Betty Whitaker Jackson

1 It is good to sing your praises And to thank you, O Most High, Showing forth your loving-kindness When the morning lights the sky. It is good when night is falling Of your faithfulness to tell, While with sweet, melodious praises Songs of adoration swell.

2 You have filled my heart with gladness Through the works your hands have wrought; You have made my life victorious; Great your works and deep your thought. You, O Lord, on high exalted,…..

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Reginald Heber wrote this hymn still sung today. It is public domain. I have been working on a poem about the throne room of heaven and God’s sovereignty. This is one of my favorites, not sung often enough, in my opinion, but showing the rightful adoration of the Lord of all.

1 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee. Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty! God in three persons, blessed trinity!

…..

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Edward Perronet’s marvelous hymn: All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name. May it bless our day:

1 All hail the power of Jesus’ name! Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown him Lord of all!

2 O seed of Israel’s chosen race now ransomed from the fall, hail him who saves you by his grace, and crown him Lord of all. Hail him who saves…..

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My Psalm 510   I’m Thankful     September 14, 2021

Thank You, Lord and Savior

For this new day, another morning

A day to count my blessings

And give thanksgiving

At day’s end.

Already this morning,

The sun brightens the day,

New geranium blossoms brighten my window,

There’s food in the fridge, hubby’s here by my side,

My kitties love me, I’ve plans for the day.

I’ll see my author friends

Through technology’s Zoom,

They’ll be with me here, right in my…..

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My Psalm 509   After September 11th

Our Lord, Master of the Universe,

We come to you with hearts saddened by memories

Which make events seem so very recent.

New wounds scrape the scabs of the old wounds’ scars

As we remember.

Your people remembered Your guidance

Your provision of covenants, prophets, and kings

Who recalled and recounted Your loving provision

As they too wandered in the wilderness.

May we today further resolve

To follow Your guidance and seek…..

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Yesterday was a raucous day in politics as the country tries to reconcile the need for leaving Afghanistan and the President’s botched plan on how to retreat, surrender, and withdraw, leaving countless people behind enemy lines, perhaps for the first time in our country’s history. Certainly there is blame, plenty of blame to go around. There was chaos, insensitivity, and obvious blunders, and there is palpable fear as we approach the twentieth anniversary of 9/11.

It’s a good day to…..

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My Psalm 509   August 29, 2021  Vermillion Day

As God finger-paints the cloud-filled sky

Vermillion, coral, streaked with maroon

I remember the proverb:

“Red sky in morning, sailors take warning,

Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.”

Uneasy tension fills my eyes and soul

As this dark, turbulent sky fills my senses.

Not one to take old wives’ tales to heart,

I marvel at the colors kaleidoscopically transform

Into waves of oranges, golds, the palette of kings’ thrones.

I…..

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My Psalm 508   “Have Mercy, O Lord, Have Mercy”  Afghanistan   August 27, 2021

Almighty God, Father of all Creation,

Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omnicient,

We call upon Your Name this day

Humbly bowing before Your throne,

Knowing You answer the prayers

Of Your people.

We are heartbroken this day

As terrorist attacks once more begin.

As we see scenes and hear cries

Of man’s inhumanity to man once more,

As we listen to leaders for whom we have prayed

Betray our…..

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As I write this, one week from today lurks very close, the deadline for Americans and their aids must be out of Afghanistan.  The situation is dire. One airport in a huge country, hundreds of miles for people in provinces away from Kabul to travel, and the threat of checkpoints and harassments very real, make this situation desperate for many. We listen to governmentese, the complications of too many diplomats across too many departments, none of which seems to have…..

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My Psalm 506  Birthday Legacy  August 21, 2021

O Lord of eternity, I praise Your Name

For giving me children to raise and to love.

In Your mercy, You promised to love us through all generations

Those we know and remember, and those we’ll never see.

I thank You for forming them well within my womb,

For knowing every cell, every sinew, and knitting them well together.

I thank You for their safe passage, for their birth, their health,

…..

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