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AMEN SISTER AND GRACE TO ALL CHRISTIAN PATRIOTS!

Psalms 107:1
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Psalms 107:2
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,

Psalms 107:3
And gathered out of the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south.

Psalms 107:4
They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; They found no city to dwell in.

Psalms 107:5
Hungry and thirsty, Their soul fainted in them.

Psalms 107:6
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He delivered them out of their distresses.

Psalms 107:7
And He led them forth by the right way, That they might go to a city for a dwelling place.

Psalms 107:8
Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

Psalms 107:9
For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.

Psalms 107:10
Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, Bound in affliction and irons-

Psalms 107:11
Because they rebelled against the words of God, And despised the counsel of the Most High,

Psalms 107:12
Therefore He brought down their heart with labor; They fell down, and there was none to help.

Psalms 107:13
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses.

Psalms 107:14
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, And broke their chains in pieces.

Psalms 107:15
Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

Psalms 107:16
For He has broken the gates of bronze, And cut the bars of iron in two.

Psalms 107:17
Fools, because of their transgression, And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.

Psalms 107:18
Their soul abhorred all manner of food, And they drew near to the gates of death.

Psalms 107:19
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses.

Psalms 107:20
He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.

Psalms 107:21
Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

Psalms 107:22
Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, And declare His works with rejoicing.

Psalms 107:23
Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters,

Psalms 107:24
They see the works of the LORD, And His wonders in the deep.

Psalms 107:25
For He commands and raises the stormy wind, Which lifts up the waves of the sea.

Psalms 107:26
They mount up to the heavens, They go down again to the depths; Their soul melts because of trouble.

Psalms 107:27
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wits’ end.

Psalms 107:28
Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses.

Psalms 107:29
He calms the storm, So that its waves are still.

Psalms 107:30
Then they are glad because they are quiet; So He guides them to their desired haven.

Psalms 107:31
Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

Psalms 107:32
Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people, And praise Him in the company of the elders.

Psalms 107:33
He turns rivers into a wilderness, And the watersprings into dry ground;

Psalms 107:34
A fruitful land into barrenness, For the wickedness of those who dwell in it.

Psalms 107:35
He turns a wilderness into pools of water, And dry land into watersprings.

Psalms 107:36
There He makes the hungry dwell, That they may establish a city for a dwelling place,

Psalms 107:37
And sow fields and plant vineyards, That they may yield a fruitful harvest.

Psalms 107:38
He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly; And He does not let their cattle decrease.

Psalms 107:39
When they are diminished and brought low Through oppression, affliction and sorrow,

Psalms 107:40
He pours contempt on princes, And causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way;

Psalms 107:41
Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, And makes their families like a flock.

Psalms 107:42
The righteous see it and rejoice, And all iniquity stops its mouth.

Psalms 107:43
Whoever is wise will observe these things, And they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.
(NKJV)

“O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful
works to the children of men.”
- Psalm 107:8

If we complained less, and praised more, we should be happier, and God
would be more glorified. Let us daily praise God for common mercies-common
as we frequently call them, and yet so priceless, that when deprived of
them we are ready to perish. Let us bless God for the eyes with which we
behold the sun, for the health and strength to walk abroad, for the bread
we eat, for the raiment we wear. Let us praise him that we are not cast
out among the hopeless, or confined amongst the guilty; let us thank him
for liberty, for friends, for family associations and comforts; let us
praise him, in fact, for everything which we receive from his bounteous
hand, for we deserve little, and yet are most plenteously endowed. But,
beloved, the sweetest and the loudest note in our songs of praise should
be of redeeming love. God’s redeeming acts towards his chosen are for ever
the favourite themes of their praise. If we know what redemption means,
let us not withhold our sonnets of thanksgiving. We have been redeemed
from the power of our corruptions, uplifted from the depth of sin in which
we were naturally plunged. We have been led to the cross of Christ-our
shackles of guilt have been broken off; we are no longer slaves, but
children of the living God, and can antedate the period when we shall be
presented before the throne without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
Even now by faith we wave the palm-branch and wrap ourselves about with
the fair linen which is to be our everlasting array, and shall we not
unceasingly give thanks to the Lord our Redeemer? Child of God, canst thou
be silent? Awake, awake, ye inheritors of glory, and lead your captivity
captive, as ye cry with David, “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is
within me, bless his holy name.
“ Let the new month begin with new songs.

C.H.SPURGEON

SOLI DEO GLORIA!

Received this in an email. Thought you all might like it.

A Different Christmas Poem
by: LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
“What are you doing?” I asked without fear ,
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said “Its really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.”
“It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ‘ Pearl on a day in December,”
Then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘ Nam ‘,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.”
“So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”
“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
“Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.”
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.”