Hearken ye people:
The earth and the fullness thereof are the Lord's;
What therefore could a man give to his Creator?
Could silver and gold appease your Maker?
Nay but neither riches nor poverty profit in the Day of wrath,
For the Lord God Almighty,
He trieth the hearts.
I've seen the rich who delight in their riches,
And the poor who delight in their poverty;
I've seen the pauper despise his poverty,
And the rich man resenting his 'strong city'.
But who then is better than the other?
One envies the other;
The other dispises his brother;
The rich make fake friends many,
But the poor hath not any.
But such is the case only in the land of the unredeemed,
Where both are wicked and sinful,
Their lives are filthy and shameful:
Where the rich sinner can kill a man-
Hoping to make his business thrive;
The poor sinner can kill a man -
Coveting a luxurious life;
Then the rich sinner goes and splashes all his wealth,
With much prodigality,
Abominable immorality;
But it's the poor sinner who offers the rich sinner,
The immoral and sinful services.
So who then is better than the other?
Nay but both are alike:
For we know that it is man and there be greater than he,
Neither can he contend with he who is mightier than he:
For there are spirits which neither regard riches,
Nor have any respect for poverty -
Some being wicked lead man to distruction,
But God is Holy, He brings wisdom and discretion.
I also learned by experience that the ways of a man are not in himself:
I saw a man labour to escape from poverty -
Then he plunged himself into pits of mysery;
I saw a man who reaped an abundant store -
Of wealth which he never even laboured for:
So who then can boast about his ability?
Seeing that the race is not for the swift,
Nor the battle for the mighty;
Bread is not for the wise and prudent -
But it's all the Grace of the Almighty.
I had a good friend who told me that "Life has many cycles":
He said, "Some get exalted, some get abased";
But why should I worry, I know where my Comfort is,
(I suppose I should openly declare my Comfort):
For certainly I came to this world with NOTHING,
And likewise I shall depart;
So having food and having raiment,
My soul therewith will be content;
Yes having food and having raiment,
Nolonger will I lament.
But its not very easy to persuade every man with this saying,
For greed is such a consuming fire,
Therefore one thing I desire:
Is to have neither wealth too much,
Lest I forget my Saviour;
Nor give me poverty too deep,
Lest I curse my Creator;
For riches and poverty are deadly flames,
To the man who lacks knowledge of the Holy;
They destroy, like a canker, the innermost parts of the soul,
Of the man who his Creator he does not know.
But seein therefore that it is man,
And his life consisteth not,
In the substance that he hath:
It is not good to have respect of persons in judgement:
To reverence the persons of the poor,
Nor to respect the persons of the rich,
For the rich and the poor share one thing in common:
The Lord God made them both!
The mind of a young man as he ponders,
Passing from boyhood to maturity;
The thoughts of a damsel as her flowers,
Blossom with Godly purity:
Stand affectionately focussed on that day,
When the loneliness of singleness shall fade away,
Into a happier and glorious matrimonial time:
A lifetime event of love sublime.
Adam was made to till the ground,
And did a great service for the Lord:
He gave names to every creature both small and great,
So he was found worthy of a reward:
Thus causing him to fall into a deep sleep,
And taking a rib, God formed his wife,
To be his lover, his darling, his sweet companion;
His one and only for the rest of his life.
But though bachelorhood is a great adventure,
With great encounters in the Word;
Great experiences it daily brings,
As we are guided by the Good Shepherd:
But when the loneliness of singleness begins to ache,
And the youthful wheels can nolonger roll along;
When the vehement flames begin to burn,
With heat so fervent and so strong:
Calling you to prayer down upon your knees,
Before the Lord who hears and answers your pleas;
Of a certain He will give you your hearts desire -
For He (and He alone) can quench that burning fire.
But the eyes of a young man are easily deceived,
By the deceitfulness and vanity of outward beauty;
But oh young man when thou beginnest thy search -
Consider the character of Godly purity:
Consider the beauty of the innermost part,
Consider the depths, the cleannes of the heart;
For beauty is deceitful, outward appeareance is vain,
And such discretion will cause you anguish and pain;
Allow not your eyes your search to hinder -
But stop my friend... Stop and consider.
