Bible Maths

 

 

God created Mathematics

And the Bible tells me so,

Let me share with you now

How I came to know.

 

Here are some facts

In the King James Version,

I will list a few of them

For your consideration.

 

Let me start at the centre

And then move either way

And hope at the end of this poem

I will have made your day.

 

Psalm 118

Is the middle chapter,

There are 594 chapters before

And 594 thereafter.

 

Add up these two numbers

To get 1188,

How many chapters in the Bible?

That was your mistake.

 

The centre verse of the Bible

Is Psalm 118 verse 8,

It would be interesting to see

To whom this verse relates.

 

“It is better to trust in the Lord

Than to put confidence in man.”

This can’t be a coincidence

But instead a Divine Plan.

 

 

At the Bible’s centre

We see the Almighty God

And the directive that He gives

Is to trust in the LORD.

 

In whom do you confide?

In whom should you trust?

At the centre of God’s Word it says-

In God we must.

 

At the centre is Psalm 118

With the shortest chapter before

Which chapter is the longest?

Need I tell you more?

 

Psalm 117 is the shortest

Psalm 118 is at the centre,

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter

And comes immediately after.

 

One hundred seventy-six verses

Has Psalm 119

But Psalm 117 has but two

And this is clearly seen.

 

The longest verse in the Bible

Is Esther 8 verse 9,

And if you count the number of words

Exactly 90 you will find.

 

You will not see the word God

Nowhere in the book of Esther

But in the entire Esther narrative

God is the Mighty Deliverer.

 

Next is the shortest verse

Which is but just two words,

An oft used expletive in the past

That was horribly absurd.

 

In St. John 11:35

We read that Jesus wept,

Lazarus had died, the Bible tells,

Causing much regret.

 

I just wanted to show

The Bible is not by chance,

It is the divinely inspired Word of God

And not mere happenstance.

 

It is replete with facts

Both serious and amusing

And the information you find therein

Is by God’s own choosing.

 

  

I trust I have made your day

But even more than this,

I trust you have put the Bible

Top of your reading list.

 

Stewart Russell © April 29, 2021

 

Who Are We Fooling?

 

 

Here we have no continuing city

But we don’t want to leave

And if the prognosis is death

We cannot help but grieve.

 

Yet “we are going to a city”

And we sing it so lustily,

Where we shall be with our Jesus

Throughout eternity.

 

The world looks in wonderment

“Are these people for real?”

We appear as lost as they are

And our testimonies fail.

 

Fail to impress them, I mean,

For they see us every day

And they have seriously concluded

We are walking in their way.

 

 

We take pride in our praying

And with fasting we are obsessed

But yet at nights, when we lay down,

Worry obstructs our rest.

 

We rush to God in a panic

Whenever there is bad news

And we pretend we have His peace

In the hope He won’t refuse…

Won’t refuse our requests

That we painstakingly detailed

To the God that knew everything

Yet in our asking we failed.

 

“God knows what’s best”

We declare it on the mountain top

But down in the valley it’s different

So, off that train we hop.

 

Yet God is our heavenly Father

Who is looking out for us,

Always as a matter of fact

But still, we lack the trust.

 

 

“God will take care of you”

I am sure you know this song

But yet we walk in uncertainty

Among the worldly throng.

 

Very unlike the Hebrew boys

That put their heads to the block,

Refusing to obey the king’s command

And to their knees won’t drop.

 

Though we pray incessantly

This world means much to us

And in similar trends to the world around

We get caught up in the fuss.

We’ve established a list for prayer

That we pray most of the time

And it appears there is no answer

Since it’s always on our mind.

 

What kind of being is God

That makes us beg and beseech,

That has promised to answer prayers

Even before we speak?

 

In plaintive tones we nag Him

Over and over again,

“But he always hears and answers”

And that’s our outdated claim.

 

“It’s going to be all right”

And we don’t mean in the by and by

But to the person in the trial

It’s just a feeble try.

 

Who are we fooling? I ask,

We are no different from most,

Though we pray and fast incessantly,

We make an empty boast.

 

 

As for me, I will trust in God

Just one day at a time,

For I cannot walk in tomorrow

Except in a troubled mind.

