Birdsong and a songbird

Just at the moment the Dales are alive with the sound of birdsong! From dawn to dusk there is a constant chorus of joyous singing and twittering. As Psalm 150 says, ‘Let everything that has breath praise the Lord’, and that is exactly what the birds seem to be doing.

It’s certainly more pleasant to the ears than the roar of motorbikes! Perhaps it was one of them, or maybe a speeding car, that hit the goldfinch I saw lying dead at the side of the road the other day.  He can’t have been there long; his gorgeous yellow plumage and smart black and red head markings were still bright and glowing.

I was reminded of how the Lord Jesus told His disciples that not one sparrow ‘falls to the ground without your Father.’  And how much more will our heavenly Father, the God who attends the death of a little songbird, care for each of His own precious, blood-bought children?

Do not fear therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.    Matthew 10:31

Fear not, little flock, whatever your lot,

He enters all rooms, ‘the doors being shut’,

He never forsakes, He never is gone,

So count on His presence in darkness and dawn    Paul Rader