I knew a young man who had a missing rib,
The whereabouts of which he did not know;
I knew a young man who had a missing rib,
Which he diligently searched and enquired for;
Thus to soothe this burning blister,
He found his long - lost sister,
And solemnly protested to her to be his wife:
To be his lover, his darling, his sweet companion,
His one and only for the rest of his life.
It brought such joy and jubilation,
Terminating speculative confabulations;
What God my frien hath joined together -
Let no man attempt to pull asunder.
In a desert, in a dry and chapped land,
An expanse of green vegetation seems to appear;
The fool would stop journeying and build his mansion there,
Not knowing that its surrounded by hot and burning sand.
Time is an oasis, a suspended dimension on its own:
For were we to go thirty years without the setting of the sun,
To say it stood still thirty years, means thirty years of time have gone,
And whether we'd continue holding it there, time would keep moving on.
"How time flies," where is it flying to?
Well, to know that its an oasis is good enough a clue:
It was spoken into existance, but will be swallowed in Eternity -
Eternal Lfe for some, the wicked will burn and nolonger be.
So I'm not a fool to take the rough way,
Than your cultures and ideas,
For I know the mysery that surrounds you,
The hot and burning fears;
You've been deceived by palms and coconuts,
In the fools' oasis;
But if you knew what burns ahead,
You'ld repent with shameful faces.
Better is it to be born a pauper and live that way,
Than to know a life of riches and watch it decay;
A night without supper, the pauper can go,
But he who knew tabgy delicacies
Will call hunger tormenting sorrow.
I've lived amongst the elite and top brass,
Amidst mansions in a house of shatter - proof glass;
A car (one of its kind in the country),
For which many people were filled with bitter envy:
"Name the price for your house, and I'll buy it";
"Name the price for your car, and I'll pay it";
Poor old dad, he was greedy for gain -
Yielded to seduction, thinking it was a bargain:
Sold his car, sold his house,
(Years before that, he'd divorced his spouse);
Got fired for adultery and eventually -
He died the death of a pauper, with a Masters degree.
I've sat in a full arena where my step dad addressed,
(With a sword on his side and army regalia he was dressed):
Scores of listening ears and armed forces at attention,
On behalf of the president at a national celebration.
We've gone on holiday flying by plane,
Where the distance could have easily been travelled by train;
Slept and eaten in five star hotels -
Really lived luxuriously, really lived well;
Ran up and down the stairs at my step dads polyclinic;
Stayed at home at the weekend for a colorful family picnic;
Been driven to and from school in a neat Mercedez Benz,
With the children of the well - off sort for my closest friends.
But look at me today, O Lord:
I'm a pauper, a derision,
Perplexed and in confusion;
I said I'll be rich and at ease again,
But each day greets me with anguish and pain.
I've gleaned corn out of harvested gardeners' fields,
Lest my soul, out of hunger, to death would yield;
Eaten supper from a trash can behind a certain shop,
(The next time I tried it I was chained and slapped by a cop;
But they let me go when they found me innocent,
That I was no burglar, but someone decent).
I've sold my clothes before and spent winter without a jersey;
I've starved many a time till I felt faint and dizzy;
I've begged, I've borrowed;
I've laboured, I've sorrowed;
Even my own sisters with whom I ate the same suppers,
Like all my relatives care not if I suffer.
But I'm a citizen of a better country;
I've found a better fortune than just a full pantry;
He promised to care for my daily needs,
And so He does as daily I can see.
I've found something sweeter than life in dream land,
An anointing of Power and Life from God's Hand:
For when the rich sinner shall awake from his drunken dream,
He'll realise that he's clothed in filthy rags, not as a lordly king.
I know that satan is in the rich man's land too,
What they do in private does not sound true:
Witchcrafts, adulteries, murders, sodomies,
Filthy media, hateful passions,
Unstable minds, superstitions;
Such are the hidden treasures where sinners dwell,
Which on the Day of Judgement will send their souls to hell.
So lie not to me that sinners are happy and free,
For I know the hidden secrets of all communities;
There is no peace to the wicked as says the Eternal King,
But to His faithful Servants, peace flows like a stream.