 

And when I am afraid

As I so often am,

I will trust in the Lord my God,

For I am only a man.

 

Stewart Russell © September 13, 2021

 

Faith and Trust

 

 

Faith and trust:

Are they the same?

I think not

I won’t make that claim.

 

One may observe

That they are similarities

But one should also note

Their diversities.

 

Faith comes by hearing

By hearing the Word.

Trust is different

And this is not absurd.

 

Let’s take the case

Of the three Hebrew boys,

Take note of the stance

They all three employed.

Their faith announced

That God can deliver

But their trust declared

The outcome did not matter.

 

Our faith commences

Just like the dawn

But our trust is like the day

It goes on and on.

 

Faith gets us started up

It is when we plug in

But trust keeps us walking

Away from sin.

 

Every time we sin

That is misplaced trust,

Somewhat like the world

That feel they must.

 

Our faith is in God

And so must be our trust,

Often however,

We are led away by lust.

 

While faith is still present

Our trust is not

And for that fleeting moment

Our God-focus is blocked.

 

I trust you can see

Where I am going with this,

It is particularly critical

This point you do not miss.

 

Yes both are important

And they do overlap

But they are also different

Let me show you that fact.

 

 

Faith is the connection

It is more than talk,

Trust is the constant

That characterizes our walk.

 

Hence you can see

Why we sometimes slip,

It is not faith that is absent

But our trust has taken a dip.

 

To walk out what we believe

Becomes a matter of trust,

It is more than plugging in

This walk is a must.

 

Trust is the heart that pumps

And faith is the blood,

When in proper working order

Everything is good.

 

The apostle James shows

Faith without works is dead,

The exercise of our faith

Evidences our trust instead.

 

Faith’s door is kept open

For every born again believer

So when trust’s door is shut

God can still deliver.

A measure of faith

To every believer is given

But our trust will develop

As the devil’s way is forsaken.

 

 

As God facilitates our faith

Trust is what we do

And regardless of outcomes

Nothing obscures our view.

 

By faith we came to God

And He forgave us our sin,

Trust is the evidence we show

That we belong to Him.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2018

 

Who Can We Trust?

Today a promise carries little or no weight

Especially in this era here of late

People make promises they know they can’t keep

Then lie down at nights and go to sleep.

It is like this is the norm; it’s nothing wrong

And the argument everybody’s doing it is very strong

Apparently when wrong is strong it becomes right

So that false promises is now a liar’s delight.

“Yes check with me around the end of this week.”

You call and you visit but can’t find the sneak

The next time that the two of you happen to meet

There are lots of sweet words but talk is cheap.

Conscience nowadays appears on the decline

Thoughts are bombarded with so many people in mind

People who promised but never followed through

Leaving their victims waiting still to receive their due.

A promise is comfort but only to a fool

Where the fool becomes a sucker and is used as a tool

Over and over he falls for the same old trick

Hoping that this time it would be worth the trip

“Who can we trust?” is the question often asked

“No one,” you hear, presenting an onerous task

But we have to trust someone to get some things done

Be it lawyer or priest or some other person

Let me introduce you to someone whom you can trust

Hold on!  This is real.  There is no need to fuss.

I know you’ve been disappointed many times before

But just hear me out, there’s so much in store

In any case there is nothing really to lose

Since you have been let down, confused and abused

So let’s go straight to the indisputable record

Which we all know is God’s Holy Word

The first one I’ll mention is Romans 4 verse 21

What God has promised He is able to perform

“Before the world began,” it says in Titus 1 verse 2

“God who cannot lie,” promises eternal life to me and to you.

  

Hold fast the profession of your faith and not waver

For He that promised is our faithful Saviour

And so we look for new heavens and a new earth

According to his promise to them who are of the new birth.

God’s promises are yea!  He will never go back

Unlike men, concerning his promises He is not slack

The promise is that He has promised to us eternal life

Guaranteed after we’ve gone through this present strife.

So, in whom can we trust if we cannot trust in God?

Certainly not in the devil, that villainous fraud

And surely not in man for the arm of flesh will inevitably fail

It’s only the promises of God that will eternally prevail.

Stewart Russell © April, 2017