O wondrous love that will not let me go,
I cling to you with all my strength and soul.
Yet if my hold should ever fail,
This wondrous love will never let me go.
O wondrous love that’s come to dwell in me;
Lord who am I that I should come to know
Thy tender voice assuring me?
Your wondrous love will never let me go.
O wondrous love that rushes over me,
I can’t escape this river’s glorious flow!
You overwhelm my days with good,
Your wondrous love will never let me go.
[O Wondrous Love]
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Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.
When hoary time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
[The Love of God—Frederick M. Lehman]
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No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land,
I hear them hail thy bright ascendant star,
Hast thou no scar?
Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers, spent,
Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned:
Hast thou no wound?
No wound? No scar?
Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,
And pierced are the feet that follow Me;
But thine are whole: can he have followed far
Who has no wound nor scar?
[Hast thou no scar?—Amy Charmichael ]
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Our lives are made
in these small hours
these little wonders
these twists and turns of fate
time falls away
but these small hours,
these small hours still remain
[Little Wonders—Rob Thomas]
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Seek not afar for beauty
In wonder-workings, or in some bush flame,
We look for God and fancy Him concealed;
But in earth’s common things He stands revealed.
Seek not afar for beauty!
[3rd verse, Seek Not Afar for Beauty—Minot J. Savage]
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And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.
[Is. 42.16]
I will go before you and level the exalted places,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron,
I will give you the treasures of darkness
and the hoards in secret places,
that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
[Is. 45.2-3]
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I have joined the long defeat
That falling set in motion;
All my strength and energy
Are raindrops in the ocean.
So conditioned for the win
To share in victor's stories.
But in the place of ambition's din
I've heard of other glories.
[The Long Defeat—Sara Groves]
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I can tell by your eyes that you're not getting any sleep,
And you try to rise above it, but feel you're sinking in too deep.
Oh, oh I believe, I believe that
It's going to be alright,
It's going to be alright.
I believe you'll outlive this pain in you heart,
And you'll gain such a strength from what is tearing you apart.
Oh, oh I believe I believe that it’s going to be alright.
When some time has past us, and the story if retold,
It will mirror the strength and the courage in your soul.
I did not come here to offer you cliché’s,
I will not pretend to know of all your pain,
Just when you cannot, then I will hold out faith, for you.
It's going to be alright,
It's going to be alright.
[It’s Going to be Alright—Sara Groves]
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I've been holding on so tight,
Look at these knuckles,
They've gone white.
I'm fighting for who I wanna be,
I'm just trying to find security.
But You say let it go, You say let it go,
You say life is waiting for the one's who lose control.
You say you will be, everything I need,
You said if I lose my life it's then I'll find my soul.
You say let it go.
Well it's hard enough to hear,
Harder still, to move beyond this fear.
We know there's nothing I can bring,
So tell me what do you want from me?
But You say let it go, You say let it go,
You say life is waiting for the one's who lose control.
You say you will be, everything I need,
You said if I lose my life it's then I'll find my soul.
You say let it go.
[Let it Go—Tenth Avenue North]
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He said, "I will forget the dying faces;
The empty places,
They shall be filled again.
O voices moaning deep within me, cease."
But vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in forgetting lieth peace.
He said, "I will crowd action upon action,
The strife of faction
Shall stir me and sustain;
O tears that drown the fire of manhood cease."
But vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in endeavor lieth peace.
He said, "I will withdraw me and be quiet,
Why meddle in life's riot?
Shut be my door to pain.
Desire, thou dost befool me, thou shalt cease."
But vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in aloofness lieth peace.
He said, "I will submit; I am defeated.
God hath depleted
My life of its rich gain.
Futile murmurings, why will ye not cease?"
But vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in submission lieth peace.
He said, "I will accept the breaking sorrow
Which God tomorrow
Will to His son explain."
Then did the turmoil deep within him cease.
Not vain the word, not vain;
For in Acceptance lieth peace.
[In Acceptance Lieth Peace—Amy Charmichael]
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I know I need You,
I need to love You,
I love to see You, but it's been so long.
I long to feel You,
I feel this need for You,
And I need to hear You, is that so wrong?
Now You pull me near You,
When we're close, I fear You,
Still I'm afraid to tell You, all that I've done.
Are You done forgiving?
Oh can You look past my pretending?
Lord, I'm so tired of defending, what I've become.
What have I become?
I hear You say,
"My love is over. It's underneath.
It's inside. It's in between.
The times you doubt Me, when you can't feel.
