Majesty and Meekness

Messiah is a Lamb and Lion He comes to serve and reign

Both held in mighty tension He inflicts or bears our pain

At once He is sin bearer -takes our iniquities

He bears the penalty we face And gains the victory

The roaring Lion of Judah is worthy in God’s eyes

To op'n the scrolls of history wherein the future lies.
He came to conquer and to purge and sit on David's Throne
He came to be a mighty King and make God's glory known

His dominion knows no end- forever He shall reign
But before the crown of glory He first wore a crown of pain
The King became a servant, and laid aside his might

Humbled himself in obedience that we may be made right

In majesty and meekness the lion became the Lamb

Took on a peculiar glory And for the world was slain

The Lamb was raised in glory on a cross where all might see

His majesty and meekness both mingled perfectly.

The Lamb arose again to stand, declare and demonstrate

He is the sovereign by whose blood was opened heaven's gate.

The Lion has conquered life and the Lamb has conquered death

Together mingled they reign- breathing one incarnate breath.

In majesty and meekness the Lion became the Lamb

Took on a peculiar glory And for the world was slain
The Lamb was raised in glory on a cross where all might see

His majesty and meekness both mingled perfectly.

Anthony Foster

August 31, 2018

God and KIng

Great God and King, you reign supreme

Your glory shall ever increase

Sovereign Lord in wisdom deem

To achieve whatever you please

You rule over all your creation

You govern with power and might

Whatever the situation

You always effect what is right

You reign in majesty Yours is the victory

Kindness and love Rain down from above

And so it ever shall be

Our great God and King

You rule over everything

blessing honor and praise

Crown your glorious ways

Your kingdom shall never end

Oer all the universe it extends

Forever and ever

Forever and ever Amen

King of creation, you must rule

Till your enemies taste defeat

The unjust become your footstool

Lord tread them all under your feet

Your support is strong for those whom to you belong

Your watchful eye Surveys all to find

hearts that for your dominion long

Our great God and King

You rule over everything

blessing honor and praise

Crown your glorious ways

Your kingdom shall never end

Oer all the universe it extends

Forever and ever Forever and ever Amen

Anthony Foster

August 31, 2018

Beloved

Before the ages began we were gifted by grace

Chosen before the world's foundations

With an everlasting love from eternity past

We were destined to become new creations

Placed in the beloved, and bought with a price

Redeemed and forgiven for all of our sins.

We are sons of God and bound to Christ

God gave us to Christ and new life begins

Chorus

This stupendous reality, this breathtaking fact

We're inseparable from God's love

There's never a case where he will turn His back

On His children who're known as beloved.

Before all time we were declared just

By the righteousness of God in Christ

His own righteousness is imputed to us

Secured by one final sacrifice.

God saved us and called us to holiness

In the beloved Son we are placed

United with Christ we're eternally blessed

Because of His own purpose and grace

Chorus

This stupendous reality, this breathtaking fact

We're inseparable from God's love

There's never a case where he will turn His back

On the accepted in the Beloved.

2 Timothy 1:9

Ephesians 1:4,7

2 Corinthians 5:21

Galatians 3:26
Anthony Foster

August 29, 2019

The Wounding Balm

Between the wounding of the Word

And when its healing balm is placed

There comes a time when truth is heard

And arguments are laid waste

The true condition of our hearts

And the paths we have concealed

In its light and mirror we see truth

What's hidden is by the Word revealed

Chorus

The Word that wounds is the Word that heals

This paradox that the word reveals

Saves us from destructions path

And spares us from the coming wrath

It pierces through the darkness

Through marrow, joint and bone

We pursue the piercing willingly

And submit to what is shown.

It is living, it is active

This balm that heals is from our Lord

Yet faithful are the woundings

Of this piercing two-edged sword

Chorus

The Word that wounds is the Word that heals

This paradox that the Word reveals

Saves us from destructions path

And spares us from the coming wrath

Anthony Foster

August 28, 2018

Between the Marrow and the Bone

Conviction comes to devastate

The place where fear and doubting wait

To convince us of the seeds we've sown

The truth is found and is made known

It dwells between the marrow and the bone

Gods Word can pierce us quick and clean

Cutting through the seen and unseen.

So sharp it cleaves the heart of stone

This two edged sword is finely honed

To rend apart the marrow and the bone

The word of God pierces deep enough

To show the truth of all our thoughts

And our selves and motives

Where the battle of the mind is fought.

