Covenant of Care

A BLESSING
Psalm 20

May the Lord answer you when you’re in distress,
And may Jacob’s own God protect you.
May all support be given from Zion’s mount,
And offerings be acceptable too.
May God remember all of your sacrifice
And give you all that your heart desires.
May all of your plans meet with total success;
We will shout for joy when this transpires,
We’ll lift up our banner in the name of our God
For no victory, without him, we’d claim.
There’s no power in what man is able to do
But there’s power in God’s holy name.
May the Lord grant you all things that you ask.
May you know where all good things come from.
May you ever give praise to our God and recall
That from his holy hand blessings come.
His anointed, I know, our God rescues and saves.
From his holy hill, he gives them reply.
With the saving power of his righteous right hand,
His answers will come from on high.
Some trust in chariots and some in great steeds;
But on the name of our Lord do we call.
We will rise up, in grace, and we will stand firm;
They’ll be brought to their knees and they’ll fall

A GIFT BY SPECIAL DELIVERY

I wasn’t there when the Gift arrived
It was laid on a bed of hay.
The angels announced that the Gift had come
And then without delay
The shepherds left their flocks in the field
And went to Bethlehem town
To see the world’s most wondrous Gift
Who from heaven’s great heights had come down.
The Magi came with their presents there;
They came from a country far.
They brought their gifts upon camels’ backs
And followed the shining star.
They found the Gift in a stable
A place where cattle stirred
And knelt before the Gift and gave
Gold, frankincense and myrrh.
King Herod did not want the Gift
He saw it as a threat
And killed the babies under two
Without a hint of regret.

I’d heard the story of the Gift
Throughout the years much-told
And all the things that happened then
To make history unfold.
I never felt the Gift was mine
As I lived upon this earth.
But the day I repented of my sins
My gift was second birth.
The Gift that had lain upon that hay
Atoned for my sin and shame
And then I noticed in the Gift
Amazingly . .  . my name!
The Gift just had been waiting
For me to see at last
That all the years of sin and shame
Were forgotten in the past.
And now I know the Gift is love
It is mercy and it’s grace
And it started when Christ came to earth
To a lowly stable place.