The times that you question, 'Is this for real?'
The times you're broken.
The times that you mend.
The times that you hate Me, and the times that you bend.
Well, My love is over, it's underneath.
It's inside, it's in between.
These times you're healing, and when your heart breaks.
The times that you feel like you're falling from grace.
The times you're hurting.
The times that you heal.
The times you go hungry, and are tempted to steal.
The times of confusion, in chaos and pain.
I'm there in your sorrow, under the weight of your shame.
I'm there through your heartache.
I'm there in the storm.
My love I will keep you, by My pow'r alone.
I don't care where you fall, where you have been.
I'll never forsake you, My love never ends.
It never ends."
[Times—Tenth Avenue North]
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I passed understanding a long, long time ago,
And the simple home of systems and answers we all know.
What I thought I wanted, what I got instead,
Leaves me broken and somehow peaceful.
I keep wanting You to be fair,
But that’s not what You said.
I want certain answers to these prayers,
But that’s not what You said.
When I get to heaven I’m gonna go find Job,
I want to ask a few hard questions, I want to know what he knows,
About what it is he wanted and what he got instead,
How to be broken and faithful.
Staring in the water like Esops foolish dog,
I can’t help but reflect on what it was I almost lost,
What it was I wanted, what I got instead,
Leaves me broken and grateful.
I’m broken and grateful,
I want to be broken and grateful,
I want to be broken, peaceful.
[What I Thought I Wanted—Sara Groves]
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Not in vain, the tedious toil, On an unresponsive soil,
Travail, tears in secret shed, Over hopes that lay as dead.
All in vain, thy faint heart cries. Not in vain, thy Lord replies:
Nothing is to good to be; Then believe, believe to see.
Did thy labor turn to dust? Suff’ring – did it eat like rust
Till the blade that once was keen, As a blunted tool is seen?
Dust and rust thy life’s reward? Slay the thought; believe thy Lord!
When thy soul is in distress, Think upon His faithfulness.
Though there be not fig nor vine, In thy stall there be no kine,
Flock be cut off from the fold, Not a single lamb be told,
And thy olive berry fall Yielding no sweet oil at all,
Pulse-seed wither in the pod – Still do thou rejoice in God.
But consider, was it vain, All the travail on the plain?
For the bud is on the bough; It is green where thou didst plow.
Listen, tramp of little feet, Call of little lambs that bleat;
Hearken to it. Verily, Nothing is too good to be.
[Not In Vain—Amy Charmichael]
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Come, let us return to the Lord;
for He has torn us, that He may heal us;
He has struck us down, and He will bind us up.
After two days He will revive us;
on the third day He will raise us up,
that we may live before Him.
Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
His going out is sure as the dawn; He will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth.
[Hosea 6.1-3]
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It's been a hard year,
But I'm climbing out of the rubble;
These lessons are hard ,
Healing changes are subtle,
But every day it's
Less like tearing, more like building
Less like captive, more like willing
Less like breakdown, more like surrender
Less like haunting, more like remember
And I feel You here,
And You're picking up the pieces,
Forever faithful.
It seemed out of my hands, a bad situation,
But You are able,
And in Your hands the pain and hurt
Look less like scars and more like
Character.
Less like a prison, more like my room,
It's less like a casket, more like a womb,
Less like dying, more like transcending,
Less like fear, less like an ending.
Just a little while ago
I couldn't feel the power or the hope,
I couldn't cope, I couldn't feel a thing.
Just a little while back
I was desperate, broken, laid out, hoping
You would come.
[Less Like Scars—Sara Groves]
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For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end - it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
And the LORD answered me:
"Write the vision; make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
[Habakkuk 2.3, 2]
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Jeremiah tell me about the fire
That burns up in your bones
I want to know
I want to know more now
The burning of ambition and desire
It never could come close
To that fire
I was looking to myself
And I forgot the power of God
I was standing with a sparkler in my hand
While I stood so proud and profound
You went and burned the whole place down
Now that’s a fire
I was caught up in this vice
And it’s power to entice
I was dwelling on my hopelessness and doubt
With the slightest invitation
You came with total detonation
Now that’s a fire
I was warming my hands by this little light of mine
but now I know it’s time
time to come in from the cold
Fight fire with fire, come fan the flame
come stir up these coals in my soul, in my soul
till it burns out of control
[Jeremiah—Sara Groves]
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We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
Persecuted, but not forsaken;
struck down, but not destroyed;
Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
[2 Cor. 4:8-10]
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