Herbert: The shepherds sing; and shall I silent be?

Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Meditation:
    The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
    —Luke 2:20 (NIV)
Quotation:
The shepherds sing; and shall I silent be?
    My God, no hymn for Thee?
My soul’s a shepherd too: a flock it feeds
    Of thoughts, and words, and deeds.
The pasture is Thy Word, the streams, Thy Grace
    Enriching all the place.
Shepherd and flock shall sing, and all my powers
    Out-sing the daylight hours.
Then we will chide the sun for letting night
    Take up his place and right:
We sing one common Lord; wherefore he should
    Himself the candle hold.
I will go searching, till I find a sun
    Shall stay, till we have done;
A willing shiner, that shall shine as gladly,
    As frost-nipt suns look sadly.
Then we will sing, and shine all our own day,
    And one another pay:
His beams shall cheer my breast, and both so twine,
Till ev’n his beams sing, and my music shine.
    ... George Herbert (1593-1633), The Poetical Works of George Herbert, New York: D. Appleton, 1857, p. 102 (see the book)
    See also Luke 2:20; Ps. 33:1-4; 98:1-8; 104:33; 119:105; 1 Cor. 15:14; Eph. 5:19-20; Col. 3:16
Quiet time reflection:
    May Your people ever sing Your praises, Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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