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by Paul Lytle:
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If Me, O Lord
One written in 2008, after my work started to get more focused on Christ.
If me, O Lord, then surely she
who flipped me off as she drove by.
I know that anger well, my Lord,
for I had felt it strongly once.
When someone did not move when I
had wished him to, or drove too slow,
it welled within and overflowed.
So now she looks familiar, Lord,
for I had been her ’fore You came;
so save her, please, as I was saved.
If me, O Lord, then surely they
who plot all day to gain some power.
They vote and lobby, protest too.
And for their causes they would do
or say near anything, I know.
They wallow ’bout in politics
to fill the emptiness within.
They seek salvation in the ballot,
to save the world through legislation.
The goals not bad, I do confess,
but scrambling for little gains,
they put their cause before You, Lord.
I know because I did the same.
Before I knew You as a Savior,
a savior did I think myself.
I pushed a gospel false of movements,
of taxes, policies, and such.
In all my striving, death remained.
So now they look familiar, Lord,
for I had been them ’fore You came;
so save them, please, as I was saved.
If me, O Lord, then surely he:
the one now trapped by his own lusts.
So well acquainted with that demon
was I once, as You well know.
Just by a look I recognize
the desperate seeking for a touch,
just someone to remain so close;
he seeks the darker corners for
he knows none the brighter ones,
and neither I until You showed up.
So now he looks familiar, Lord,
for I had been him ’fore You came;
so save him, please, as I was saved.
What murderer, thief, or blasphemer
is out of reach for You, my Lord,
if I was within ranger of Your Grace?
In changing me you provèd how
Your miracles can overcome
the hardest will, the darkest heart.
And changing that dark heart toward love,
I must now ask for those behind.
If me, O Lord, then surely them;
if me, please Lord, then surely them.
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Paul Lytle
