1. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34)
A voice above the clamor softly pleads, Forgiving those who nail Him to the tree, Their blindness sown in dark and bitter deeds, Yet mercy flows where wrath might claim its fee. The soldiers cast their lots, the crowd derides, Each jeer a thorn to pierce His tender frame, But love, unyielding, in His heart abides, And pardons all who mock His holy name. What grace is this, that spares the guilty hand? What strength to bless where curses might be hurled? A king enthroned where mortals dare not stand, He breaks the chains that bind a fallen world. From splintered wood, a prayer ascends on high, To save the lost, though they condemn Him die.
2. “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43)
Beside Him hangs a thief, with breath near spent, Whose life in shadow reaped a bitter end, Yet in his plea, a spark of hope is lent, A whispered cry for Christ to call him friend. The cross, a gallows meant for shame and doom, Becomes a gate where mercy’s light breaks through, For Jesus speaks amidst the gathering gloom, And promises a dawn forever new. No years of penance, no atoning rite, Just faith that clings to Him in final breath, And lo, the soul ascends to realms of light, Outstripping sin and overturning death. In one brief word, eternity is won, A thief made heir beside the sinless Son.
3. “Woman, behold your son… Behold your mother” (John 19:26-27)
Amid the anguish of His waning hours, He sees her stand, His mother, cloaked in woe, Her heart a field torn by affliction’s powers, Yet still she lingers where the blood-drops flow. To John He turns, His friend of faithful years, And binds them fast in love’s enduring care, A son for her to stem the flood of tears, A mother for the one who stood so near. Though death encroaches, duty holds Him fast, To weave a bond beyond the grave’s cold claim, A family forged where earthly ties won’t last, United still beneath His sacred name. From cross to earth, His tenderness extends, A legacy of love that never ends.
4. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34)
The sky grows black, the sun retreats in dread, A cry escapes the lips of Him who bore The weight of sin, where once He broke the bread, Now broken, lost where none have gone before. Eternal Son, yet severed from the light, He drains the cup no mortal could endure, The Father’s face withdrawn from anguished sight, A rift to make the wandering soul secure. What desolation echoes in that call? What depths of grief could rend the heavens wide? Yet in His fall, He lifts us from our fall, The forsaken One for whom the forsaken cried. The psalm He quotes becomes His victory’s plea, A bridge from exile back to unity.
5. “I thirst” (John 19:28)
A parched and whispered word cuts through the air, The lips that spoke the seas to life now dry, A man in flesh, with mortal need to bear, He thirsts beneath a dark and hollow sky. They offer gall, a mockery of aid, Yet He, who gave the springs their ceaseless flow, Endures the sting, His purpose undismayed, To drink the dregs that only He could know. This thirst is more than body’s frail demand, It longs to quench the world’s eternal flame, To bear its drought within His wounded hand, And carve through dust a river in His name. From arid cross, a fountain soon will rise, A stream of grace to flood the tear-stained eyes.
6. “It is finished” (John 19:30)
The labor ends, the task at last complete, A single breath declares the triumph won, No more to bleed, no further foe to meet, The shadowed veil of sin forever spun. The temple trembles, earth itself gives way, As He, the Lamb, fulfills the ancient plan, The price is paid, the debt no more to pay, Redemption wrought by one unblemished Man. No boast, no cry of conquest loudly rings, Just quiet words that shake the gates of hell, A victory born where suffering clings, A tale of love no tongue can fully tell. The cross, once death, now stands as life’s great sign, “It is finished”—freedom’s chord divine.
7. “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46)
The final sigh, a trust beyond the veil, He yields His soul where mortal strength would quail, No fear, no doubt, though flesh and spirit fail, A child returns where love will never pale. The hands that shaped the stars now hold Him near, The Father’s arms, His refuge from the strife, A whispered peace to silence every fear, The bridge from death into eternal life. This last surrender crowns His earthly road, A king who reigns by giving all away, The seed that dies to lighten every load, The dusk that breaks into undying day. From cross to glory, faith has paved the flight, His spirit soars into the endless light.
Written in the same format at Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem “The Cry Of The Children”.
I
Do ye hear the voices weeping, oh, my brothers, Ere the chains grow cold with rust and time? From the shadows rise the sighs of others, Bound in silence, sold for blood and dime. Their cries are muffled, locked in holds below, Yet through the stillness pierce the anguished calls— A hymn of sorrow mortals ought to know, Where freedom falls beneath the trafficker’s thralls.
II
For they are young, the stolen, tender-hearted, Plucked from hearths where once they laughed and played, To distant lands by cruel hands carted, Their innocence a coin too swiftly weighed. The meadows green, the skies of azure hue, Are lost to them—replaced by iron gloom, And yet ye say, “The world turns ever new,” While children rot in trafficking’s dark womb.
