As the darkness wanes, and a new year dawns,
God’s resolute Spirit, we pray, in us, He spawns
a clean, contrite and submitting heart that loves him above all
to speak volumes sine verbis, heeding His call.
To speak volumes, sine verbis, came your word to me,
to harness my tongue, fear not, stand firm and see
me fighting your battles victoriously
and to declare your Salvation by actions, sine verbis.
For faith without action is dead;
and You vowed to make crooked places straight, to my beloved,
going before her, cutting in sunder iron bars and breaking gates of brass.
Let her speak volumes sine verbis, lead her en masse.
Our firstborn’s plans you know, you say
plans to prosper him and not harm, along life’s way
giving him a future and a hope, so his fears allay
so he can be Your witness, speaking volumes, sine verbis, we pray.
Be blessed by the Lord, and be given increase
was the word, our secondborn received
and as he grows, may he have The Creator’s peace
growing in the fear of the Lord, speaking volumes, sine verbis.
To your people you declared, Be Still and know that you alone are God;
exalted you will be above all, comforting us, our staff and our rod
Lead us, Our Soul’s good Shepherd; we are your sheep,
besides still waters, to speak volumes with our lives, sine verbis.
As the darkness wanes, and a new year dawns,
God’s resolute Spirit, we pray, in us, He spawns
a clean, contrite and submitting heart that loves him above all
and to love man, speaking volumes sine verbis, heeding His call.
From the Author’s/Poet’s Desk:
As we arrived at the beginning of a new year, thinking about the year gone past and looking forward to the year ahead, this poem is an expressions of our hearts, that in the coming year, my family (Sangeetha, Reuben, Ittai and me), focus solely on the Lord God and live our lives with actions and not merely words. In other words, we seek to serve God by practicing what he teaches us and not merely preaching. During the watchnight service on December 31st, at the Austin Christian Fellowship of India (ACFI), we picked promise cards for each one in the family. The poem is written by compiling the verses from our promise cards, as a personal reminder to us, but we pray that you personalize this for yourself by replaced the pronouns and words like “our” with “me” or “my” and any personal pronoun with your name or “I”.
The promise cards picked for 2017.
For Reuben (our firstborn): 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)
For Ittai (our secondborn): 14 The Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children. 15 Ye are blessed of the Lord which made heaven and earth. (Psalm 115:14-15)
For Sangeetha (my beloved): 2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: (Isaiah 45:2)
For Mano: 13 Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. (Exodus 14:13-14)
A line-by-line exegesis of the poem [in square brackets] is given below:
As the darkness wanes, and a new year dawns,
[January 01, 2017]
God’s resolute Spirit, we pray, in us, He spawns
[Psalm 51:10]
a clean, contrite and submitting heart that loves him above all
[Psalm 51:10, 17; James 4:7; Matthew 22:37]
to speak volumes sine verbis, heeding His call.
[Psalm 51:10, 17; James 4:7; Matthew 22:37; 1 Samuel 3]
To speak volumes, sine verbis, came your word to me,
[Promise verse for Mano – Exodus 14:13-14]
to harness my tongue, fear not, stand firm and see
You fighting my battles victoriously
and to declare your Salvation by actions, sine verbis.
[Exodus 14:13-14]
For faith without works is dead;
[James 2:26]
and You vowed to make crooked places straight, to my beloved,
going before her, cutting in sunder iron bars and breaking gates of brass.
[Promise verse for Sangeetha – Isaiah 45:2]
Let her speak volumes sine verbis, lead her en masse.
[Ruth 1:16]
Our firstborn’s plans you know, you say
plans to prosper him and not harm, along life’s way
giving him a future and a hope, so his fears allay
[Promise verse for Reuben – Jeremiah 29:11]
so he can be Your witness, speaking volumes, sine verbis, we pray.
[Matthew 5:16; Acts 1:8]
Be blessed by the Lord, and be given increase
was the word, our secondborn received
and as he grows, may he have The Creator’s peace
[Promise verse for Ittai – Psalm 115:14]
growing in wisdom, stature, in favor of God and man, speaking volumes, sine verbis.
[Psalm 34:11; Luke 2:52]
To your people you declared, Be Still and know that you alone are God;
[Psalm 46:10]
exalted you will be above all, comforting us, our staff and our rod
[Psalm 46:10; Psalm 23:4]
Lead us, Our Soul’s good Shepherd; we are your sheep,
[Psalm 46:10; Psalm 23:1,4; 1 Peter 2:25]
besides still waters, to speak volumes with our lives, sine verbis.
[Psalm 23:2]
As the darkness wanes, and a new year dawns,
[January 01, 2017]
God’s resolute Spirit, we pray, in us, He spawns
[Psalm 51:10]
a clean, contrite and submitting heart that loves him above all
[Psalm 51:10, 17; James 4:7; Matthew 22:37]
and to love man, speaking volumes sine verbis, heeding His call.
[Psalm 51:10, 17; James 4:7; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30-31; 1 Samuel 3]
