Hosea
Derek Webb has been gifted in writing songs that make you want to wretch all of your insides for being so wicked. It isnt simply accusatory, it is beautifully poignant, true, and ecumenical to everyone, includeing himself. And they aren’t just protest songs that invoke thought, they are “Oh My God, what have I done, something is wrong, who can fix this?” sort of songs. I have never heard the gospel presented in such an unapologetic way. It is refreshing.
These lines are from his song, Wedding Dress (I dont know if I’m suppossed to ask for permission before I just post this, but at least I credited him).
“i am a whore i do confess
but i put you on just like a wedding dress
and i run down the aisle
i’m a prodigal with no way home
but i put you on just like a ring of gold
and i run down the aisle to you
so could you love this bastard child
though i don’t trust you to provide
with one hand in a pot of gold
and with the other in your side
i am so easily satisfied
by the call of lovers less wild
that i would take a little cash
over your very flesh and blood”
And yet in Hosea, after we His people prositute ourselves to other gods and idols, to the seeking after fleshy lusts, popular esteem, abundance, and power, and deservedly incur the wrath of True Justice, He shows His love and grace upon us.
“Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth. O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, And like the early dew it goes away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And your judgments are like light that goes forth. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. ” –Hosea 6:1-6 (NKJV)
Simply cutting off the hand that causes us to sin, or gouging out the eye that causes us to lust, is not purely the answer for these are sacrificial. Consistant tithing and donations, revoking cable and internet, or attending AA meetings aren’t enough. We can never be good enough, even if compared to other fallen heads we seem better than they. “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6 NKJV). Simply saying it isn’t enough.
For what then, is our hope?
I am battle weary and fatigued. Constant attack from my own, traitourous body (Romans 7: 14-20), and long for the peace of God to be with me. To no longer feel the effects of a broken world. But I will. And you will. And there isn’t anyway out for our choosing. So I ask again, for what then is our hope?
The Risen One, Jesus Christ.
“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6 NKJV).
And finally brethren, and those whom tary from the arms of Christ, I offer the words of the Spirit through Paul: “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5 NKJV).
Can we take off the doubt and the shame the whore us away from the Lord, laying aside every encumberance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and endure the race set before us? Not without Jesus. “On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
