God ever planned His precious church should be
The ruling head and not the tail;
To ever be above and not beneath
And know not what it means to fail.
Jehovah God had safely settled them
In Canaan’s rich productive lands–
The crossroads of the earth–where they
Could teach all men the Lord’s commands.
But every time God gave the wealth and power
With which to do His noble work,
They chose to use them for their selfish ends,
And their God-given duty shirk.
The waters of affliction then were theirs
And bread of sorrow they did eat.
Until in true repentance they returned,
To learn at Jesus’ feet.
In those dark hours the messengers of God
Were pressed into a corner tight
Their warning voices stilled when every man
Had closed his mind against the light.
The men of God all walked unrecognized
For what in truth they were in fact–
The teachers sent to them by God Himself
To give back all they ever lacked.
The longed-for, righteous kingdom could not come,
While these conditions ruled the church,
But an abiding change at last is here,
In which there is no need to search
For teachers hidden in a corner dark;
For every child of God will know
Whom God has sent to teach the living truth
In this dark, evil world below.
– F. T. Wright, undated