It judges our intentions

Where soul and spirit coalesce

The harbors of the heart run deep

As the deceits we must confess

Where the spirit and the soul and divide

Truth is revealed and so can guide

Until in Christ we are full grown.

Gods Word will speak to living stones

It separates the marrow and the bone

Hebrews 4:12; Eph 4:13; 1 Peter 2:5

August 27, 2018

Anthony Foster

War in the Heavenlies (Rock of Refuge)

War rages in the heavenlies

For soldiers fighting on their knees

In your celestial citadel

We overcome the gates of hell

I go to the mountain of grace

You are my secure hiding place

In your protection I find peace

With my keeper my conflicts cease.

Protected by almighty power

In You I find my strong strong tower

My Defense on the battlefield

I'm armored with your sword and shield

When the enemy assails me

Your fortress will never fail me

Rock of refuge my sure defense

Tower of strength when one repents

Waging war in the heavenlies

O'er rulers and authorities

Bringing down principalities

It's a war against cosmic powers we wage

Defeating spiritual forces of evil

Destroying the works of the devil

The enemies defenses are levelled

As we bring light to the darknesses that rage

You are my hiding place of peace

Where courage and my strength increase

To Your strong fortress I will flee

Your garrison surrounding me.

Your stronghold will protects our hearts

You fortify our souls' ramparts

If I reside within your walls

I will stand sure and never fall

Waging war in the heavenlies

O'er rulers and authorities

Bringing down principalities

It's a war against cosmic powers we wage

Defeating spiritual forces of evil

Destroying the works of the devil

The enemies defenses are levelled

As we bring light to the darknesses that rage

Ephesians 6:12
Meditation on the interplay of defense and offense in the Christian life
Anthony Foster

August 27, 2018

Rejoice in the Lord (Stunned and Awed)

God opened his mouth and creation He spoke

He looks on the earth and it trembles and quakes

He looks on the mountains they shudder and smoke

He sheds His glory on all that he makes!

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live

While I still have being I will sing

The fruit and the praise of my lips I will give

May my meditation be a pleasing offering

I will sing praise to my God while I have being. . . . For I rejoice in the Lord.

I will sing praise to my God while I have being. . . . For I rejoice in the Lord.

We're stunned and awed by God's work of creation

Yet they point beyond themselves to Him

'Tis not for its sake nature requires an ovation

Its grandeur and majesty raise up a cadenced hymn

These are but shadows; but God is the substance.

These are scattered beams; but God is the sun.

These are but streams; but God is the ocean.

Creation points to the All Glorious One...

I will sing praise to my God while I have being. . . . For I rejoice in the Lord.

I will sing praise to my God while I have being. . . . 

For I rejoice in the Lord.

I will sing praise to my God while I have being

I will sing praise to my God for worthy is He

I will sing praise to my God though all I am seeing

Is through a glass darkly this side of eternity.

In the end it will not be the seas or the mountains

Or great galaxies that sets our hearts ablaze

God Himself will fill us to breaking with wonder

And fill our mouths and our souls with eternal praise.

I will sing praise to my God while I have being. . . . 

For I rejoice in the Lord.

I will sing praise to my God while I have being. . . . 

For I rejoice in the Lord.

Inspired by Psalm 104:31-34

Jonathan Edwards
and a John Piper devotion

August 26, 2018
Anthony Foster

Mystery and Majesty (What the Angels Saw)

Beyond all question, the mystery is great

From which true godliness springs

Once it was hidden but now is revealed

Of His majesty now all heaven sings

This is what the angels saw This is why they stand in awe

The incarnate Son Condescended to come

He appeared in the flesh, By the Spirit vindicated

He was witnessed by angels, Who for eons had waited

Bridge

Gloria in Excelsis Deo Good news the Christ brings

Fear not He is with you The angels now sing

Beyond all question, the mystery is great

How the Messiah was born

To be our sin bearer in our helpless state

The perfect sacrifice laid on the altar horn

He himself bore our sins In his flesh on the tree

He arose from the dead And became heavens key

He was preached to the nations- they received His story

In the world was believed on and taken up into glory.

Beyond all question, the mystery is great

But now is forever revealed

Our God is with us and is made manifest

In the body of Christ this is sealed.

And soon you will come back return soon our King

To complete Your calling- consummate all things

And heaven rejoices The hosts stand in awe

Of the Mystery and Majesty of what the angels saw.

