I have a song for you today that always makes me tear up. The Lighthouse is a song that gives me chills and fills my heart with gratitude because, as the song says, I don't know where I'd be without Yeshua in my life. He saved me and set me on the right path.
This is a good meditation for Shabbat -- just sit and think where your life would be if you didn't have Him and His Word. I often wonder how people cope with life without The Good Shepherd's tender love, voice, and guiding hand. Well, actually, I do know -- because I lived without Him for many years and was pretty much a mess. Oh, I went to church but didn't truly follow His Word or His Ways. I'm so grateful for the "Hound of Heaven" that chased me down and brought me to my knees in repentance, where I learned of a whole new world. Here's the first stanza of that epic poem by Francis Thompson:
The Hound Of Heaven
By Francis Thompson (1890)
I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat—and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—
‘All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.’
Have you had experience with the Hound of Heaven?
I hope you have learned that that hound turned out to be the loving, tender Good Shepherd.
Blessings and Ahava (love) to you all.
