Thursday, August 8, 2013

Mercy & Justice

Mercy & Justice

I know You never tarry
I know You never do,
But sometimes I look about
And I simply don't see You.

I don't see You in Your people
As they proclaim Your name, 
Diverted eyes that ignore injustice
Are to Your people's shame.

I want justice as I look about
But it's mercy You've said to love,
But I just simply can't do that
Without Your help from above. 

My fist I shake toward the heavens
As I demand "Your" justice here,
With every shout and shake
You fade completely from my mirror.

You are God, I am not
You see what I can't see,
I know things need to change
So begin by changing me.

Not to lose the heart for justice,
But to love Your mercy more,
Remembering the grace of the cross
Is what Jesus hung there for. 

It's the scandal of Your goodness
The reality that Your grace abounds
For if not standing in Your mercy,
In no hope would I be found.

Oh Father, please forgive me again
For how quickly I always forget
That it's by your mercy that I stand
Not drowning in the injustice I regret.

If I demand for them "Your" justice
Those I point out and I see,
That same justice I demand
Has to be poured out on me.

Your mercy flows from the cross
And it meets no limit or dam,
It flows where You see fit
You alone, the Great I Am.

Your justice too was settled there
On the cross at Calvary,
Jesus took the justice
For them as well as me.

Help me with with justice and mercy
Walking humbly as You decreed,
For You alone are the One wise God,
The Author of mercy and justice indeed. 

By Diana DePriest
© August 8, 2013