By His Stripes

stolen charred dark of my heart is so starkly
contrasted against the lights of the sky.
pathways derived from the constellation's stride -
arrogant, I would think them my guide.
<b>chorus i.</b>
my selfish faith, this saving grace.
are these chains not loosed from me?
i breathe contempt, i've no defense.
we have everything we need.
marred endless days i spent aching for truth,
and forty long nights to be spoken of too.
You're so casually revered, but I need You here,
I need to dry my trembling face upon Your beard
<b>chorus ii</b>
i drift apart from what's discerned,
come hell or high water i've learned.
i breathe contempt, i've no defense.
i curse Your name almost every day.
<b>bridge</b>
the hull is snapping, my voice is cracking,
water floods my lungs and chest,
i don't know what to do -
i'm saline and salted, stricken bereft,
i shake and i shake but there's just nothing left.
so I grab Your hand, but I thrust stakes in,
acting charming, coy, uncertain of my sin.
but through the holes in Your hands,
i can see everything;
the meaning of the world, human history.
the book is sealed, let my will be Thine,
for by Your wounds - not mine - are we healed.
stave off the cold, stave off the cold.
no, i am not my failures.
i will tread water no more, <i>(my heart is Yours)</i>
for I have washed along these shores -
to Jesus Christ, my Saviour.