This Fragile Heart

This fragile heart is cracking and seems to be destined for pain
Indeed it is quite sadly lacking, and all of its motives are vain

My quivering soul seems unable to hold up when put to the test
Its stability is famously unstable, and its certainty doubtful at best

The mind above all is confusing and often will argue two sides
Either way I end up losing and find myself running to hide

Less than these would I praise power, for it fades as fast as the dew
And the might of a man is a vapor, and his reach is surpassed by his view

So why You would want my affection remains a great mystery to me
My most eloquent, earnest confession still comes as a pale, broken piece

My heart cannot love what you are worth; my soul cannot follow You true
My mind can’t conceive what You pour forth; my strength can never do

I still am infected with leaven, and all my parts prone to deceit
You call me upward to heaven while the ground still pulls at my feet

But You placed deep within me a Fire, Whose source must be from Above
It burns to be what You desire; with all my heart, soul, and power to love

So my feeble attempts I’ll surrender, and attempt to shore up their frame
For the only results I can render comes from the strength of Your name

Into Night

A spirit of darkness hovers before my eyes
It secretes a fog of ebony lies
It creates a fear of what it hides

The night blocks all that the light would show
It makes me doubt what I might know
And I ran out of wisdom long ago

But there are souls lost in that pitch black
They fell beneath the grim attack
They need a Guide to bring them back

They wander the land of the valley of the shadow
Their burdens bend their souls down low
And to these souls some one must go

To these people in darkness, light must shine
To them, Truth must be supplied
To this task, some one must rise

There must be a Light darkness cannot overcome
There must be gleam to shine when day is gone
There must be a Conqueror who has already won

And so, we stand. And so we fight
And so, we shine with Heaven’s Light
And so, we pierce into the night

A Coming Storm

There is a vision I have seen of storm clouds up ahead
A gale to match has never been, and it sight inspires dread

There is a choice that I must make of how I will prepare
Of what precautions I will take and how much I shall dare

There is a promise I have heard that calls me to the storm
But I often doubt untested words when I haven’t seen their form

There is a part of me which screams that I will be made a fool
And that smallest portion often seems the part that wields the rule

But there is another part of me that longs to press ahead
To smother my complacency and trust in what was said

Yet, here and there I seem to find shelter from the blast
And it would surely ease my mind to hide ‘til all is past

So, undecided, here I stand and think of what to do
I want to just throw up my hands and blame it all on You

For this seems so unneeded, this superfluous test
And my prayers seem so unheeded, unanswered like the rest

So I cast up one more longing glance toward the swirling sky
And I pray You have not turned to chance, and won’t leave me here to die

Remind of all that You have shown the other times I cried
Be my strength to walk alone and I’ll see You on the other side

Awake! Awake!

Awake! Awake! Put on might.
Awake! Awake! Put on power.
Awake! Awake! Rise to fight.
Awake! Awake! Face the hour.

Awake! Awake! Rise and shine.
Awake! Awake! The Day comes soon.
Awake! Awake! Light is thine.
Awake! Awake! Flee from thy tomb.

Awake! Awake! Night has left.
Awake! Awake! See and have sight.
Awake! Awake! Rise from death.
Awake! Awake! Christ will give Light.

Let me Sing Now

Let me sing now of my Savior
Who died that I might live
Let me declare His loving favor
And proclaim the grace He gives

I wish to shout His awful glory
I long to tell His mighty power
Let me sing the old, old story
Report His Day and His Hour

Let me write that some may read it
Let me proclaim the message well
Let me preach to all who need it
Let me live His praise to tell

Across the Waves (also called "The Way of Waves")

I dreamt I saw a faceless man beside a boundless sea
But what was on the other side neither I nor he could see
He stood upon the pebbled shore and stared across the tide
And thoughts of ancient sailor-lore aroused his fears inside
He dug his toes into the stones and turned his face away
Silently he stood alone in the dark of starlight’s day
Tales he had heard of the sea made him fear its foam
Wanderers had brought word of terrors far from home
Their grim horror made him dread the shadow of the waves
He held to the ground where tides are bound and their assaults are staved

And I dreamt I saw a glowing star giving out a lovely call
The waves all sought to blot him out, but he rose above them all
Its glory gleamed with Truth-light and spoke a message clear
It sung its way around the fright and divided all our fear
And then the man raised up his eyes and gazed upon the beam
The ocean’s grim and threatening cries were silenced by the gleam
And all was seen as mere milieu for the story of the star
And the man and I forgot our reason for remaining where we are
So we forsake our fear of going near the ocean’s raging wrath
We take foot in hand and leave the land and make the sea our path

And then, alas, I awoke though I wished I could dream on
For I longed to reach that singing star, though the journey would be long
But the more I found myself awake the more I saw that still I dreamed
For there was sense that I could make of what this star could mean
Today I stand upon a shore and dark waves assail my toes
And though I long to reach for more my dread will not let go
But over all the whelming flood a silent call breaks through
And the voiceless plea falls on me and replaces fear with Truth
So I pretend this won’t be my end, even though it may
But even so, still I know the waves will be my way

Did You?

