The roar of the waterfall

I

Psalm 42

¹ As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?
³ My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
    ‘Where is your God?’
⁴ These things I remember
    as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
    under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
    among the festive throng.

⁵ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Saviour and my God.

⁶ My soul is downcast within me;
    therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
    the heights of Hermon – from Mount Mizar.
⁷ Deep calls to deep
    in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
    have swept over me.

⁸ By day the Lord directs his love,
    at night his song is with me –
    a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹ I say to God my Rock,
    ‘Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
    oppressed by the enemy?’
¹⁰ My bones suffer mortal agony
    as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
    ‘Where is your God?’

¹¹ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Saviour and my God.

(NIV 2011) 

There is something about the sound of water, whether it be the roar of a waterfall, a babbling brook or the waves crashing against the shore. I have been drawn to the sounds of God's creation of late, the sounds that can be so easily passed over. In the quietness of the morning the pitter patter of rain on the window pane seems to sing a different song than it does when you are running for the car on a wet afternoon. On mornings where it hasn't been raining, they have been few and far between of late in the UK, the dawn chorus breaks through the stillness as the darkness as night turns to day. A different song is sung again by the wind at night as it rustles through the trees and whistles through the valleys. Each song is beautiful in its own right. Each has its own mood as every song has, although perhaps the song we hear depends on our own mood? God speaks loud and clear in so many ways through creation and it's many songs. God continues to speak to us, and reassure us even when we fail to stop and listen. He speaks through the songs of creation even when we sleep.

There is a cost

There is a cost

That God requires

My heart,

My mind,

My soul.

There is a cost 

To follow Him

Repent,

Forgive,

Baptism.

There is a cost

To living faith

Stand-up,

Proclaim,

And shout

There is a cost

Already paid by

Jesus,

Our Lord,

Saviour.

This is our prize

Now shout it out

Refined,

Set free,

Delivered.

Know the Saviour's

Love today

By grace

You are

Forgiven.

©Revdjo 26/8/13

The tune of the hymn by Horatius Bonar that was going through my head when I write the above.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Come unto Me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon My breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary and worn and sad;
I found in Him a resting place,
And He has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Behold, I freely give
The living water; thirsty one,
Stoop down, and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank
Of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in Him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“I am this dark world’s Light;
Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise,
And all thy day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found
In Him my Star, my Sun;
And in that light of life I’ll walk,
Till trav’ling days are done.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“My Father’s house above
Has many mansions; I’ve a place
Prepared for you in love.”
I trust in Jesus—in that house,
According to His word,
Redeemed by grace, my soul shall live
Forever with the Lord.