Lords Day 34

Lords Day 34 of the Heidelberg Catechism begins a rather lengthy section on the Law of God. This Lords Day is presented poetically by David Croft in three sections.

Lords Day 34

What Doth the Lord's Law Speak, Part 1

What doth the Lord’s law truly speak
In rays that rise like rubied birds?
Arrayed in clouds on Zion’s peak
He spoke of old these guilded words
I am the Lord your God Who saves
My once despised afflicted race
So bring forth from your foreign graves
No other gods before my face

You shall not shape, nor kiss the same,
Of that which crawls or creeps of Earth
Or flies or dwells in heaven’s frame
Or that of which the waters birth
You shall not bow to worship these
Jehovah spurned descends in wrath
Until the sons’ sons’ children cease
Who follow this, their father’s path

But I will bless and seal the ones,
Who pour their pure unmingled praise,
Unto a thousand’ thousand sons,
Who love the Lord with all their ways
You shall not swear, nor ever speak,
Against the God of Heaven’s name
For He Who holds the poor and meek
Surrenders scoffers to the flame

Remember on the Sabbath day
Your time to God, all to invest
Who grants to toil and pleasant play
Six days, but one with Him to rest
Upon that day, all labor ceased,
Of son and servant, stranger, friend,
And every ox and lowly beast
Let prayer and praising never end

July 22, 1999
Lords Day 34 Heidelberg Catechism
Questions & Answers 92-95
(Part 1of 3)
© Copyright 1999 David L. Croft

What Doth the Lord's Law Speak, Part 2

In six days came forth from the Lord
The earth and heaven, sea and plain
By His decree and spoken word
With all who flock their fruited mane
And then to teach the sons of clay
To find their all in Him alone
He hallowèd the Sabbath day
And rested on His regal throne

Embrace your parents’ hoary strands
With honor fitting for a king
And peace shall plow your pleasant lands
And length of days your living spring
You shall not slay your fellow man
Nor lie in lust upon your bed
Nor steal the substance of his hand
Nor serve your store with stolen bread

You shall not speak in callused brays
Against your neighbor’s name or life
Nor want the dwelling of his days
Nor play the wanton for his wife
Nor set your soul upon his wealth
Nor any means whereby he lives
Nor harbor hate in secret stealth
Against the good his Maker gives

What wisdom weaves the perfect plans
That trace the tables of the Lord
And separate God’s great commands
Into the order of His word?
Twin tables hath the law and four
The first to train our ways to God
With six the second of the score
To learn to love our neighbor’s good

July 22, 1999
Lords Day 34 Heidelberg Catechism
Questions & Answers 92-95
(Part 2of 3)
© Copyright 1999 David L. Croft

What Doth the Lord's Law Speak, Part 3

What does the Lord require in this
The law which frames the table first?
That I, for fear of losing bliss,
Avoid the beastly banal thirst
To serve the works of wood and stone
Or learn to love the lines of fate
Or blindly bow before the throne
Of things that God did all create

But rather burn my boughs of praise
Upon a hearth of humble love
To Him Whose scepter scribes our ways
The one true God enthroned above
To find my good, all in His grace,
In short to part with anything
That hindereth the royal race
Unto my Maker, Master, King

What lurks and lies behind the sin
That courts the councils of the weak
And lauds the lines of devils’ din
And prays to props that cannot speak?
Tis all, to fashion fold or frame
Some other Savior than the Lord
Who manifests His mighty name
In His revealed and spoken word

July 22, 1999
Lords Day 34 Heidelberg Catechism
Questions & Answers 92-95
(Part 3of 3)
© Copyright 1999 David L. Croft

If you love the poetry of David Croft even half as much as I do, you are in for a real treat. In the first two of three parts of Lords Day 34, you will find the Ten Commandments. The third part is the beginning of the exposition of the first commandment. Here is a quick summary of the Law of God, taken from the second of the three parts.

Twin tables hath the law and four
The first to train our ways to God
With six the second of the score
To learn to love our neighbor’s good

So, you see the Ten Commandments are in two parts. The first, containing the first four commandments are written to "train our ways to God," and the last six are to teach us "to learn to love our neighbor's good."

This is as far as David has gotten in this project. He has eighteen more Lord's Days to complete the set. Pray with me that God will give him the time, the desire, and the words to write.

God Bless You,
Linda

Lords Day 34

Lords Day 33

Heidelberg Catechism Poetry

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