1
When God prescribes a bound
The tempter lurks within -
The self whom we confound
Deceives by passion’s sin.
Adam and Eve learned this.
Freedom is illusory
And no tongue can taste bliss
From life’s forbidden tree.
2
Inside the Ark is found
The covenanted Heart,
The Promised Land’s true ground
Transcending ink or chart.
When this pure truth‘s forgot,
Innocent blood is spilled,
The Commandments we blot
And Babel’s Tower build.
3
Moses pleaded with Pharaoh but knew
The seas are parted from within.
The tormentor in the end shall rue,
Reaping the consequence of sin.
So Joshua circled Jericho
And Jonah went to Nineveh.
The Ocean summons, and we flow,
Feeling its tug in our river.
4
If God’s obedient servants are,
Like Job, powerless playthings caught
In an invisible war, are
Deeds and prayers then all for naught?
Heaven exacts a price on earth
To hold faith in a greater good
Than we measure by outer worth,
More than we know - or ever could.
