DOUGLAS BOND 

O Christ, My Life, My Highest Joy

"...My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from me, and my relatives stand afar off; those who seek my hurt speak of destruction...For I am ready to fall, and my sorrow is ever before me... Do not forsake me, oh Lord; O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation." (from Psalm 38)       

                                                                                                           

                                                                                                               Listen to the marvelous new tune by Kinslea Rae Davenport

 

O Christ, my life, my highest joy,

With heart in hand, my tongue employ

To sing your praise, to shout your worth,

While troubles spread throughout the earth.

 

When crushed with suffering I complain

Of ruined hopes, of grinding pain;

My joy destroyed by discontent,

I sigh, I murmur, I lament.

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My God, my God, restore my joy;

Forsake me not; my lips employ,

Lamenting praise and lisping worth,

While woe and sorrow fills the earth.

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Lament for all that should have been,

Regret for emptiness and sin,

Lament for unrelenting wrongs

That leave us bitter mourning songs.

 

O God, the Lord, restore our joy;

Though come what may, our tongues employ

To hymn your praise, to sing your worth,

While lies and slander fill the earth.

 

Rejected by beloved ones,

By family, daughters, and by sons;

Accused of wrongs we did not do,

Or say, or feel, that are not true.

 

Though foes conspire throughout the earth,

Lament, begone; I’ll praise God’s worth,

With steadfast heart, my lips employ:

O Christ, my life, my highest joy!

 

            Douglas Bond ©, 10/29/2020