May Poems & Praise

Hibiscus Syriacus

Rose of Sharon

The Lord is God, Who has shown

 and given us light,

He has illuminated us with grace,

freedom and joy.

You are my God,

and I will confess, praise,

and give thanks to You;

You are my God,

I will extol You.

O give thanks to the Lord,

for He is good; 

for His mercy and loving-kindness

endures forever.

Psalm 118: 27,28,29

Springtime In Israel

Flowers preach to us if we will hear...

The rose saith in the dewy morn:

I am most fair; 

 

Garden Rose 

 

 

Yet all my loveliness is born

Upon a thorn.

The poppy saith amid the corn:

Let but my scarlet head appear

And I am held in scorn; 

 

Scarlet Field Poppies

 

Yet juice of subtle virtue lies

Within my cup of curious dyes.

The lilies say: Behold how we

Preach without words of purity.

 

 

The violets whisper from the shade

Which their own leaves have made:

Men scent our fragrance on the air,

Yet take no heed 

 

Wild Violets 

 

Of humble lessons we would read.

But not alone the fairest flowers:

The merest grass

Along the roadside where we pass,

Lichen and moss and sturdy weed,

Tell of His love who sends the dew,

The rain and sunshine too,

To nourish one small seed.

-Christina Georgina Rossetti

 

Rose of Sharon

“Consider the lilies of the field…

even Solomon in all his glory

 was not arrayed like one of these.”

 Matthew 6:28-29

 Consider The Lilies

Consider the lilies—how stately they grow!
They toil not, they spin not, no seed do they sow;
Yet they bloom all the summer, so shining and tall,
The Father Who loves them takes thought for them all.

Consider the ravens—who gives them their food?
Who shelters their nest in the storm beaten wood?
Who guides the young sparrow? who watches its fall?
Their Father in Heaven takes heed for them all.

Our Father in Heaven, Thy children on earth
Than lilies or ravens Thou holdest more worth:
O guide us and guard us, be near when we call,
Uphold us, enfold us—we thank Thee for all!

Consider the lilies—how stately they grow!
They toil not, they spin not, no seed do they sow;
Yet they bloom all the summer, so shining and tall,
The Father Who loves them takes thought for them all.

Consider the ravens—who gives them their food?
Who shelters their nest in the storm beaten wood?
Who guides the young sparrow? who watches its fall?

Their Father in Heaven takes heed for them all.
Our Father in Heaven, Thy children on earth
Than lilies or ravens Thou holdest more worth:
O guide us and guard us, be near when we call,
Uphold us, enfold us—we thank Thee for all!
Alice W. Brotherton
(1905)