(Worship leader: A Korah family poem.)
I clearly remember
Hearing the stories, God.
They’ve been told and retold
For generations,
Those things you did long ago
Even before our grandparents
Were born.
With your very own hand
You weeded out nations,
Planting our ancestors
In their place.
You tossed the others
Into the compost heap,
Tending our ancestors
Till they flourished.
Our ancestors fought no battles
To win the land,
Never relying on their own strength.
It was your fingers
And the strength of your arm
And your happy,
Smiling face
That did all the work,
For you loved them so very much.
My King,
My God,
You speak
And Jacob wins.
With you on our side,
Our enemies trip over themselves
As they run away,
And we trample them
Into dust
Beneath our boots.
Guns gain me no glory,
I don’t trust my tech.
What counts is you, God.
You’re the source of our victories.
You’re the one who puts those haters
To shame.
We’ll talk about God all day long.
Thanking him for what he’s done
Never gets old.
But wait a minute!
What’s going on?
You’ve walked off and shamed us.
You’re busy elsewhere
When we battle.
Because of you,
Now we’re the ones retreating,
We’re the ones getting ransacked.
Eaten live!
Kicked from one country to another.
We’re last year’s fashion
Put on the clearance rack
And purchased for next to nothing,
Losers sold at a loss.
You made us the punchline
To our neighbors’ jokes,
As they chuckle
With condescension.
People mention our names
And laugh,
Shaking their heads
At our black comedy lives.
I can’t go outside
Or online
Without some new reason
To feel shame.
The taunts come from every side.
My haters are having a heyday,
Indulging their spite
To my sorrow.
All this has been piled
On top of us
Though we’ve never forgotten you,
Though we’ve never
Walked away from your covenant bond.
Our hearts took no u-turns.
Our feet took no rabbit trails.
But you crushed us.
You left us empty
Like an echo in an alley.
It’s nighttime
All the time
Now.
If we’d lived as if God
Doesn’t exist
Or lost track of our faith
In idol snares,
God would have noticed.
There are no hidden corners
Or closets of our heart
He doesn’t see clearly.
But for your sake,
We are willing to stare
Death in the eye
All day long.
For you,
We are willing to line up
To be butchered
Like submissive sheep.
So, get out of bed, God!
Why are you sleeping?
Get up and get going!
Stop treating us like nothings.
Why do you look at everyone
Except us?
It’s like you’re blind
To our pain,
To our suffering.
We’re dying here!
We might as well just climb down
Into our graves.
We’re goners.
So, get up and get going!
Bring the cavalry to the rescue!
We need that never-stopping,
Relentless love
You’re famous for
To save us.