A day of outdoor labor, Father, between my routes and everything else! It was good for the heart and soul.

********

In the little bit of time I had between everything else today, I worked on my sermon and other parts of our service for this coming Sunday. The passage of Scripture on which it is based is from Isaiah 40:26-31 (<<click on the link) and just reading through it brought two songs to mind (surprise!). [If you’d like to hear the sermon, FINDING NEW STRENGTH, click on this link to Beulah’s Facebook page for our online service which begins at 9:00 AM Sunday morning (05/23/21). It will also be stored for future reference in its Facebook video library.]

The first is an older song written by a gentleman by the name of Stuart Hamblen. From what I can gather, he released it as a single in 1953 under the title Teach Me Lord to Wait.

Here is a video played by someone who so reminders me of my sweet, beautiful Aunt Sandra – a gifted musician in her own right. The lyrics of the song are on the screen as you listen.

The other song was made popular by contemporary Christian musician and worship pastor, Lincoln Brewster. It is entitled Everlasting God and was on an album he released in 2006.

The reason this song came to mind while reading the passage from Isaiah 40 is that I remember a small child reading a portion of it at the end of Brewster’s recording. I always found it impacting! Levi Brewster, Lincoln’s oldest son, was 5 at the time of the recording.

At the bottom of the post are another two video links to listen to. The first is a recording of Everlasting God. Levi’s recitation is at the very end. (If you’d like to jump ahead to it, it’s at marker 3:50.) The other video is one of Brewster sharing how the song came about. (Again, if you want to hear just the portion where he talks about Levi’s contribution, you can skip to marker 1:22.)

Hamblen’s song is taken from the King James Version, whereas Brewster’s version is from the New Living Translation. Here is the latter for reference.

Look up into the heavens.
…..Who created all the stars?
He brings them out like an army, one after another,
…..calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength,
…..not a single one is missing.
O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?
…..O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?
Have you never heard?
…..Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
…..the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
…..No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
He gives power to the weak
…..and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired,
…..and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
…..They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
…..They will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:26-31 NLT

May 20th, 2021, Thurs, 6:49 pm