A Poem for the Downcast

When I can’t see You, Lord,

Be Thou my light. 

Darkness consumes my path, 

On this black night. 

Yet though I cannot see, 

You hold me tenderly. 

Dark is but light to thee. 

Be Thou my sight.

When I can’t feel You, Lord. 

Be Thou my hope. 

I feel like I’m at the 

End of my rope. 

You feel so far from me,

yet I cling desperately, 

You came to set me free, 

light is Your yoke. 

When I can’t hear Your voice, 

help me to trust. 

You are eternal, and, 

I am but dust.

Yet though You seem so far, 

I recall who You are,

be Thou my guiding star,

Lord, true and just. 

 

When pain tries to crush me, God,

be Thou my Friend,

You’re my beginning, and

You are my end.

Though life’s sorrows cut me,

with bruised heart and scraped knees,

I wait only for Thee,

You’re coming again. 

This poem is based on the following Scripture: 

 

Where can I go to escape your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to heaven, you are there;

if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

If I fly on the wings of the dawn

and settle down on the western horizon,

even there your hand will lead me;

your right hand will hold on to me.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,

and the light around me will be night”—

even the darkness is not dark to you.

The night shines like the day;

darkness and light are alike to you.

— Psalm 139:7–12

 

Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

— Matthew 11:28–30

 

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,

and rescues them from all their troubles.

The Lord is near the brokenhearted;

he saves those crushed in spirit. 

— Psalm 34:17–18

 

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

— Revelation 1:8

 

Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away. Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.”

— Revelation 21:3–5