You are my Shepherd,
You are my God and my King,
Your suffering mercy spills
And anoints me still.
I cannot contain Your greatness
Nor Your mercy, compassion,
Or love,
I am the sheep that strayed
From the green pastures of Your heart.
I am Your father David,
On whose throne one day You will sit
Even in the clouds of glory
I will see my Shepherd still.
- Cathryne Allen
PSALM 24:3-5:
Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy
place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his
soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the
Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
There is a lot of
emphasis in the scriptures on an organ in the body that gives us spiritual as
well as the physical life and that is the heart. Spiritually, the heart is the
seat of our emotion, the center of our being where the moral choices live. It
is a conduit for spiritual guidance that enables us to decide our truest
values, commitments and the direction of our lives. It also acts as a bridge of empathy,
compassion and desires. The Biblical and
Christian view is that the heart is the dwelling place of God, where the person
meets the divine.
I went through a period
of time a couple of years ago where I engaged in some serious introspection of
myself and my life. I viewed myself as an emotional female who always followed
her heart rather than her head and ended up with a less than a desirable life.
I wondered if my life would have come to be better if I had made different choices.
What I discovered was that my choices and decisions corresponded perfectly with
the deepest desires of my heart which brought me to God and which was exactly
where I wanted to be. I learnt through my introspection what it means to yield
one’s heart to God:
“Heart, soul, and mind
were the encompassing words of Christ in describing the first commandment,
which is constantly, not periodically, operative (see Matthew 22:37). If it is
kept, then our performances will in turn be fully consecrated for the lasting
welfare of our souls (see 2 Nephi 32:9). Such totality involves the submissive
converging of feelings, thoughts, words, and deeds.” (Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Consecrate
Thy Performance, in CR April 2002)
Consider the imperative
role the heart plays in deciding the state of our being (D&C 121:35-38):
-
When the hearts of men are set on the
things of the world, they will act in ways detrimental to spiritual growth,
including covering their sins, gratifying their pride and vain ambitions and
exercising unrighteous dominion over others. These actions cause the heavens to
withdraw themselves and the Spirit of the Lord to be grieved.
-
When the hearts of men are set on the
things of God, and aspire to God’s approval, they will act in ways beneficial
to spiritual growth, including repenting of their sins, humbling themselves,
seeking the kingdom of God first, and exercising love and charity toward
others. These actions cause the spirit of the Lord to be near and an increase
in power from on high.
If we reflect upon the
world of our day, it is easy to see that we have as a whole rejected the very
first commandment: “Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind” (Deuteronomy 6:5). We have neglected our hearts and because of this ‘the whole earth is in commotion
and men’s hearts are failing them, the love of men is waxing cold and iniquity is
abounding’ (D&C 45:26,27). Sin of every kind is dominating us: murder,
rape, fraud, deceit, theft, selfishness, vanity, pride…..
A pure heart is somewhere
that God can live. The more we yield
our hearts to Him, the more of His love will be planted in us. For
that reason, He stands at the door and knocks.
You
knock at the door of my heart
And
I often forget to turn the key.
With
sorrowing steps you retreat
Hoping
that one day
I
will remember Thee.
Of
my undying love
I
give Thee a token,
I
will keep the door open.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
I met You on the lonely road
And heard You say to me:
You will ever be mine
If you walk with me.
Your presence enthralled me,
Your exquisite love nearly ripped me apart;
I walked away from all else
Just to have You in my heart.
I walk now with Your hand in mine,
The lonely road paved with tears of love
Oh, if only everyone knew where to find You
And long for You to come!
- Cathryne Allen
Psalm 50:3-5 –
Our God shall come, and shall not keep
silence; a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round
about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he
may judge his people. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a
covenant with me by sacrifice.
Psalm 96:12,13
– Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of
the wood rejoice before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the
earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his
truth.
Psalm 98:8,9 –
Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together before the
Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the
world, and the people with equity.
When the Lord comes the
second time, He will come in the fulness of His glory. The effect of this
fulness on the earth and its inhabitants will be such that:
1.
Mountains will flow down at His presence
(D&C 133:40,44; Micah 1:4)
2.
The waters on the earth will boil (D&C
133:41)
3.
All nations will tremble at His presence
(D&C 133:42)
4.
The sun will hide, the moon will withhold
its light, and the stars will be hurled from their places (D&C133:49)
5.
The wicked will be burned by the
brightness of fire of the glory of the Lord (Malachi 4:1-3; 2 Thessalonians
2:8)
“When Christ comes the
saints who are on the earth will be quickened and caught up to meet him….A change
will come over all who remain on the earth; they will be quickened so that they
will not be subject unto death until they are old. Men shall ‘die’ when they
are one hundred years of age, and the change shall be made suddenly to the
immortal state. Graves will not be made during this thousand years….death shall
come as a peaceful transition from the mortal to the immortal state. (Elder
Joseph Fielding Smith, Way to Perfection, pp 298-99, 311)
Nephi saw us in our day
and testified that the ‘power of the Lamb of God descended upon the saints of
the Church of the Lamb’, and upon the covenant people of the Lord…and we were
armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory’ (1 Nephi
14:14). It is time for us, the covenant people, to rise to that privilege. We
are the chosen for this time and this place to usher in the greatest event of
the history of mankind. The winding up scenes will not be easy, they will not
be pleasant, but they will be worth the sacrifice, the perseverance, the wait…and
when He comes, the tears of the faithful…..
