contrition
Tell me, tell me of this grand success?
Who beholds it? From where does it descend?
Does it come in muted drips or furious sound?
Does it stay, and is it ever found?
Did you hold it from me so I would see?
This broken hope laid bare within my heart,
My hidden strongman's strength I came to love,
Has fled me so I weep.
Because my strength is spent and naught,
Because I hoist myself upon so frail a mount,
Because I didn't see the filthy hope I took,
In these frail wings you gave.
I weep because I wanted you,
And settled for a smaller thing,
Veiled from my eyes I stole,
A glance at this weak mortal frame.
Confess my weary sole,
Death to the weighty flesh,
Leaves lightness as a toll,
The wages swapped, what bless!
In calling out I find my feet,
On precious rock to ground -
All chaos and despair falls weak,
Such mysteries profound,
Tug at my heart to steer my fleet,
To where great wisdom's found,
And at the root the potent brew,
To fear the Lord and turn anew.
Walking in cold winter spells,
The world to silence fell.
Rustles in the mid-morn breeze,
Were scarcely met with chiming bell,
To every eye a glance and step,
A time for each I haven't kept,
But now I see at every breath,
There ever is a time by grace to turn -
From where I prior rashely I leaped.
Draw near to me for I am weak,
Undisciplined I fall astray, but You!
You lift me up from where I slip,
For on the hills You wait in care,
You, tender, seek my fear and love,
For Yours is greater than all strength,
You give Yourself so I won't lack,
Undisciplined I fall astray, but You,
Draw near to me for I am weak.
Awesome glory too lofty for me,
Unbottled by words or stained glass,
Poured out in stuttered praises forth,
His loving help and foremost mercy,
Draws out my shame and casts it off,
Though closely now it clings when I do fall,
But by his grace we stand again,
We stand again to one day see our faces new like His.
The thought of time,
As months tick up like all their little seconds just the same -
If spending be a true image of the thing,
I hope to spend you well.
But maybe humility would better ask,
That You would help me far from sin that mar the time,
That You would make my backbone strong to sit in quietness,
That you would teach my heart to want your ways,
For they make good the time,
For they make good the time.
Forgive me for my doubting mind,
I wish to walk with You a thousand steps,
And to then again walk many more,
For Your whisper rocks my weary frame,
How could I walk without You now,
I couldn't walk without You then,
I wish to say a thousand times,
Yes to Your costly love again.
Tears of love stain the cloth,
And dripping drops plummet before they stop,
And shatter on the pavement.
Spread your seed out in the open,
May it land on the good soil,
Lead your sheep to be more patient and gracious,
May my words follow your true sword,
We both know I can't do it Lord,
May your strength be in my every motion.
Hey eye-opener,
Little drained after that one,
I'm sorry for trying to carry more than I should have,
I leave it in your hands.
Hey Lord,
It seems some burdens have been dripping between my fingers,
Squirming through like the good ol' 'H's with that big round 'O'.
I'm sorry Lord for letting them fall into my lap,
They don't belong here,
And you promised to take them from me,
I'm all wet now but it can't wash off the scent of your blood.
I lay upon you my future,
My ambition or lack there of,
My desires,
My fickle sense of justice,
And my grievances.
Dark nights and bright days,
Coalesce in a brilliant cycle,
And He steps in.
Shadows are as light to him,
Even in the depths, He won't let me dwell alone,
On the highest heights He sits and points me further up.
At the core of my soul He tabernacles,
And so I call abba Father,
Through dark nights and bright days.
Life chained in death,
Shall not be held long,
For He knows chains like no other.
The chains of Sheol held him there,
And He bore on himself the cold metal of the unrighteous,
And became sin to break mine.