Did you think you could do this without Me?
Did you think you were up to the task?
Did you forget I have all you’ll ever need?
Did you even remember to ask?

Did you think you had enough of your own strength?
Did you think you could outwit sin and death?
Did you think eternity has measurable length?
Did you forget the God who holds your breath?

Did you think you could ride winds that can’t be flown?
Did you think you could do what you can’t do?
Did you think you could make it on your own?
Tell Me. Did you?

The Tombs we Filled are Crumbling

The tombs we filled are crumbling
And the idols we built are tumbling
The safety we clung to is frightening
And the burden we bore is lightening

For the day is now near at hand, for which all creation groans
When praise will rise from surf and sand and stars and beasts and stones

The slaves are liberated
Grace is unabated
Now the lost will find
In darkness, Light doth shine

O Martyr! (A Victory Song)

O Martyr, cling to breath no more
O Martyr, shed the cloak of flesh you wore

O Martyr, grasp no more at life
O Martyr, your flesh is worth no strife

O Martyr, you have triumphed o’er your foes
O Martyr, you have escaped their every blow

O Martyr, heed not false prophets foretelling doom
O Martyr, your end is not found in any tomb

O Martyr, do not fear the grave
O Martyr, through death your life is saved

O Martyr, blood has paid the cost
O Martyr, the soul that follows is not lost

O Martyr, look, look on ahead
O Martyr, see the land where death is dead

O Martyr, death is lost in victory
O Martyr, you now shall live abundantly

O Martyr, let go your bloodied sword
O Martyr, go be present with thy LORD

O Martyr, fight and win and die
O Martyr, suffer first, then fly

O Watchman! (A Battle Cry)

O Watchman, abandon not your place
O Watchmen, keep a steady face

O Watchman, guard in night and day
O Watchman, in all conditions stay

O Watchman, heed not shades of night
O Watchman, send out thy beams of light

O Watchman, look upon the plane
O Watchman, see and say the same

O Watchman, watch for coming death
O Watchman, cry warning with all thy breath

O Watchman, see the horde that comes
O Watchman, stand and do not run

O Watchman, gather all your host
O Watchman, revile the assailant’s boast

O Watchman, send forth all your throng
O Watchman, the battle shan’t be long

O Watchman, stay vigilant and true
O Watchman, great things depend on you

O Watchman, the fight will soon be done
O Watchman, you have already won

O Sleeper! (A Call to Arms)

O Sleeper, you slothful, selfish mass
O Sleeper, awake now to your task

O Sleeper, arise now with the sun
O Sleeper, the battle rages on

O Sleeper, abandon not your post
O Sleeper, stand before the host

O Sleeper, lift your dreamy head
O Sleeper, rise now from the dead

O Sleeper, there is yet much to do
O Sleeper, duty calls to you

O Sleeper, awake at once and live
O Sleeper, you have much more to give

O Sleeper, the world around you cries
O Sleeper, open up you eyes

O Sleeper, list to their grim wails
O Sleeper, arise and do not fail

O Sleeper, bring an end to night
O Sleeper, Christ will give you Light

O Sleeper, we’ve Life too much to keep
O Sleeper, live and do not sleep

Swansong of the Dragon

In the night visions I beheld
A terror too terrible to tell
A dreadful dragon as it fell
And dragged behind it the heat of Hell

Its head was bruised and beaten in
The mortal wound worked within
To bring about the serpent’s end
Twas not a question of “if?” but “when?”