1 Timothy 3:16

Anthony Foster

August 26, 2018

Wayfaring Stranger

Jesus was a wayfaring stranger

Traveling through this world below
He bore our sin, our toil, and danger

A Man of Sorrows and of woe.

Lord Jesus came down from the Father
To seek and save us where we roam
He's gonna take me over Jordan
There with my loved ones and my home

I know dark clouds will gather 'round me
I know my way is hard and steep
But Heaven's gates arise before me
Where God's redeemed, their vigils keep

I'm going there to see my Jesus
He said He'll know me when I come

So, I'm just going over Jordan
I'm going there no more to roam
I'm just going over Jordan
I'm just going over home

No longer lost and travelin' lonely

No longer stranger in a strange land

I'm going home to dwell in glory

Led by my Savior's nail-scarred hand

For Jesus sought me when a stranger
He said He'll know me when He comes

So, I'm just going over Jordan
I'm going there no more to roam
I'm just going over Jordan
Now I'm just going over home

Traditional with new lyrics by Anthony Foster

August 25, 2018

Jubilate Deo

Hear the incomparable shout Of love and power and glory.

The song of creation pours forth speech And tells this glorious story

There is a great God of glory and power His beauty elicits our awe

We celebrate His mighty works The same marvels the angels saw

Voicing Creation's praise Jubilate Deo

Join in Creation's praise Jubilate Deo

God is glorious! God is glorious!

God is glorious! God is glorious!

All who listen to the Day will hear it speaking with sun- blindingly bright

To the blue sky and thunderclouds give ear, and eyes behold His colors and lights

The message to all who will listen at night, to countless stars and summer moons

Speaking with great dark voids and lights, and singing their celestial tunes

Voicing creations praise Jubilate Deo

Join in Creation's praise Jubilate Deo

God is glorious! God is glorious!

God is glorious! God is glorious!

Bridge

Night pours forth its “knowledge” to you and to me
These beautiful designs of all things we can see

His handiwork's wondrous how much Greater is HE!

God is glorious -hear the rousing fanfare

God is glorious -see the heavens declare

God is glorious! God is glorious!

God is glorious! God is glorious!

Beyond all question, the mystery is great from which true godliness springs

Once it was hidden but now is revealed Of His majesty now all heaven sings

All the heavens shall show forth his story In such a glorious form enshrined

Delight yourself in the Lord of glory. your supreme satisfaction you'll find

Voicing creations praise Jubilate Deo

Join in Creation's praise Jubilate Deo

God is glorious! God is glorious!

God is glorious! God is glorious!

After Praetorius and reading a devotion by John Piper

1 Timothy 3:16; Psalm 19

August 24, 2018

Anthony Foster

Everfresh Mercy

As manna was given one day at a time

There was no way that it could be stored

It was new every morning-fresh fallen food

Even so, God's mercy accords.

There's trouble enough appointed each day

Our worry won't stem its flow

But there's mercy aplenty for every trial

And sufficiently grace is bestowed

Your mercies are new every moment

Your steadfast love never fails

And so every moment though tested I'll trust 

That your everfresh mercy avails.

Our strength's not for tomorrow's burdens

We receive it as God intercedes

Tomorrow His mercies will be new again

God is faithful to meet all our needs.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never shall end;

They're new every morning in great faithfulness

Provision aplenty God sends.

Your mercies are new every moment

Your steadfast love never fails

And so every moment though tested I'll trust 

That your everfresh mercy avails.

Lamentations 3:22-23
Anthony Foster

August 24, 2018

Nail My Glory

Now, for Christs sake I bear his name,

What was my gain I count my loss;

My former pride I call my shame,

And nail my glory to his cross.

Yes, and I must and will esteem

All things but loss for Jesus' sake:

O may my soul be found in him,

And of his righteousness partake!

Oh the surpassing cost which I could never afford

Oh the surpassing worth of knowing Christ my Lord
What once was gain I count as loss
And nail my glory to the cross.

My righteousness is filthy rags

My finest works are dung

I count them all as rubbish,

these things to which I've clung

All shrivel up like a leaf,

And profit turns to loss

If Jesus Christ shall be my gain

There is no final cost

Bridge:

His glory in me he will convey

Treasure placed in a jar of clay

Oh the surpassing cost which I could never afford

Oh the surpassing worth of knowing Christ my Lord
What once was gain I count as loss
And nail my glory to the cross.

