A soul once crawled out from the bowels of the grave
That soul knew for sure it was on the road of the dead
When a hand pressed to its back, about which it wondered
Encouraged the soul to go up to the land of the living
The soul endured cruel mockery for its attempts
The scars of the enslaver, to crawl back to death was fiercely evident
But a strong hand, a Loving Presence encouraged the soul to crawl out
Broke the shackles and the hold of the wicked
Until the soul saw the light of the Presence that rescued it
And so he sat, his own wickedness the only sound in his thorax
Until a heart of flesh grew in at the place where he considered the thing
In his freedom the soul started to cry out to The One who saved him
Grieving his shame before Him in confessions day and night
Listen, listen to the soul cry
Though my soul was not upright within me, I will trust in you
My shout will pierce the veil of earth above the hue
I will cry out loud into the ether in praise of your goodness
Not only because you delivered me from my unrighteousness
Instead of harboring sin and filthiness
I now hear the labor of a pure heart bleating in this chest
It beats the rhythm of the grace you gave to justify my life
I heard you’ve even made me righteous in your son, Jesus Christ
Though I count me unworthy to even be your servant
Haven’t you even afforded me faith to live by
And now count me among your many children
Oh, Father, my Father, my Heavenly Lord and Savior
Allow me with the faith you have given to me to seek shelter
Within your grace and in your mercy
And with this love you liberally give me in my own beating heart
To love you with the love you have loved me from the start
Teach me to seek you Lord, in Spirit and in Truth
For it is you, my God, who has delivered me from the sins of my youth
In this graceful knowledge, this truth, do your children abound
That even though our wickedness is brought often to the front of our memories
You exhort to keep our eyes on your loving son, Christ Jesus
We keep silence in tribulation because it is you Great Jehovah, our God who defends us
You even show zeal for a son who walked life as a sinner
Whom you took pity on, when in the valley of dry bones you saw me
Hastily drudging along the way to the pit
With all the marks of a soul full of arrogance, fully blinded
Bound and chained, guided with shrouded eyes to sheol
But you took pity and gave me mercy
You unchained me and threw off my shackles of slavery
Shouldered the things from me, which had become burdensome and heavy
My burdens you taught me to lay down
To pick up instead the cross of your loving son
To turn away from the taunts and attempts of the accuser and to press on
You even gave me the praise and thanksgiving I needed to chant to the only Upright One
What a name is Jesus, the righteous one who baptizes by Spirit and by fire
The only name in creation worthy to lift up high
The name by which all other names have life
Look to Him I hear you saying, look to Him
In Jesus, my son, is the only means of your salvation
And so, the soul became a man in deep, deep contrition
Considering what to do with his newfound freedom
Guided by this new heart and this new mind to which he often
Turns in silence to seek the guidance of the bright shining Son
That tells him, live pure as the heart given to you
For the sake of the one with whom I wish to abide with you forever
And the words, those wonderful words the man now regards
That of all he sees with free eyes, of all he could do or have, the will of God is far better
And in this word he fully trusts
Thanks to the grace of God, the righteous shall live by his faith
Every soul has a story that others share. Few can understand the weight lifted and just how much we owe to the one true God. As for this soul, he came to realize that every praise written on the scrolls, even those included in the Bible were praises from conversations with God. We could never add to them, but we recite them out loud because of the works the Lord continues to do in us. If you recognize the story of the Soul Cry or wonder about it – my heart beats with you. Subscribe or contact to keep in touch.