But before his grip on life slipped on
He cried out in a voice vile and strong
And the length of the fall that he fell was so long
That he had time to compose a corrupted song

“I fall! I fall! As I fell before
But now I fall forevermore
And the guilt and the blame and the shame that I bore
Are now exceeded an hundred times more

“But, though I go now to my doom,
The doom that down through the ages has loomed,
I have done all I could to make plenty of room
For those who would follow me down to my tomb

“Many I called, and many enticed
Many I baited with the virtues of vice
Many gave in, though they turned me down twice
At last they headed my harmful advice

“I seduced many more with ill-gotten gain
I ensnared them with vows of evading all pain
I gave lust and greed and everything vain
They loved me and mine, and welcomed my reign

“O what a ploy! O what a scheme!
With my cunning and with my wit oh so keen
I granted them more than they ever could dream
Now I must grant them my end, it seems

“That is what makes my deception so great
That they now must share in my torturous fate
They have seen the Truth now, but they saw It too late
I convinced them all that the Truth could wait.”

So singing, he fell away too far to hear
But it chilled my heart that his was so cheered
And my soul could not shake the terrible fear
Instilled by that dreadful song and drear

For, though ‘tis a vacant victory
Yet, it is much more than it should be
For the dragon’s vile and gluttonous greed
Cannot quench the Truth that makes men free

It is my own silence that allows him to sing
Our stifled speech lets his report ring
Oh, how dreadful and dire a thing
When the song of the dragon drowns the Truth of the King

comes Light

I must not cower
I must not hide
Though I have no power
And by Nature’s laws, I have no cause for pride

I must not falter
I must not fail
And my way must not be altered
Though its end betides the place where all joys hide behind Death’s veil

I must press on
And I must fight
Until all shadows have flown and gone
And, with their last flight and death of Night, comes Light

The Highway

The Highway

When I got on this road I didn’t know where it was going
There were no roadsigns pointing the way
But it went the direction the wind was blowing
And it looked as soothing as any road may

Now I’ve been going this way for quite a distance
No mile markers tell how far I’ve gone
I have only my feet’s uneven cadence
To measure the distance I’ve come

But at least this highway is not as thin as the other
Though its direction seems driven by chance
I never could stand narrow pathways that smother
And limit your freedom to dance

And that other way looked so rough and jagged
Not nearly as smooth as this one I’ve found
The other would have left my feet ragged
Here, good intentions pave the ground

So, still I walk this highway, not knowing my end or my speed
In the end I have done it all my way: each step, ev’ry thought, word, and deed
So, I hope that may be good enough when I come to the end and am dead
And I hope that hope is not snuffed when I arrive at the fire ahead

And now, despair grips my spirit
And now, my soul is not well
I can smell the flame, I’m so near it
This smooth highway has led me to Hell

Thus, highways are not always as they appear
And an easy road may lead to wrath
Be not dismayed by doubt and fear
Follow the straight and narrow path

O, Guiding Star (a song)

The road I walk is dark and thin
The narrow gate I entered in
Revealed a path that never bends
But leads to the star I see ahead
The guiding star I see ahead

Other roads bear more ease
And other masters try to please
But the end is dying and disease
And I learned these worldly ways to dread
And turn to the guiding star ahead

O, Guiding Star, theme of my song
I follow Thee and flee from wrong
Though evil may pursue me still
I may come to Thee and it never will
Guide my feet, keep me safe from harm
And light the way, o Guiding Star

The way is black as a midnight wraith
The path seems rocky as of late
But I press on and walk by faith
In submission to what You said
I follow the guiding star ahead

Sometimes I wonder at it all
Not knowing where my feet may fall
But faithfully I heed the Call
But follow to where it has led
That guiding star I see ahead

O, Guiding Star, O, Guiding Star
Bring me safe to where You are
Loudly, brightly show the way
Tell the path melt into day
Then hold me gently in Thine arms
Where no darkness dwells, O Guiding Star

Satan's Lullaby

Before my eyes I see a dream
And in the vision it doth seem
That Satan looks on earth and sneers
And his hissing voice he calmly clears

And as on the world the devil gazes, like a beast about to spring
His dark, demonic voice he raises, and a cursed lullaby he sings:

“Sleep, oh sleep, my hopeless child
Sleep, oh sleep, my blessed prey
Keep to thy bed safe and mild
Reap the fields another day

Sleep, oh sleep, young suckling babe
Sleep, oh sleep, thou mighty fool
Steep and toilsome is the way
Sheep are lost on crags so cruel

Slumber now upon my breast
Cumber not thy hearts to feel
Sleep, oh sleep, and find thy rest
Sleep, oh sleep, and lose thy zeal”

And so the devil sings to you, and so the devil sings to me
And so we think his words are true, and so we sit, and so we sleep

Oh, that while the LORD doth tarry
We would watch our adversary
Thwart his plans and stop his lies
And silence Satan’s lullaby