THE CLEFT OF THE ROCK

"I came to your church

To hear my own language - 

Gaelic - spoken.

I had not heard it

In my long campaigning.

You spoke of a child

Secreted by his mother

In a rock cleft; and how,

Wrapped in her plaid,

It survived the storm

She died in.

I loved that mother

Who tenderness sacrificed

Her life for her child.

But now I have learned to love

The Rock, the Christ,

To be ready to die in the cleft

Of that Rock.

I was the child in the cleft."

More of Burnmouth< Scottish Borders

GOD'S PEOPLE

            I

Galatians 6:10

In a world of mist and quagmire

See them, eyese to the light,

Stood upon the Rock:

"The household of faith".

1 Peter 3:17, 5: 9

And as you see them

Surrounded by the world's fangs,

Accomplishing sufferings,

"Love the brotherhood".

1 Peter 2: 10

Though once the world claimed

Them its; or Satan his;

Or they even claimed they were their own:

"Now God's people".

Into Burnmouth, the most south easterly village in Scotland

Due east would be Denmark

HUSHAI

If it was after David worshipped             (2 Samuel 15: 30-37)
On the summit of the mount of Olives
That Hushai appeared, yet it was
Torn-clothed and with earth on
His head.  To be no burden to
The king he was sent be
Faithful in the false court.
There deluding Absalom by
His honesty: “Long live the king  ….”     (2 Samuel 16: 16-18)
(Over the water) he masterfully
Acted treacherously for truth,
For if he loved pureness of heart,
With grace on his life not only
In the cabinet was he the king’s            (1 Chronicles 27: 33)

Friend: the king was his friend.             (Proverbs 22: 11)  

               

A Few Final Views of the Firth of Forth and Blackness Castle

GLORY TO GOD ...

(Luke 2: 14; Judges 9: 8-15)

Glory to God,

Secured by God, in the highest;

 - be an olive tree

Its expressed fatness

Honouring God.

And on earth peace

In the Child who shall be peace

 - be a fig tree,

Bearing, already, sweetness

Of the day of the Prince of peace.

Good pleasure in men,

Through One it will please God to bruise;

 - be a vine

Producing that new wine

That cheers God and men.

(Ramsay Bing 20/12/2025)

More of Blackness Castle and the Firth of Forth

WINGS

How often, said the Lord, I would have gathered

You underneath my wings, as a hen would

Gather her chicks; unmothered and unfathered,

You would not take the way for your own good.

Yet long ago the Gentile Ruth had travelled

To come beneath the shelter of God's wing,

Orphaned and widowed, with her life unravelled,

To find God as resource in everything.

Come into manhood to endure the weathers

Of a sin-smitten world of suffering

Christ knew the refuge of the Almighty's feathers

And knew the refuge of the Father's wing,

Until He underwent the greatest storm

To shelter His new brood, and make us warm.

Blackness Castle and the Firth of Forth

And to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed?

And to whom hath the arm of Jehovah 
Been revealed?

To those whom He has redeemed
With a stretched-out arm.

Whose pursuers, by the greatness of His arm,
Are still as stone.

Who have learned that underneath are
The eternal arms.

Whom His arm is not shortened

That it cannot save. 

On the Union Canal

This May's brood of swans on Straiton Pond

Who hath believed our report?

Prophets had delivered
Their report: telling of God's
Power and love, His Servant,
His coming, suffering and triumph:
A drum roll.  But had to ask:
Who hath believed our report?

Apostles have spoken: trumpets
With more certain sound, for they
Report what they have seen: a Man
Triumphant over sin and death
Sits glorified.  Still they must ask:
Who hath believed our report?

And feeble saints have whispered,
Or roared the report:
Written it on parchment or
Paper; printed it, broadcast it,
Posted it; yet still must ask:
Who hath believed our report?

The Lord Himself testified it;
The Father endorsed it, and Him;
The Holy Spirit joined His help
To men preaching in weakness.
Still They must send the challenge:

Who hath believed our report? 

Cullen, Moray, Scotland

Did you heed the word God spoke?

 

Did you heed the word God spoke?

May His grace be told!

Did you know God's word awoke?

Lo! His grace was bold!

Christ grew as a tender shoot

May His grace be told!

Desert sands around His root

Lo! His grace was bold!

Holden eyes could not discern

May His grace be told!

Beauties God would have us learn

Lo! His grace was bold!

Darkened hearts would not esteem

May His grace be told!

Beauties which are heaven's theme.

Lo! His grace was bold!

Now my lightened heart can see

May His grace be told!

What He bore He bore for me

Lo! His grace was bold!

(This continues thoughts I had on Isaiah 53 in varying poetic forms during 2020.)

St Anthony's Chapel on Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh