To Synagogue I Go

Weighed down, bent over, demonic oppressed,
ridiculed, in pain, and much embarrassed. 
To synagogue, to Synagogue did I still press;
but much was done to slow my progress.

18 years my oppressor has tried to bar my way;
but faithful to synagogue I endeavored to stay.
Much wickedness and deceit were leveled at me;
in worship I pressed hopeful for the healing to be.

Young men once were sent with evil mirth.
In violence, I was thrown down to lay on earth.
I struggled to rise as the laughter's distance grew.
On I pressed with desire to worship anew.

Then there were dogs with teeth all gnashing;
crippled and bent with no hope of dashing.
With stick for walking I managed one cudgel.
One blow enough, hearing God's word thus enabled.

Then there were women that sneered and jeered;
"who would ever hold someone so ugly as deared?"
Embarrassed and broken I traveled and cried;
still resolved to seek God even if never a bride.

The children would run near hoping I would fall;
singing songs of how glad I was not mother of them all.
Shamed, weighed down with destined vacancy of womb; 
I beseeched the God of Sara and Hanna for life to enter this tomb.

Seeking comfort and hope from those who rule synagogue;
rather got conviction and disgust, them wishing I was gone.
Rejected by the culture of man and beast alike;
to synagogue I go, God's law my only hope of light.

To synagogue I go again like any day;
cursed with all hope beginning to wane.
However, this Sabbath day there was new energy in air;
a new teacher has come, and its Jesus that's here. 

Standing in back and I thought out of sight; 
but saw me He did and called me through crowd of spite.
Never more scared and embarrassed was I as then;
but move forward I did with faith stretched thin.

Nervous and shamed I stood before Him; 
back bowed down in perpetual bend.
Never has shame and guilt attacked so fierce;
wanting to flee: I stood, held in place.

Never for me had a face such compassion amass;
as if He known all the pain of my past.
Then His sweet voice sounded, redefining identity
"Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity."

And then something happened I could not explain.
King, Savior, Messiah touched me extinguishing all pain.
My soul exploded in praise and exhalation;
with back straight and arms raised for first time to heaven.

Awe filled the atmosphere, but soon turned to hate.
Due to Sabbath day, they said my healing should wait.
Messiah intervened and set religious leaders straight;
He would not allow wickedness to use me as its bait.

All content copyrighted ©; 2017 William McDonald

Equipped

Child, where be the helmet made by me?
Forged with blood upon wooden beam.
Wear always for salvation's assurance be.

Is that your shield on yonder tree?
Now how you fall back when you are meleed;
in hand is its place, only then fiery darts flee

Is breastplate and belt under rags and fleas?
Never such a gift before given for free;
uncovered and exposed all darkness will flee.

What's this, no shoes and all bloody toes?
When you were given shoes no year knows;
yet unshod you roam on spikes laid by foes.

This equipment was given so you persist;
yet rather you toil to enter my rest.
Now study for use the sword, I do insist. 

Into Mountainous Ring

Newly clothed in raiment by the King,
I descend into the mountainous ring.
With shield in front and back exposed,
sword in hand with readied pose.

The wyvern of old destined to face,
it lures man with tail's hypnotic trace.

Venom of desire its most deadly vice.
All that embrace do so at heavy price.

When lust fails to lure resolve away,
to rage does allure give way.
It shoots the darts of its fiery might,
to which shield impedes deadly flight.

Folly it is to stand and not fight,
to engage with sword reveals King's might.
The dragon lashes out to slash with claws,
hate in eyes and gnashing of jaw.

The fight is long as the battle wains on,
destined to lose, still hate fuels Apollyon.
Whenever knocked down by might crushing down,
the King sends men and the beast is bound.

When refreshed from above the battle resumes; 
with resolve I press and deliver a great wound.
The fiend seeing my victory is nigh;
to flee, away he does fly.

All content copyrighted ©; 2017 William McDonald

Doubt

Fog rolls in and hides the path;
once so sure was I of footing's hold.
Now each step is a feat of math;
no longer taken in confidence bold.

Assurance wained in mind's wandering;
lies and noise from deceivers of old.
Moving towards hopes sure beakoning;
confused, I transverse narrow road.

Sounds of circling wolves in pack,
I cry out I am all alone.
At last remembrance of light in pack;
feet need no longer to roam.

Whisper

There is a whisper not by ear I hear,
ignites old coals and burns away despair.
I strain to see the speaker so near;
But with eyes too dim, I rejoice to hear.

It brings new life and breaks deaths hold,
a voice that transcends all that is old.
He brings the proud to broken knees;
and stands the meek, from which evil flees.

Upon his fiery tongues the foundation laid,
messengers sent proclaiming price paid.
His words bring refresh to those hopeless,
clothing the broken in Christ's righteousness.

Submission

Submission has become a dirty word,
antiquated like the sword.
We have liberated society of its bond,
a submissive heart we no longer find fond.

But has this word been fairly judged,
or unjustly submitted to the cudgel?
The Bible says wives submit,
is this one verse our weighing limit?

Any verse in isolation
has the power to bring condemnation.
We must read verse holistically,
if we are to avoid being spiritually sickly.

We look to Christ who first submits;
first to Father, then to sin’s punishment.
Rather than a response to oppression above,
in true form it’s an expression of love.

Before even wives are mentioned, 
the church is given its petition.
All are to submit to one another,
one having no higher place than other.

Likewise this is ideal in marriage,
as two horses draw a carriage.
Follow not the model of king in castle,
rather helping each other in life’s tussle

A wife shows love by her act of submission,
as Christ yielded all to Father’s mission.
Love in submission Christ molded for us
As His body was laid in a tomb at dusk

In this way a husband is to love his wife
willing and ready to give all, even life.
Rather than seeking selfish ambition,
he is to cherish her as his act of capitulation.

By Christ we are adored and held in tenderness,
should we treat our spouse no less.
We all must let the Spirit stay our pride
and love each other as Christ’s bride.

Why Hell?

Your prophets and teachers preach that You are love
If that is true how can You judge so harsh from above
Why does so much hinge on but one choice
Why must I yield you Lord and proclaim it with voice
 
How is it that we who see vaguely through a veil
Receive the penalty for one wrong choice of hell
It is not fair that we should be in such peril
You could have at least sent us a herald

Then you said to me, “What about My church,
Her apostles and preacher’s speak from their perch
They warn of  mankind's sin and its state
And how I became man and died to clear the slate”

I ask, “But why is this price so great
A price in which man could never get through Your gate
What hope did man have once accursed fruit that we ate
We even failed to repent after the flood and Noah’s reboot"

You ask, “What price would be suitable for rejecting your God,
Who created you, knowing you would succumb to the odds
Yet I loved you and withheld My judgement until such a day
When you would hear my call and allow Me to pay

You see the price is so great because Great was rejected
When you reject Me, by whom else can you be accepted
Evil and true good are impossible to be co-located
Because you see evil is only good vacated

I being Good, you choose to engage in self-worshipping evil
How is there any fate for you to share but that of the devil
One sin marks from the start that you are void of good
But out of love I sent My Son, who in your place stood
 
Blood untainted was what is prescribed for sin
A sacrifice unblemished would the atonement be in
Hell is not My desire for the devil or you
He made his final choice now you must too

There are only two places you can be
One is with he who turned you from Me
The other is with Me throughout eternity
Choose against me and you must share his destiny