The Greatest Rescue

Trapped in a cave for all of my years,

Seeing only darkness, knowing only fears,

Seeking liberation yet finding no reprieve,

I’ve lost the will to hope, and nearly to believe.

My only companion is one they call loneliness

Though recently I’ve met the one who calls himself hopelessness.

Sopping I huddle in my tears and in my sweat,

I’ve tried to regain courage but haven’t any yet.

The only thoughts I know are borne of darkness and despair;

They come to me, I reckon, because there’s no one there.

Long ago I gave up the tally of the days

That I have been alone down here, submerged in all the haze.

My eyes have grown accustomed to the fringes staring back,

But still the only thing I see is this pressing black.

I’ve lost my sense of hearing to the voices of the night,

My limbs have all grown numb and I’ve lost my sense of sight.

I only crave salvation, for someone to draw near,

Though I wouldn’t know a human voice from the devil’s in my ear.

I feel I’ve come to accept that this is now my home,

This cave that overwhelms me and I are all alone.

I’ve never met the daytime, for all I know is night,

I often sit and wonder what is this thing called light.

Oh how I yearn for the sun to warm my heart

But I’m afraid the sky and I will always be apart.

The only one I’ve ever touched is one they call the ground;

I grope for the hand of another but no one else is found.

I seek a revelation, for some small glimpse of glory,

For something that might actually give substance to my story.

Nonetheless I linger here, withering at the bottom of this well,

I soon predict this sunken hole will burrow straight to hell.

Alone in the darkness I wallow, in permanent dismay,

I deserve this grave I sit in, and here is where I’ll stay.

 

In a whirl of mystery I’m taken, scooped up toward the sky,

In a moment I feel lighter, but confused and wondering why.

My eyes have been re-blinded, but this time not by night,

Now my retinas burn from this brilliant, surging light.

A burden has been removed and lifted from my back,

My heart now has a jump that always before it lacked.

I feel like a wisp or a spirit, carried on glorious wings,

From somewhere inside I holler, from somewhere inside I sing,

Outwardly I cry, in humility and awe

Of the power and the honor and the glory of our God!

The angels blare their trumpets and the heavens shout His praise,

Such a tremor they’re making; such a marvelous noise they raise!

And I’m taken up in the middle of it, joined by millions more,

All proclaiming His name, from their being, from their core.

Everything is frightening, but gloriously so,

I close my eyes in wonder but still I feel the glow.

I feel it bursting forth from the chords within my chest,

Yet it’s radiating outwards and I’ve never felt so blessed.

I’ll never take for granted the grace that I’ve received,

This grace that far surpasses anything I ever believed.

I cannot fathom His forgiveness, cannot comprehend His love,

All I know is that now my soul has been delivered above.

I remember the darkness I dwelt in, the terror that reigned before,

But now I know this King who shall reign for evermore.

He’s rescued me from oblivion, relieved me from that cave

Where I spent those years of my life, deprived and so depraved.

He’s removed me from the black that surrounded entirely my soul,

And returned to me a vigor that makes me full, and whole.

He continues to give me life that thrives and overflows,

He fills me with a peace and joy that no one else could know.

He is the source of wisdom, of love, of hope, of light,

And nothing can stamp out these glories, not even the shadowless night.

I will marvel and sing in His presence, by His mercy, at His feet,

At the throne of grace I’ll bow, and there it’s Christ I’ll meet.

Even though I’m broken, and I’ve spent my days in the dark,

Christ has taken my stripes, and the nails have left their mark,

But nothing could ever conquer the victory He won,

By laying down His life for all because He is God’s Son.

The glory of His rescue will never, on me, be lost,

For He carried my darkness upon Him, and buried it by the cross.

I don’t know the weight of His glory, or even the depth of my fall,

But I certainly know His mercy, the greatest rescue of all!