Aubade: On Evoking Daybreak

By Dan Wilt

Good friend, writer, student, musician and wordsmith Emily Davidson penned this piece in the midst of a worship time at a recent gathering. She has astonished me many times with the moving wisdom that flows from her young but seasoned spirit.

It’s my privilege to share its themes with you here:

AUBADE

(definition: A song or instrumental composition concerning, accompanying, or
evoking daybreak)

Here we stand,

Friends and fathers,

The whisper of things to come around our ankles.

We face the dawn,

Sing into being a break in the night,

See beyond the black a world lit white with promise.

Here are our dancers, our poets, our lovers,

Here are a million stories,

A thousand upon thousand things yet to be done,

In the rush of the tides a multitude of faces upturned.

Here we make our stand,

Clasp the hand next to us and face the day,

Breathe anew the winds of a vision so large it overflows the eyes and sets
hearts

thundering to the tribal rhythm of the God of a thousand tongues.

Here we stand together,

Even unto the rising of the sun.

Emily Davidson, January 2007

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Sheltering Mercy: Prayers Inspired by the Psalms

Sheltering Mercy, along with its companion volume, Endless Grace, helps us rediscover the rich treasures of the Psalms—through free-verse prayer renderings of their poems and hymns—as a guide to personal devotion and meditation.

The church has always used the Psalms as part of its prayer life, and they have inspired countless other prayers. This book contains 75 prayers drawn from Psalms 1-75, providing lyrical sketches of what authors Ryan Smith and Dan Wilt have seen, heard, and felt while sojourning in the Psalms. Each prayer is a response to the Psalms written in harmony with Scripture. These prayers help us quiet our hearts before God and welcome us into a safe place amid the storms of life.

This artful, poetic, and classic devotional book features compelling custom illustrations and foil-stamped hardcover binding, offering a fresh way to reflect on and pray the Psalms.