III
Do ye see their eyes, so wide with terror, Gazing through the bars of flesh-made cages? Their dreams dissolve in nights of bitter error, Their youth inscribed on slavery’s grim pages. They call to God, but hear no soft reply, For mortal greed has drowned the sacred sound— “Oh, let us live!” their spirits faintly cry, Yet none to loose the shackles can be found.
IV
The wheels of commerce grind with ceaseless motion, The ports grow fat with ships of human woe, And gold is king across the sprawling ocean, While souls are bartered, reaped, and set to go. Ye merchants clad in silk, with hands so clean, Ye build your towers on their breaking bones— Their blood anoints the wealth ye hold serene, Their whispered pleas drowned out by market tones.
V
“Go ask the mothers,” say ye, “where they wander, Those little ones who vanish in the night?” But mothers weep where shadows grow and ponder, Their empty arms a testament to fright. The trafficker’s snare, a web of cunning spun, Has torn the babe from breast, the child from kin, And left behind a silence cold as stone— A grief too vast for mortal hearts to win.
VI
They toil unseen in fields of bitter harvest, Or sweat in dens where light has never crept, Their bodies bent, their spirits pushed the farthest, While captors count the profits they have reaped. No Sabbath rest, no hymn to lift their care, No gentle hand to wipe their tears away— The whip, the chain, the hollow-eyed despair, Are all they know from dusk to dreary day.
VII
And yet ye say, “The world is fair and golden, The sun doth shine on all beneath its ray!” But what of those in darkness, bought and solden, Whose sun was stolen ere it reached midday? The pretty popular shells of wealth and might, Parade their gleam to blind the righteous eye— Yet beneath their sheen lies trafficking’s cruel blight, A truth ye shun while captives still decry.
VIII
“Go play,” ye bid the free, “the fields are calling, The brooks are bright, the flowers sweet with dew!” But oh, the captive hears no lark enthralling, No stream runs free where chains are forged anew. Their play is labor, endless, bleak, and dire, Their flowers bloom in dreams they dare not keep— For every breath is sold to lust’s desire, And every hope lies buried six feet deep.
IX
The righteous weep, yet hands remain unmoving, The laws are slow, the courts with mercy shy, While traffickers in shadows keep their proving, That flesh is cheap beneath a careless sky. Oh, brothers, sisters, hear their muted plea, Their voices rise though bound by iron bands— Shall freedom sleep while captives cannot flee, And justice falter in our idle hands?
X
They dream of home, of voices soft and tender, Of faces lost beyond the sea’s divide, But waking brings the lash, the cold surrender, To lives where hope has long since bled and died. The sea that bears them forth cares not their fate, Its waves a shroud for souls it cannot save— How long, O God, must innocence await, The breaking dawn to shatter chain and grave?
XI
“God sees,” ye say, “and judgment looms eternal, The wicked fall beneath His holy rod!” But what of now, this hell so raw and vernal, Where mortals mock the mercy of their God? Salvation, the pinnacle of gifts, ye preach, Yet leave the lost to languish in their strife— Shall heaven wait while trafficked souls beseech, And earth denies them breath of freest life?
XII
Oh, turn your eyes from gold and fleeting pleasures, Unstop your ears to hear their anguished strain, For every soul ye save is worth the measures, To break the yoke and loose the captive’s chain. The gospel bids us love, the truth to seek, To bear the cross for those in bondage torn— Rise up, ye strong, defend the frail and weak, Lest ye forget the sorrow they have borne.
XIII
Do ye hear the voices weeping, oh, my brothers, From holds of steel, from brothels dark and drear? Their cry ascends, a call to rouse the others, To free the bound, to dry the captive’s tear. Let not their blood stain hands that could have freed, Let not their chains outlast our will to fight— For grace and mercy bid us intercede, Till trafficking’s long night gives way to light.
Beneath the vaulted sky, a whisper hums, A silver thread of dawn through shadows spun, The Word ignites—alive, a embered drum, And bids the soul to rise, to chase the sun.
Not ears alone shall cradle sacred sound, Nor hearts grow fat on echoes richly sown, For truth, a seed, lies dormant in the ground— Unplowed, unworked, its bloom remains unknown.
Behold the hands, those heralds of the will, That carve the stone and bend the iron’s frame, They dance with dust upon the windswept hill, And etch in flesh what tongues alone proclaim.
The river roars, a mirror to the call, Its currents cleave the earth in ceaseless might, So too the doer heeds, forsakes the stall, And wields the day against the shroud of night.
Through tempest’s howl, through flame’s unyielding stare, The Word takes root in sinew, sweat, and stride, A cathedral grows where once stood empty air— Its spires ascend where faith and act collide.
No longer bound to benches carved of pine, Nor lulled by hymns that drift on idle breath, The soul unfurls, a banner made divine, A living creed that triumphs over death.
So let the chorus swell, the heavens rend, A crescendo vast, of purpose fiercely free, For those who do, the stars themselves descend, To crown their works with light eternally.
From deeds of might and grandeur bold, To humble cups of water cold, All for the glory of our King, Our promised reward shall ring. Bless the Lord, O my soul, arise, Forget not His gifts before our eyes.