When You appear
in the Millenial day;
Those who know Your grace
Will gather like Your sheep
In the blazing sun of glory
To come to Your embrace.
- Cathryne Allen
Angels are near me
They want to take me home
To silence my tears
That so often fall.
They want me to see You
Grieving beyond the veil
To make it known
You can feel my pain.
They whisper to tell me
But my grief is too deep
And I cannot hear
all the words they speak.
When a moment of light
Breaks deep in my heart
They tell me of tears You weep
while we are apart.
-
CATHRYNE
ALLEN
(Artist Unknown)
David’s
concluding psalm is titled “A Psalm for Solomon” which could be understood as
David’s wishes and hopes for his son but knowing of David’s prophetic streak
Psalm 72 presents Solomon as a type of Christ. Consider the following verses to
this end:
·
He shall judge thy
people with righteousness…(v 2)
·
He shall judge the
poor of the people and break in pieces the oppressor (v 4)
·
In his days shall the
righteous flourish and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth (v 7)
·
He shall have dominion
from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth (v 8)
·
Yea, all kings shall
fall down before him: all nations shall serve him (v 11)
·
His name shall endure
for ever…men shall be blessed in him and all nations shall call him blessed (v
17)
·
Blessed be the Lord
God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things (v 18)
I was
surprised when I read this psalm. I would have never made Solomon a type of
Christ. Whereas his father was a disappointment in the case of adultery and
murder, Solomon, in my mind, was worse because he abandoned the worship of the
God who gave him so much wealth and stature in the world. Solomon reigned over
Israel in extravagance and grandeur which lasted for 40 years. This is all it
took to destroy Israel's course forever.
David went
to his grave worshipping the God of Israel with full contrition, a broken heart
and a contrite spirit. Solomon, on the other hand turned his back on Jehovah by
turning his heart to idolatry. His foolishness exceeded all his wisdom. Whereas
he might have started as a type of Christ judging by the abovementioned
scriptures, he went against all that typified him in such a light and concluded
his life as a failure…..and this despite the warning.
Following the dedication of Solomon's temple, the Lord
appeared to Solomon for the second time and acknowledging the dedicatory
prayer, accepted the temple which Solomon dedicated to Him. At the same time,
however, he issued a grave and serious warning to the king of Israel. He warned
Solomon that if he and his children do not keep his commandments and if they go
and serve other gods and worship them, that He will cut off Israel out of the
land which He had given them, that He will destroy the temple which was built,
and 'Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people' (1 Kings
9:6,7). It’s beyond my understanding how he could ignore this warning.
It is interesting to me that the Lord appeared to Solomon
for the first time following Solomon's marriage alliance with Pharaoh, king of
Egypt. This alliance was the greatest act of Solomon's foolishness and the
beginning of his downfall. It was then, nevertheless, that the Lord was willing
to give him the gift of wisdom (1 Kings 3:5,9-13). I don’t know if Solomon came
to believe at this point that God gave him licence to do whatever he wanted
because he proceeded to marry many idolatrous women out of the covenant. That,
in itself, was problematic, but the many political alliances signalled that he
had more faith in them than in God who was willing to fight and win Israel's
battles.
One cannot but think that Solomon used his wisdom to judge other
people in righteousness but not himself…..it’s like he had no common sense. You
might say he was beginning to lose the plot.
God who knows all things from beginning to the end knew
that Solomon was heading in the direction he should not want to go. So why make
the promise of wisdom and wealth and honour if it was going to be all wasted in
the end? I suspect it was more of a punishment than a blessing for Solomon's
fall was proportionate to his greatness. Marrying foreign women who led him and
all Israel into idolatry aborted his ability to endure to the end and changed
the course of Israel's history. From that point on, the history of Israel was a
losing battle fought by prophets against the forces of disloyalty to God.
If we can see the foolishness of people of old but not our
own, we should not get too comfortable. President Spencer W. Kimball gave a
warning to modern Israel regarding idolatry:
“ As I study ancient scripture, I am more and more
convinced that there is significance in the fact that the commandment “Thou
shalt have no other gods before me” is the first of the Ten Commandments. Few
men have ever knowingly and deliberately chosen to reject God and his
blessings. Rather, we learn from the scriptures that because the exercise of
faith has always appeared to be more difficult than relying on things more
immediately at hand, carnal man has tended to transfer his trust in God to
material things.
“Therefore, in all ages when men have fallen under the
power of Satan and lost the faith, they have put in its place a hope in the
“arm of flesh” and in “gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood and
stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know (Daniel 5:23) – that is, in idols.
This I find to be a dominant theme in the Old Testament. Whatever thing a man
sets his heart and his trust in most is his god; and if his god doesn’t also
happen to be the true and living God of Israel; that man is labouring in
idolatry.” (“The False Gods We Worship”,
p 4)
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
One day when You return for Your glorious reign
In Millenial splendour
Your power to display;
I
will kneel and confess Your greatness;
I
will join the heavenly throng in song,
And
I will sorrow for the lost
For
whom You suffered for so long.
- Cathryne Allen
