Higher rose the water

I’ve abandoned ship

Taken an ancient lifeboat

Out on a turbulent sea

Searching for light in this present darkness

What began as a drop of water

Soon became a puddle

Sloshing back and forth

Higher, Higher rose the water

I saw a show once

My favorite band

High on emotion, I left

My itching ears satisfied

The sun rose, and I with it

At church they played my favorite songs

High on emotion, I left

My itching ears satisfied

Higher, Higher rose the water

Because of this I picked apart my theology

As one would pick petals from a flower

I searched for some sort of basis

For believing what I had come to believe

Higher, Higher rose the water

The wooden frame of my ship began to creak

I was sinking in a sea of questions

Nobody could answer

Higher, Higher rose the water

Then came the Word

The Mirror by which man knows himself

The Measure by which we are to judge

The light by which we are to see

I read the Torah

Looked up from my Bible

To see the bride carving idols for herself

Higher, Higher rose the water

I read the stories of the kings

Looked up from my Bible

And saw no difference between the bride and the prostitute

Higher, Higher rose the water

I read the Psalms

Looked up from my Bible

To see the bride, belligerent before her King

Higher, Higher rose the water

I read the Books of Wisdom

Looked up from my Bible

And saw the bride given counsel by fools

Higher, Higher rose the water

I read the Prophets

Looked up from my Bible

To see the bride, prideful in her sin

Higher, Higher rose the water

I read the lineages

Looked up from my Bible

To see the bride, who’d forgotten her Fathers

Higher, Higher rose the water

I read the Gospels

Looked up from my Bible

To see the bride crucify her creator

Higher, Higher rose the water

I read the acts of the Apostles

Looked up from my Bible

To see a snake consuming its own tail

Higher, Higher rose the water

I read the epistles

Looked up from my Bible

To see my own face, disfigured and evil

Higher, Higher rose the water

I read the Revelation

Looked up from my Bible, shaking

To see the bridesmaids, out of oil

Higher, Higher rose the water

I deeply studied the word

And eventually saw a Church

Unburdened by Repentance

Unbound by Reverence

Sedated by Emotion

Unaware of her sin

A ship, sinking, quickly

And I was on it.

Higher, Higher rose the water

I was confused and lost and broken

I remembered the psalmists plea

and made it my own:

Teach me the Way I should go,

For to You I lift up my soul.

Higher, Higher rose the water

I began to separate myself.

I couldn’t raise my hands in worship

I couldn’t shout or clap or take communion

I could no longer get high on the music.

The ship dipped beneath the waves

My faith no longer what it once was

I can never go back

Now that I know there is more

I sit in the dark

Surveying my sin

I have fallen on my face

Seeking the face of God

He’s put a prayer rope in my hand

He is teaching me a new Song:

Lord Jesus, son of God,

Have Mercy on me, a sinner!