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
Colossians 2:10 (KJV)
Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Colossians 1:28 (KJV)
Clothed in righteousness, royal and bright, Our Savior, King, our guiding light. Our debts, once vast, are fully paid, No claim of our own can be made. In robes of salvation, exquisite, divine, We’re holy, redeemed, in His design.
Servants royal to the King of Kings, Our hearts with praise forever sing. No greater honor could we claim, Than heirs to Yahweh’s holy name. Exalt the Lord, above all raised, His name supreme, forever praised!
We’re His alone, by blood made whole, Perfect through the cross’s toll. The risen Christ, soon to reign, Our costly King, who bore our pain. Bless the Lord, O my soul, adore, Forget not His gifts forevermore!
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:4-11 (KJV)
A marvelous mercy, unending, divine, Majestic flows from Christ, our Savior-King, His tender streams, a boundless, sacred vine, O’erflow where faith and penitence take wing. No scheming tide, no hidden will restrains, But lavish love pours forth in boundless grace, Forgiveness gleams through mercy’s sweet refrains, Irrevocable once His gift we trace.
To Jesus run, El Rachum, Mercy’s Name, Compassion’s God, whose heart redeems the lost, His gentle gaze ignites salvation’s flame, A glow that crowns the soul at mercy’s cost. By this alone—His love, His truth, His care— We step into His royal realm of light, A kingdom vast, eternal, rich, and rare, Where grace enthrones the humble in His sight.
Let all reborn in spirit’s holy birth, Revel beneath His mercy seat sublime, An imperial throne of splendor on this earth, Where He adores, welcomes, through endless time. His mercy falls, a shield, a victor’s song, Our comfort weaves through every fleeting breath, Triumph and strength where weary hearts belong, In Christ, the Word, who conquers sin and death.
What Savior this, who justifies our plea, Sanctifies, atones, with Heaven’s golden key, King of Kings, whose mercy sets us free, Our Lord of Lords, our joy eternally!
A blessed balance, Scripture’s sacred call, Weaves grace, truth, mercy, love in holy thread, Yet some chase grace, let gospel’s ramparts fall, Compromise slinks, a shadow thinly spread. Others wield truth, a hammer cold and stark, No mercy flows, no love to lift the load, Legalism binds, a cruel and crushing mark, Too vast a yoke for fragile souls bestowed.
Some sing of love, yet mute the righteous flame, No grace, no truth to guard the narrow way, O Lord, bestow on saints Thy perfect aim, A blend divine where all Thy gifts hold sway! For Christ alone, our Star of flawless gleam, Exudes this dance—grace pours, yet truth stands tall, Mercy renews each morn in radiant stream, Love crowns it all, redeeming every fall.
To Him we run, in Him we bask and grow, His beauty molds our flawed and yearning clay, Through knowledge deep, His grace begins to flow, A fourfold light to guide us day by day! He, risen King, the Exemplar pure and whole, Our Source of wisdom, strength, salvation’s song, May we reflect His traits in every soul, Small Christs aflame, where His great name belongs.
For Jesus reigns, the Balance without flaw, King of all kings, with love and truth entwined, O let us strive, with passion and with awe, To mirror Him, in heart, in soul, in mind!
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Matthew 5:11-12 (KJV)
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4and patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Romans 5:3 (KJV)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Romans 5:22-23 (KJV)
As Christ’s own flame, a fervent heart aflame, A target gleams upon our backs, so stark— From lost souls blind, from nominals who claim, Yet ape the world in dress and worldly mark. Wolves prowl near, in wool their fangs disguise, While haters scorn our Savior’s precious name— May every dart, each stone, each hateful guise, Stoke passion fierce for Christ, our endless flame!
Let slander’s sting, persecution’s roar, Become our badge, a holy honor worn, Each lie a seed, blessed beneath the core, That blooms to gold, where Spirit’s fruit is born! Thorns prick here, and tears may carve their stream, Yet Heaven turns them crowns of radiant glee— We stand unbowed, in Jesus’ light supreme, Rejoicing still, till face to face we see!
1And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2and all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. 3Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. 6Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
7The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. 8The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 9The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. 10And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 13And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: 14and thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
15But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 16cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. 17Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. 18Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 19Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
20The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. 21The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. 22The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. 23And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. 24The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
25The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. 26And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away. 27The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. 28The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: 29and thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee. 30Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof. 31Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them. 32Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand. 33The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: 34so that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. 35The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
36The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. 37And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee. 38Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it. 39Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. 40Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit. 41Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. 42All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume. 43The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. 44He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. 45Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: 46and they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.
47Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; 48therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. 49The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; 50a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: 51and he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. 52And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. 53And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: 54so that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: 55so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. 56The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, 57and toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.
Words of Warning
58If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE Lord THY GOD; 59then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. 60Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. 61Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. 62And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God. 63And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. 64And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. 65And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: 66and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: 67in the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. 68And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.
Passionately Pursuing Christ 