A Note from the Poet

Dear Reader,

These words were born in the quiet ache of watching cruelty rise like a flood in our day—tears falling, reputations shattered, hearts hardened. Yet in the midst of it, I remembered the tender heart of God, who stores every tear in His bottle and calls us to be His hands of kindness in a world grown cold. May this poem be both a lament and a lifting up. Hide yourself in Him, the Shield and Hiding Place.

With prayer and hope,

The Poet

These verses affirm that God sees every hurt, hates all forms of cruelty, calls us to tenderness, and stands as our Shield and Hiding Place. Hide His Word in your heart, dear reader.

God Stores Every Tear

Psalm 56:8

Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

God Hates Cruelty, Evil Words & Deeds

Proverbs 6:16-19

These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Psalm 11:5

The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

Ephesians 4:29, 31-32

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying… Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Immorality Is Cruelty to Self

1 Corinthians 6:18

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body…

Swearing & Misuse of God’s Name

Exodus 20:7

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Hate Is Murder

1 John 3:15

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

Matthew 5:21-22

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill… But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…

God as Shield and Hiding Place

Psalm 18:2

The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Psalm 32:7

Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.

Psalm 91:4

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Psalm 27:5

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

Protection in Days Like Noah & Sodom

Matthew 24:37-39

But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage… until the flood came, and took them all away.

Luke 17:28-30

Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot… Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

2 Timothy 3:12-13

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Psalm 37:39-40

But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them…

O Lord, who gathers every tear

And stores them in Your bottle clear,

You see the wounds no eye can trace—

The shattered hearts, the silent fears.

You hate all cruelty with holy fire,

Each cutting word, each lifted spear

That tears down souls and ruins names,

That steals promotion, hope, and fame.

Be ye tender, gentle as the dove,

Kind in spirit, rooted in Your love.

For immorality wounds the self alone,

Swearing pierces Heaven’s throne.

Hate is murder in the secret place,

Yet You, O God, are full of grace.

In Sodom’s streets and Noah’s days,

When evil swells and darkness plays—

Rise up, Your people, shield each other!

Protect the weak, defend the brother.

Let tender hands and truthful tongues

Heal what the cruel have left undone.

You are our Shield in battle’s roar,

Our Hiding Place forevermore.

Beneath Your wings we find release,

Your mercy covers cruelty’s increase.

When tears overflow and sorrows swell,

You count them all and know them well.

No broken reed You cast away—

You lift the crushed at break of day.

Oh Lord, in this age of rising night,

Be our fortress, our guiding light.

Guard Your own with jealous care,

Till cruelty flees and love fills the air.

We hide in You, our Rock, our Stay,

Until the cruel storm has passed away.

Amen.