Temporary Guest (Ps. 39 & Luke 15)

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The eternal quest of a temporary guest cannot be easily described,                   but the matter of the heart is the matter at hand.

The unguarded heart, 

defiled and dishonored, 

Is full of treacherous deceit

and lies in wait for sin’s opportunity

to spew forth false-hearted hate.


The guarded heart broken, 

muzzled mouth mute, 

withholds its fiery tongue

and cries in supplication to God instead

who sees man’s frail estate.


The desperate sojourner,

lifting sorrowful prayers,

chooses to lay them at God’s feet

and begs for extrication from

a situation only he could create.


The mere breath, the vapor,

crying in conflicted rage,

cannot escape the travails of this world

yet hopes confidently in God,

He who disciplines and rescues from sin,

on Him the transient sojourner waits.


Look away, Lord,

See my sin no more!

Instead see Jesus’ blood

shed for me on the cross

and saving me from loss,

freeing me from a desperately wicked heart.


The eternal quest of a temporary guest is easier described than lived.

The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart,

And the heart that looks to Him lives.



kbp '22


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