Christ and to all by His grace

Who in Him are found, raised from the grave

Of our sin by the light of His face

Which shines forth the glory of God over all,

As He made us salt and the light

Of this present world till He comes again

And then there will be no more night.

Revive us again as You have in the past.

Give grace to stand firm to the end

And trust in You only to guard and to guide us

By Your Spirit in whom we depend

To work all together for good and Your glory

While looking to Jesus alone

Who suffered to free us to worship You freely

As He for our sin did atone.

Oh Father in heaven, may Your kingdom come,

May Your will be done on the earth

As now in heaven, when You make all new

And show forth Your fullness and worth!