Yesterday I was praying without words in brilliant, white light when this hymn of praise began to arrive. Thinking about it afterwards, the light seemed to be both inside me and all around me. Everything was one, and I was one with everything. I couldn’t see anything but the brightness, which was very beautiful. These verses proved exceptionally difficult to express in words, and I don’t feel I did the whole experience justice at all.
Who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire (Malachi 3:2; NKJV).
1. You are my Maker,
Earth’s living Creator:
A shining, refining,
Unquenchable blaze.
2. You are my Teacher,
My Prophet and Preacher;
My yearning: returning, Lord,
All of my days.
3. You are my treasure,
My wealth beyond measure;
Compelling, indwelling:
My spirit obeys.
4. You are my story,
My future, my glory;
My crying, my dying, Lord:
Far beyond praise.
The Lord our God is great beyond all gods (2 Chronicles 2:5; BST).
References
Verse 1
* He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:1; NIV).
* The LORD your God is a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24; NIV).
Verse 2
* I long and yearn for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh cry out for the living God (Psalm 84:2; CSB).
* Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him (Hebrews 9:28; NLT).
Verse 3
* The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field (Matthew 13:44; CSB).
* Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book (Revelation 22:7; NLT).
Verse 4
* We believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us (Romans 8:23; NLT).
* The LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory (Psalm 84:11; NLT).