Phil 3:8-10

Isaiah 64:6

2 Cor. 4:7

After Isaac Watts

Anthony Foster

August 22, 2018

See and Savor (Heavens Eye)

My thankful lips forever proclaim

The wonders of God's praise,

And spread the savor of His name

In worship all my days.

On earth we hope to see the sight

Of our Redeemer's face;

Yet, Lord, our inmost thoughts delight

To dwell upon your grace.

See and savor the glory of the Lord

Taste and see that He is good and worthy to be adored

See and savor the majesty on high

Our joy is made full when we see with heaven's eye.

And when we taste your matchless love,

Our joys divinely grow

Unspeakable, like those above,

And heav'n begins below.

Raised from the dead we live anew;

And, justified by grace,

We shall appear in glory too,

To see and savor Father's face.

See and savor the glory of the Lord

Taste and see that He is good and worthy to be adored

See and savor the majesty on high

Our joy is made full when we see with heaven's eye.

Our souls long to be fulfilled

With eyes of faith to see

The evidence of things that will

Soon surely come to be

We set our minds on things above

And we are satisfied

We take delight in arms of love

Within which we abide

See and savor the glory of the Lord

Taste and see that He is good and worthy to be adored

See and savor the majesty on high

Our joy is made full when we see with heaven's eye.

Some words after Isaac Watts
Anthony Foster

August 22, 2018

Echoes of His Excellence

In the praises of the saints

In the works of his hands

The universe paints

What Gods pleasure demands

In Blessing and Creation

He does what he pleases

In Judgment and redemption

His glory increases

The mosaic of history

A Magnificent mystery

Tell of His fame and declare His worth

Echoes of excellence are found in these

So see and savor His greatness oh earth

And our sovereign God is well pleased

God inhabits the praise of his people

He is pleased with our pleasure in Him

Our praises echo his excellence

As we work out what Jesus works in

His delight is in those who fear him,

those who hope in his steadfast love

He is pleased in those who draw near Him

He displays His glory in all that He does

God inhabits the praise of his people

He is pleased with our pleasure in Him

Our praises echo his excellence

As we work out what Jesus works in

Anthony Foster

August 21, 2018

The Door

We were on the outside

We were trying to get in

But we were carrying a burden

Of death and guilt from sin

We were trying to buy a ticket

We were pounding ten times more

But there's only one way to enter in

By the one who is the door.

Knock and His door shall be opened

Seek and you will find,

If your heart's contrite and needy

And you're know you're weak and blind

Cause it's locked up from the inside

And you don't have a key

But the one who holds the keys of life

Has worked for you and me.

Now there is only one door

Not many like some say

One way through to heaven's gates

That's through the One who is the Way.

The veil of separation

Was parted at his cost

To make a way of entry

And a refuge for the lost.

So lay down all your burdens

Only he can grant you sight

Only he can cleanse you from your Sin

And draw you to the light

Enter in God's Holy presence

What are you waiting for?

Come in from all your wandering

For Jesus is the door.

So call out to the watchman

And kneel down on the floor

Cast yourself upon its threshold

Jesus has become the Door

And He opens into heaven

And He opens into grace

And He opens into glory

And He's made for you a place.

And He opens into heaven

And He opens into grace

And He opens into glory

And He's made for you a place.

Anthony Foster

August 20, 2018

The Commission

The glory of the risen Christ Shows the power of the King

In mercy he has sacrificed Once for all His offering.

And this was to his single purpose- According to His plan

This is truth we shall confess- According to His command

Chorus:

Go therefore and disciple all the nations

Go therefore and baptize those who believe

In the name of the Father and the name of the Son

and the Holy Spirit bid them come

Teach them to obey the Word that you have received.

All authority is His He has the power and the right

To pursue his purpose to its end By the power of his might

According to his kindness According to His grace

He will make disciples In every time and place.

Chorus:

Go therefore and disciple all the nations

Go therefore and baptize those who believe

In the name of the Father and the name of the Son

and the Holy Spirit bid them come

Teach them to obey the Word that you have received.

His kindness is tender His purpose we desire

His power without limit His greatness we admire

We must see and worship the risen Christ.

He is the one you are looking for

We must see and worship the risen Christ.

He is the worthy one He is the Lord.

Bridge:

Christ is with us always

Christ is with us always

Christ is with us always

Christ is with us always

Christ is with us always

Even to the end of the age.

