My first ten poems
My AV Poetry©
1 "Shadows Changed"
See, the rows are emptied of their wards,
The cobwebs hang across the mildewed boards;
Windows are smashed; the door hangs off, and more—
A torn Youth Praise lies wretched on the floor.
"What made them go?” I whispered to my ancient guide.
"An evil spirit passed this way, and passing, lied.
Soughing low to that murmuring throng,
'You cannot trust your Bible for the wording is all wrong!'"
"They should not have listened!" I cried with dread.
My mentor shook his wizened head.
Their critic-teachers marked the course;
Mere lackeys to the Foe’s great force.
He charmed them into thinking they were wise,
Thus folly brought them to this sad demise."
"So all is lost?" I searched my friend's wan face.
"Not so!" he cried and pushed into my embrace
A Book. —The Old One, with language that we'd once adored.
I read; the shadows changed, and looking up, I saw my Lord.
2 "Preserved"
Rampant rationalism rules the day.
Modern preachers have their own way.
“The Bible’s wrong”, they always say,
─And press on to apostasy.
A scholarship devoid of truth,
A “We know better”, dream forsooth.
The ancient lie now long in tooth.
─!Tis “Hath God said?” in mockery.
The critic doesn't like the text!
With our AV he's really vexed.
We wonder what he'll bring out next,
─PERversions born of treachery.
But yet there is preserved for men.
The inspired Word through writers’ pen.
Kept safe from men of haughty den.
─Enduring through eternity.
Settled thus it is in heaven.
God's own Word devoid of leaven.
Well said, Psalm 12 verse 6 and 7'
─Speak forth AV in majesty.
3. "They Stand For Ever"
"These are archaic words," complains the modern lout,
"They're fusty and old-fashioned so we'll chop the whole lot out
And fill in with our modem terms though sybylline and vague.
And boast we've got the blessing". (They're really struck with plague!)
It is a festering hated for God's most holy word
That causes men to swoop on it like some polluted bird.
They snip and snatch and hack at it with venal-critic's pen.
But stands the word unscathed, (And doomed, nefarious men.)
4. "Established"
Established and true.
Thy words as silver-tried.
Through ages measureless,
Shall e'er abide.
Set down by faithful men.
And sanctified
From this earth's fickle flow,
Thy word endures,
And I am satisfied..
Enduring and pure.
They cannot pass away;
Thy perfect oracles.
Without decay.
5 "Alternative Man"
Alternative man, alternative man.
Let's see you change whatever you can.
So swap your socio-red for green
And worship the earth and the magic bean.
Or ruin your health with the homeo-pill
And ever chase the whippoor-will*.
Alternative man, alternative man,
You're never more than an also ran.
You ape the saint and the child of God.
Pseudo-bro, counterfeit, proudly mod.
You spurn the truths of the ancient Book,
But you're caught on revision’s cruel hook.
Alternative man, alternative man.
You gloat o'er change in your new soup -pan
A brew to rival the Holy Page,
In error stirred from an earlier age.
And so you trade for the pure path life.
Lasciviousness and perennial strife.
* the whippoor-will is an American bird that loves darkness rather than light.
6. Jot and Tittle
Not a jot shall there fail.
Nor tittle may pass,
'Till the heavens have fled
and sea be all glass.
For the Lord hath decreed;
The Law shall e’er stand.
Iota and keraia
Remain hand in hand.
For once they were given
To ‘stablish the word,
That thundered from Sinai
So Law might be heard
Without jot and tittle
The sense would be dark;
The way be tempestuous,
The soul miss the mark.
So nought be there added
And nought be removed..
The vowels and the letters
Are all of them proved.
7. "The Ever Patient Heart"
Grant me O Lord the ever patient heart.
That trusts Thy living Word without repine.
A mind that will not from Thy ways depart;
And soul that will not from Thy paths decline.
Give me the strength to hold without review,
The Scriptures sent from heaven's holy strands.
May I not fear to stand among the few
Who wrest the old Book from unholy hands.
Help me, O God, to love the sacred page
That lifts my spirit unto heaven's sphere;
That I may listen not when critics rage
And cause men from Thy holy laws to veer.
Pour out Thy grace mat I might wield the Sword
Which is the Word of God by Spirit sent;;
To scorn the pen-knife of some earthly lord.
But with this precious page to be content.
8. "Luke
"I do not like that candle-stick".
The textual critic said.
(It was shining far too brightly,
And t'was burning through his head!)
"So this we'll have in place of it,
-You'll see 'tis rather grand-
The candle must be taken out.
And placed upon a stand."
But still he was not satisfied,
As he began to tamp.
"This ancient wax must be cleaned out
And in must go a lamp!"
A lamp-stand now all glowing fresh.
By modem man approved
Could but highlight this solemn fact.
-The candle-stick's removed.
I will come quickly and remove
thy candle-stick out of his place
except thou repent. (Rev.2:5)
And so the men who tamper with
The Scripture's shining light
Can but expect to find themselves
In darkness and in night.
(The candle hasn't changed at all,
But bumeth yet so bright.)
9. "1 Timothy
God was manifest in the flesh!
Thy word is plain and clear.
"Not God!" Returns the serpent's hiss.
"We shall not have Him here".
"Blot out the word, and cry, 'away'.
Shut up the eye and ear.
And mutilate that wondrous theme.
Christ Jesus, Lord, is here."
"He who", they say, did show some grace.
Yet will not own Him Lord.
But we who love the sacred page.
His deity afford.
The Scripture's true; it changes not.
Incarnate deity!
This One who dwelt here in the flesh.
The mighty Godhead see.
10 “Settled”
Settled for ever
and ne’er disturbed can be
thy precious word, O God
Sent forth for me.
In heaven’s eternal counsels
And by divine decree,
Thy voice is heard,
And thus I follow Thee
─∞─
These poems are my work, Ronald Smith, and are copyright.
They may be copied provided my authorship is stated.
posted by Ronald at 6:17 AM
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