Waves

I was not there to watch you shut
the sea within its doors,
to see you lift the mountains up
and bind the earth with shores,
but I have seen the ocean swells
rise up and break and fall,
that something of your mercy tells
beneath the gull's wild call.

For we are past the solstice now,
and summer's hold must break
though cruelty will have its hour
and Pharaoh holds his sway.
They rise and grow; they crash and sink
like waves upon the shore.
There is a time for everything—
so peace will come once more.

You set the limits of the sea
and you can part its waves,
just as you set the pris'ners free
and open up our graves.
You cast the mighty from their thrones
to crash upon the sands:
Though now we walk through waves unknown,
we still are in your hands.

Breaking wave in Porto Covo, Portugal By Alvesgaspar – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36434062

Empty

I hear the promise whisper
and echo through the days;
it beckons from a distance
down all your winding ways.
You call me, but I linger
and stop to look behind:
What if the jar goes empty?
What if the jug runs dry?

Beyond all reassurance,
beyond the bounds of hope,
your whisper calls me further 
and urges me to go
where there is no more plenty,
no solid ground to find,
where every jar goes empty
and every jug runs dry.

Oh, give me then the courage
to go on all unsure,
to catch the Spirit blowing
and let the sails unfurl,
to find when I am empty
and when my heart is dry,
that you are yet unfailing
and mercy still is kind.

Greek amphora, National Archaeological Museum of Athens, showing the goddess Athena. By Ricardo André Frantz (User:Tetraktys) – taken by Ricardo André Frantz, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2276568

Lead Me To Your Rest

Come, the night is nearing;
all my days fly west.
I have long been weary,
striving to be blessed.
Gentle stars appearing
show a road unguessed:
Come, O Lord, draw near me;
lead me to your rest.

Come and take my fearing,
take my anxious breath.
Lay the balm of healing
where I long have bled.
Come, new lights revealing
though the sun has fled.
Come, O Lord, draw near me;
lead me to your rest.

Come, on dark ways stealing,
guide my searching steps.
Though I'm stumbling, reeling,
walk beside me yet.
With your mercy seal me;
touch my heart and head.
Come, O Lord, draw near me;
lead me to your rest.