"...A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. ...." Psalm 23:1.

"...Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding?
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved..."

Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble...."

"...To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One..."
Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint..."Isa 40:10-31....

"....Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.
Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.
He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.
Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.
The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.
They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage..."

"....So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.
Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought..." Isa 41:1-12.

"...Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.
Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?
But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.
They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them...." Psa 115:1.

"...Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
"... But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities..." Jer 10:1-9.

"....But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.
He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name..." Jer 10:10-16.

"...The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;
They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.
They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.." Psa 135:15-18.

Does the Lord God WANT?

By O. Allen Bailey

LM

Oh, How it cringes in my soul !
The horror of it, thus oe'r roll,
When men degrade God's Power, so low,
Their ignorance and irreverence show;

So many purile cliches' 'round
Do in this low ground now abound;
- When here in darkness men will cry,
And give their nod to Satan's lie.

A god that pleads, and weeps and cries
But often fails - still always tries -
To accomplish that, it would will,
And thus it's "wants", therein fulfill;

Now, God "wants" this or that, they say,
And thus, to such a god they pray;
But what a powerless "god" must be,
That "wants" things - just like you and me !

Till our world is turned up-side-down,
To see our Sovereign with His Crown;
We too, will wander here and there,
In the prince of power of the air.

Till we're loosed from his strangle hold,
Then, in God's Power, we're made so bold;
-Till then, too with the hirelings yell,
Still blind, that God does all things well.

What god is this, who can't fulfill,
What's in His Own Eternal Will ?
But like a creature, God would be,
-Whose Power is not completely free.

A fallen image, they remake;
This idol they will n'er forsake,
-To make a god just like themselves,
And store him in their old mind's shelves.

When God appears in Love and Power,
His Greatness in our minds does tower;
We're made to know, God has no "wants",
Though, against this, nature still vaunts,

When they think that God is like men,
And given to their every whim;
Think He is worried and distressed,
Whom eternally, Himself blessed.

They make an idol, laid with gold,
(This is the best stuff, they've been told;)
But underneath, where they've o'erlain,
Is rotten wood, so plain and vain.

They take and bear it on their back,
- Take care, their god shall have no lack;
They thus empower a god so weak,
(To such a god, men still do seek;)

And in their likeness, still would make,
A god that's nothing but a fake;
A god, that men, about, must bear,
And keep this god in their dear care.

They carry it where e'er it goes;
And to their world, it's beauty shows;
It need's be borne by them alone,
For it can't go upon it's own.

For man, it's power and purpose gives,
In man it's strength and wisdom lives;
O! What a worthless god is this,
That men fall to, it's feet to kiss;

It's power, no more than what they've made,
It cannot live without their aid;
- What their imaginations bear,
When it's votaries gather there.

No fear of these, God's children have,
Where other's adoration lave;
No evil can their hands commit,
Nor good, because inanimate;

Those that make them, are dead as these;
Like idols, are their votaries;
Come My people, out from these then,
And do not perish in their sin.

Our God doth live, He's strong and great,
Fulfills His Will - with this relate;
No want our God shall ever know,
Only His children, here below;

But all our wants He will supply;
And every grace He shall apply;
He is our Shepherd, and takes care
Of all our needs while we dwell here.

He is a God that has no need
To search for food, that He may feed;
His Will and Purpose will supply:
His Love and Grace, to us apply;

What He has ordered in His Will,
In Love and Mercy will fulfill;
Then we shall say with David too
My wants I've bidden all adiew.

*Copyright 2002

O. Allen Bailey

*This material may be freely copied and distributed, but shall not be altered or sold.