By His Stripes

stolen charred dark of my heart is so starkly

contrasted against the lights of the sky.

pathways derived from the constellation's stride -

arrogant, I would think them my guide.

chorus i.

my selfish faith, this saving grace.

are these chains not loosed from me?

i breathe contempt, i've no defense.

we have everything we need.

marred endless days i spent aching for truth,

and forty long nights to be spoken of too.

You're so casually revered, but I need You here,

I need to dry my trembling face upon Your beard

chorus ii

i drift apart from what's discerned,

come hell or high water i've learned.

i breathe contempt, i've no defense.

i curse Your name almost every day.

bridge

the hull is snapping, my voice is cracking,

water floods my lungs and chest,

i don't know what to do -

i'm saline and salted, stricken bereft,

i shake and i shake but there's just nothing left.

so I grab Your hand, but I thrust stakes in,

acting charming, coy, uncertain of my sin.

but through the holes in Your hands,

i can see everything;

the meaning of the world, human history.

the book is sealed, let my will be Thine,

for by Your wounds - not mine - are we healed.

stave off the cold, stave off the cold.

no, i am not my failures.

i will tread water no more, (my heart is Yours)

for I have washed along these shores -

to Jesus Christ, my Saviour.