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The Testimony Of Reverend David Halford (Part Two)
"The Song In The Psalms"
I’ve been so blessed in my walk with the Lord. He has given me so much and I feel I have given nothing in return. If I can just give back to Him one little piece of the bountiful gifts and love He has presented to me, I would feel justified.
As I prayed one day to Our Lord for the blessing of a task or some work I could perform to Glorify His Mighty Name, I was filled with the Holy Spirit and led to write songs using words from the Bible to aid people in memorizing verses of Scripture. As I worked at this I used all the standard Scripture such as; Psalms 23, The Lord’s Prayer, The Ten Commandments, the songs of Moses and all the songs of David. Let’s just say I expended the gambit of songs that I could reasonably find in The Holy Scripture.
So one day I sat down to read The Bible and did my pre-devotional prayer and I asked God that He show me a song that I could use, as I had no idea what else might sound good in a melody. On this day I was using a very special Bible that I have had for a very long time and I hold very close to my heart, so at the conclusion of my prayer, I let the Bible fall open and I placed my finger down onto the page and it fell to Psalms 108.
Psalms 108
1 My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my soul.
2 Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.
3 I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.
4 For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.
6 Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.
7 God has spoken from his sanctuary: "In triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter.
9 Moab is my washbasin, upon Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph."
10 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and no longer go out with our armies?
12 Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.
13 With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.
Okay, this was a start. I read over it and thought, “I’ll have to work on this to make it a song, but God can make all things possible.” Knowing this, I prayed again and asked God to give me another song so I could at least have a couple to work on while I’m at it, so I let the Bible fall open again, put my finger down and it lands on Psalms 60.
Psalms 60
1 You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us; you have been angry — now restore us!
2 You have shaken the land and torn it open; mend its fractures, for it is quaking.
3 You have shown your people desperate times; you have given us wine that makes us stagger.
4 But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow.
5 Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.
6 God has spoken from his sanctuary: "In triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter.
8 Moab is my washbasin, upon Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph."
9 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and no longer go out with our armies?
11 Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.
12 With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.
Well, I worked on these songs for a while, more like three months or so. Now maybe this all just jumped right out at you. I’m not very bright and I never laid it out right in front of me like it is right here. I’d thumb back and forth in my Bible reading one chapter and then the other trying to come up with a tempo and decide how I would lay out a score on each of the songs.
I prayed to God about this and prayed, but patience is the only message I received.
Then one day I was reading, thumbing back and forth between the two chapters and it struck like a brick wall. This was not two songs, it was one song. When I read it out like that to my lovely wife, it sent chills down her back. So here is how it is laid out.
The Song In The Psalms
1st Stanza
My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my soul.
Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.
I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.
Chorus
Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.
God has spoken from his sanctuary: "In triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Succoth.
Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter.
Moab is my washbasin, upon Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph."
Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and no longer go out with our armies?
Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.
With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.
2nd Stanza
You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us; you have been angry — now restore us!
You have shaken the land and torn it open; mend its fractures, for it is quaking.
You have shown your people desperate times; you have given us wine that makes us stagger.
But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow.
Chorus
Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.
God has spoken from his sanctuary: "In triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Succoth.
Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter.
Moab is my washbasin, upon Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph."
Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and no longer go out with our armies?
Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.
With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.
Why God separated this song by so many chapters, well, I guess I will just have to ask Him. Maybe He just wanted to give His children something constructive to do with their time. What ever the reason, it is laid out here for the entire world. It does not belong to me, it belongs to Our Father. If you want to put it to your favorite tune and play it in your Church, it is free for the taking. Only God holds the copyright and His price is simply to ask His only begotten Son into your life. By doing this, you have chosen to live with Him forever.
The path to Heaven is a very narrow one; all other paths lead to sure destruction. I pray you chose the narrow path and ask Jesus into your life.
Please, go to my Prayer of Salvation and ask Our Lord into your life. If you will truly do this, it will change you into a new person and eternity will be yours for the taking. You can go to the link below where it will guide you through accepting Our Lord Jesus into your life.
I’m glad to call you my brother, brother,
Reverend David Halford
