Set to "Firestarter & Much-Afraid"; A Poetic Petition against the false creditor of Fear
(I ask) Break this chain I have accepted
Or forged for myself
(I confess) I fear more in being rejected
Than for lost souls' health
May I not put stock in this self that is passing
Than in the Rock of Refuge, ages everlasting
Who made souls to endure beyond life's clasp
Their frame established as the flower of the grass
My Merciful Creator, Sovereign King
Deliver me from this suffocating captivity
(I plead) Remove this muffling hand that I may sing
Boldly, in making known the Gospel's mystery
In Sovereignty, correct me to be deaf and blind
To carnal deceptions and the world's designs
Let Your mercy (for Your glory) turn me from their whispered advice
And may Your gaze (to my humility) arrest me from their crafty device
I should not fear the oppressor for the destruction he has prepared
For You are the present God from faithful past, Who made His arm bare
You divided the sea, whose waves roared
You are man's Maker and You are my Lord
Revive me in Your righteousness
Lest my silence conceal and transgress
To declare Your salvation and faithfulness
Is why You gave me time, mind and breath
O God, for the four hundred and nintieth time
I cry: Seek this lost one, leave the ninety-nine
Sanctify me; for, before the wicked, into silence I falter
And become a murky spring and polluted waters
If I have fallen timorous into disbelief
What hope is left to take?
This: If to Jesus (Your Word) I take heed
I can cleanse my way
(To Your glory) You have put Your words into my mouth
(And to my humility) You have covered me with the shadow of Your hand
To be joyful in glory, in my bed sing aloud
You are He who comforts me that I should not fear man
All things are of You, Who have given me this ministry
Please open for me a door to speak the King's mystery
That I may make it manifest as I ought to speak
Ambassador for my Lover as though the King, through me, pleads
The love of the King compels us
Because we judge thus
Knowing the terror of our Lord, we persuade rebellious men
(Estranged, former friends)
That since He died for all, they should live no longer to themselves
But for Him who died and rose again
Why should I concern myself to preserve that which will pass
My outer shell and renown, which only for a vapor, shall last?
Again, for the four hundred and nintieth time
I put off my vain reputation
(That it may die)
And put on (that I may live) this Light to shine to lost rebels blind
Your Word of reconciliation
