Hold You
A D(inv) A
I won’t get to hold you forever
A D(inv) A
Our days have been set from the start
A D(inv) F#m E D
But I promise you there is a purpose here
D E A
A music that calls to your heart
The echoes of mercy surround you
The shadows of grace touch your skin
That unending hope you were born into
Is waiting for you in heaven
You wrestle to breathe without thinking
You struggle to say what you mean
You’re hungry again, well it’s all you know
So taste of the goodness and see
The days are a swift consolation
The nights feel unbearably long
You can’t seem to reach what you’re longing for
The place where you know you belong
You can’t see the beauty around you
And glory is frighteningly dim
You’re not going crazy, it’s hard to bear
But there’s comfort in running to Him
I’ll tell you whenever you need it
As long as you’re with me, I swear
Salvation has come and it calls you home
The song that is drawing you near
Outro
A F#m D (repeat)
Sarah Sly
Sarah Sly is a poet and musician. Her art has always been inspired by small scenes from life. That life now includes around a very energetic one year old, who provides plenty of inspiration, but makes it much more difficult to find the time to do anything with it. She’s grateful to have, by God’s grace, gotten something down on the page this year.
Previous Work - 2024: Nehemiah
Will You Work
Steady humming, side by side
Following a pattern, innate but blind
Dance of many, synchronized
Joy now found, yours and mine
Harmonized labor, each its own
Spent and spending, for the whole
Unity of purpose, fine and strong
Marching out, and coming home
Haven of promise, being built
Hands and feet, a humble kit
Home for hope, with no more guilt
Secured for us, divine merit
Good news carried, on the breeze
Hope restored, flowing free
Sweet the treat, our glorious feast
This sinners’ song, encircling
Description
Each honey bee in a hive has a job, specific and important, for the life of the hive. Some gather pollen and nectar, some nursing the young, some build comb. But all are essential, and all work toward the same goal: the flourishing of the hive.
Reading Nehemiah, we see that God calls his people, in both the Old Testament and now, to a similar diversity of tasks but unity of purpose. In Nehemiah’s day, they worked to see the temple rebuilt, and now, believers in Jesus work to see His kingdom built. None of this work happens in our own strength, but only by our Creator’s blessed word, making our labor fruitful. This poem is called Will You Work.