He Will Come Ere End of Night

© Copyright 2006 by Jon F. Caudle, Jr.
a poem based on Mark 6:34-51

Undoubtedly you've heard how Jesus
Taught a massive crowd,
And they heard him quite willingly
And bothered not with food
Until the day was wellspent and,
Perhaps, their stomachs growled.
To make a quite long story short:
The LORD fed them, but good!

If you recall, the Twelve he gave
The distribution task,
And, further, when the meal was done,
The leftover detail.
They gathered all that did remain
The way that Jesus asked.
I'm sure they were exhausted, and
I'm sure that He could tell.

So Jesus made them go ahead
While he dismissed the crowd.
That's in verse forty-five; I want you
To remember that:
He made them go, it isn't simply
That it was allowed,
And in the Greek, it's quite emphatic,
So much more than that!

So here they are a-rowing on
The sea of Galilee;
The wind was raging 'gainst the boat
And they made no headway.
At least, they strained at rowing,
And wind blew incessantly,
While Christ retirëd to the mountains
Going there to pray.

And from the mountains, check the text,
It says, at ev'ning time
The boat was in the sea, while Christ
Was by himself on land.
He saw them, since the ev'ning,
In the struggles He designed
But not until the fourth watch
Did the Savior tip his hand.

For then, he came a-walkin' out
To where they struggled yet,
And would have passed them by, it says,
Had they not cried in fear.
For when they saw him walking there,
"It is a ghost", they said.
But when they cried, He did (as always)
Tune his ears to hear.

Immediate was his response:
"Be of good cheer", he said,
"For it is I, be not afraid."
Then in the boat he got.
And then the Twelve, who surely 'til then
Thought that they were dead,
Were awestruck with amazement great
Because the wind he stopped.

Now, many little picky points
Together make this tale,
But notice that their trouble
Was, by Christ, Himself, induced.
He made them go, and then, for hours,
Comfort he withheld.
And only in the fourth watch,
When they cried, did he produce.

He sends us into troubled seas
And watches from the height.
He lets us stuggle in the storm
Until we're faint with fears.
And fin'lly in the fourth watch, and then
Only when we cry,
Does He cause winds and waves to cease
And then dry all our tears.

Now, I could try to understand,
And try, then, to explain.
But it's his glory to hide things
Until the time is right!
So worry not of his decrees
But rather, what is plain.
That if we trust our Savior,
He will come ere end of night!

generated from a sermon, based on the above referenced text, by Dr. Douglas Doll, at Christ the King Church in Springfield, MO on February 12, 2006