Isaiah 42:11a "Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice..."

Desert of man
©3-24-11 Hannah McLean

Oh desert of man
how long will you stand
surrounded by dust and the burning demands
of this dry and this dark, weary land?

Oh desert of man
you must lift up your voice and cry
“Abide, oh abide, Lord, abide, oh abide, oh abide”

You desert of man...

The raging sands have torn your face
the scalding sun has burned your skin
the thorny weeds have pierced your hands
you’ve turned your back
and closed your eyes
when...
Oh desert of man
you must lift up your voice and cry
“Abide, oh abide, Lord, abide, oh abide, oh abide”

You desert of man...

He has given you a heart of flesh in place of stone
so why does it hollowly drone?
He has given you eternal life instead of death
so where is your purposeful breath?
He has given you all you need to be
so why don’t you live as one who’s been set free?

When the cross stands before you
stained red by His blood

the finished display of His grace
when light beams from the holes
on His hands and His feet
and favor pours from His risen face
why
oh why do you wait?

Oh desert of man
you must lift up your voice and cry
“Abide, oh abide, Lord, abide, oh abide, oh abide”

You desert of man...

grace for the moment

enough
©3-13-11 hannah mclean

so precise
Your measure

Your wisdom drips
from every drop of grace

You are enough

“flow, mercy, flow,” i cry

but You cover
my moments
as they come

sometimes a flood
and others a trickle

but no matter
the wisdom in or
the understanding of
the measure

You are always enough

Picture: No more will he move us.

Today during corporate prayer, I was praying in the Spirit with my face lifted toward heaven. As the prayer topic shifted to the Harvest of the Lord, praying for those who did not yet believe, suddenly my neck was pulled upwards so that my head hung down. As it hung limp for a little while, suddenly my body felt completely limp and sagged into the sofa I was sitting on. Here is the picture that went with this:

A puppet on strings being moved by a puppeteer. Suddenly the hand of the puppeteer stopped working and the puppet hung limp. Then, the strings were cut and it fell to the ground in a heap.

The devil was the puppeteer and the title of this image is
“The dance of the puppeteer has ended.”

What a lovely promise.

the blades of the plow

Hosea 10:9–13a "Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, Israel, and there you have remained. Will not war again overtake the evildoers in Gibeah? When I please, I will punish them; nations will be gathered against them to put them in bonds for their double sin. Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh; so I will put a yoke on her fair neck. I will drive Ephraim, Judah must plow, and Jacob must break up the ground. Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until He comes and showers his righteousness on you. But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception."

plow, sow and reap
©2-23-11 hannah mclean

you have
sinned against Me and
there you remain
midst the harvest of
Satan
reaping evil
and ingesting the fruit
of deception
you grovel
atop unplowed ground
overgrown with
thorns and thistles
that cover what
could be

o stretch out
your fair neck
that I may
set this yoke upon it
and let us plow
together
let us break up this
fallow earth
let us uproot the seeds
of wickedness
that have been sown
hidden
and now multiply

for even as the
blades
pound upon
the thirsty ground
till stony soil
moves beneath My gentle touch
know this
when righteousness
is planted
you will reap love
and lavishly
My presence
My magnitude
and worth
will delight you
as you seek Me

grateful dust

Jeremiah 30:21b–22
Declares the Lord, “And you shall be My people, and I will be your God.”

“I am yours.”
©2-20-11 hannah mclean

it is not that You have said
“you are Mine.”
it is that You have said
“I am yours.”
oh, i marvel
that such holiness
would bend to kiss
the face of one like me
and from below
around
above and
within
proclaim Your desire to uphold
this passing breath
with that which never grows old
oh, Majestic King
You give Yourself to dust



and save what should be
swept and cast away

Your gaze shines
upon my face
i have heard You say
“I am yours.”

a morning with the Lord

for a moment i linger
@2-18-11 hannah mclean

in the paleness of the morning
You are there
Your presence surrounds me
Your Spirit fills me
as Your face shines
in dawn’s glow

never alone
with You as my companion
i sit amid the deepening hues
and bask in You

neither asking or telling
i simply linger
in what i know to be You

i feel praise and joy
emanating from my every pore
as i absorb Your radiance
honored to be called Your own
humbled by Your time
spent with me

marveling at Your worth
as the sun rises
upheld by Your mercies
for another day

in the paleness of the morning
You are there

The blessing of weighted feet

The dust that’s gathered
©1-9-11 Hannah McLean

Darkened by the smatter
of the world’s defeat
I stumble on the journey
weighted at the feet
And in my clumsy faltering
I finally lift a cry
Pleading to my Father God
“Do not pass me by”

Oh wash away
the dust that’s gathered all along the way
and cleanse me
in Your blood until I’m free

You stand before me open
and offer “here I am”
You would never pass me by
it’s I who’ve turned and ran
I thank You for the weighted feet
that slow my stumbling pace
But now I ask You, “Wash me, Lord
I long to see Your face”

Oh wash away
the dust that’s gathered all along the way
and cleanse me
in Your blood until I’m free