Chorus:

Go therefore and disciple all the nations

Go therefore and baptize those who believe

In the name of the Father and the name of the Son

and the Holy Spirit bid them come

Teach them to obey the Word that you have received.

Anthony Foster

August 20. 2018

My Way to Glory

Jesus worked my way to glory- God is with me, I am changed

He has closed his ranks about me My whole life is rearranged

No longer an alien, abandoned no longer

No longer a slave to sin My faith's getting stronger.

Jesus worked my way to glory Jesus died to get me there

He did the impossible His resurrection now declares

God is for us not against us, He is with us all the way

To glory I will set my sights- learn to trust and to obey.

Jesus worked my way to glory This is redemptions story

What I could never do he's done My place secured before the throne

The victory is won by God's own Son.

Jesus worked my way to glory This exempts me from God's wrath

Now just as you secured the Way lead me on that righteous path

I'll rest in His resurrection No worldly loss or worldly gain

Nor Satan's lies won't detour me or turn me from His way.

In the life and hope and righteousness that he promised I will trust

It is finished, it's accomplished Now His work declares me just

The unimaginable cost he bore That my joy could be complete

Lord circumcise my heart to love you till I glory at your feet!

Jesus worked my way to glory This is redemptions story

What I could never do he's done My place secured before the throne

The victory is won by God's own Son.

After listening to a devotional by John Piper
Anthony Foster

August 19, 2018

Ever Loved

Behold what manner of love is given

Look what our Father has done

That we might be called his daughters

That we might be called his sons

Chosen and adopted

We are ever loved

A future and a hope is ours

And a home up above

Now are we God's children,

and it does not yet appear

Beloved, what we shall be:

But we know that, when he draws near

We shall be like him;

for we shall see him as he is.

And every man that has this hope

In Him is one of His

He purifies himself, even as he is pure.

He purifies himself, for this is sure:

We are ever loved

We are ever loved

We are ever loved

And this love will endure

1 John 3:1-3

Anthony Foster

August 18, 2018

What We Were Made For

Once there was a garden

Where the presence of the Lord

Was evident everywhere

But an angel with a flaming sword

Now guards the garden's entryway

For mankind was cast out

And the story of the One who is the door

Is what the Bible's all about

But with our souls at enmity

With the God whose image we bear

There was no way we could devise

That could give us entry there

But though the entryway was sealed

And death became the wage of sin

The righteous Son has suffered

That he might make a way back in.

He opened heaven's gateway

God's son who holds the keys

Was slain for us that we might live

And change our destinies.

And now we are forgiven

He takes our guilt away

He justifies us justly

Because the price he paid

He is propitiation

He drank the cup of wrath

And now no condemnation

Can ruin the narrow path

He is the resurrection

And that's what dead men need

Eternal life and a new body

And our spirit now is freed

We approach the throne now boldly

To stand redeemed and cleansed

Before God's grace and glory

In a home that never ends.

This is what we were made for

To enjoy God forever

Fully freely in His presence

In a bond no sin can sever.

Everlasting and immortal

Undying-beyond time

Perpetually persistent

In the presence of love divine.

This is what we were made for

With our Father to abide

Free to enjoy Him fully

Washed clean and purified

Free to enjoy Him fully

Because our Savior died

Free to enjoy Him fully

Forever unified!

1 Peter 3:18

Anthony Foster

August 18, 2018

Devotional by John Piper

Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. (1 Peter 3:18)

The greatest good of the good news — the gospel — is the enjoyment of fellowship with God himself. This is made explicit here in 1 Peter 3:18 in the phrase “that he might bring us to God.” That’s why Jesus died.

All the other gifts of the gospel exist to make this one possible.

We are forgiven so that our guilt does not keep us away from God.

We are justified so that our condemnation does not keep us away from God.

God is propitiated so that his wrath doesn’t stand between us and God as our Father.

We are given eternal life now, with new bodies in the resurrection, so that we have the capacities for being with God forever and enjoying God to the fullest.

Test your heart. Why do you want forgiveness? Why do you want to be justified? Why do you want the wrath of God to be propitiated? Why do you want eternal life? Is the decisive answer, “Because I want to enjoy God now and forever”?

The gospel-love that God gives is ultimately the gift of himself. This is what we were made for. This is what we lost because of our sin. This is what Christ came to restore.

“In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).