God’s River of Silence – Part 2

God cannot be found by searching His ways

And the wonderful works of His hand,

The natural man receiveth not things

That are spiritually discerned and planned,

Yet God would have us seek Him,

“The Kingdom of God seek ye first!”

Yes! God’s a rewarder of them that hunger

And diligently seek Him and thirst!

He hides from the wise and reveals unto babes,

Draws nigh all who call on His Name,

“The friend of God” He’d have us become,

As Father and Son, the same.

In the secret place of the Most High, He

With Him would have us to dwell,

“The many things we cannot bear yet,”

He longs to reveal and tell,

Nigh the broken heart and the contrite spirit

God has said that He would be,

That the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord

As the waters cover the sea.

“For a moment small I’ve forsaken thee

But will gather thee with mercy and grace,

For a moment I in a little wrath

Did hide from thee My face,

But with everlasting kindness

I will have pity on thee,

Though the mountains depart, and the hills be removed,

 The apple of My eye thou shalt be.”

Beauty for ashes, the oil of joy

And the garment of praise to wear,

With the multitude of His loving-kindnesses

Goodness and mercies to share,

Since the world began men have never heard

Or seen or understood

What He hath prepared for them that seek

And wait upon their God.

So God’s mighty River of Silence

Speaks as the heavens above,

Day unto day uttereth speech

And night the Glory of God!

Secretly, slowly with purpose

Through each age and time and life,

That truth should prevail, and choices be made

And God alone glorified!

God waits beyond this ocean

Of mystery, distance and time,

His plans are laid, He changes not

Though men fret in every clime,

God does not rush in judgment

To quell those that rebel,

He does not have to leave His throne,

He knows that time will tell.

Each generation men rise up

In anger, pride and hate:

“There is no God that leaves little children

To suffer and die!” they prate,

“Why doesn’t He stop the wars in the world,

The famines, the earthquakes, the pain?

I don’t believe in a God that would leave

The millions to die without rain!”

“Unfair! Unjust! Unrighteous!”

The accusations fly!

But does God try to explain Himself

And come charging from the sky?

He does not blink an eyelid,

In silence stays serene,

For things invisible from Creation

In God are clearly seen.

God’s eternal power

And even the Godhead too

Can be clearly seen and understood,

Man is without excuse:

He glorified Him not as God

When once this God he knew,

Becoming vain, the foolish heart

Cannot this God construe.

No vain imaginations,

No heart as dark as night,

No finite understandings

Can search the Infinite,

Man’s wise profession’s foolish,

He’d change Almighty God:

The glory of the Incorruptible

To the image of a dog! –

To an image made like corruptible man,

To birds and four-footed beasts,

He changed the truth of God to a lie,

To a world that has no peace.

The greatest honour God’s done unto man

Is to make man in His image,

The greatest dishonour man’s done unto God

Is to make God with man’s limits!

God gives man up to a reprobate mind

But loves him just the same,

Sending His Son to bleed and die

With a Gospel to proclaim,

All is not lost!  God’s plan has not changed

To glorify His Name,

God’s River of Silence wends its way

Through blood and suffering and shame.

The toll of lives, the millions of souls

That flow down this stream of time

Are under the watchful eye of a God,

“Immortal, Invisible, Wise,”

God’s awful River of Silence

Takes Eternity in its course,

Awesome, assuring, fearful, profound,

Yet giving each being a choice.

“To know Him even as we are known!”

God offers His hand to the creature,

This insignificant, puny man

Can he know this great Creator? –

That he might know the only true God,

And this is life eternal,

This River of Silence flows direct

From the heart of a God paternal.

Peter Burt