Better by Far

Oh, Father God, I’m dying—but wish instead I were dead,
Oh to be with thee, not crying, here on my lonely bed,
The silence is cold and it echoes the hollow hymn of pain.
Unfilled with the songs of the angels, oh to die would be gain!

That sorrow and sin be washed away—oh! Beauty to behold,
That crowns at my Lord’s feet will lay, a massive pile of gold.
But pearly gates and glittered roads are not what I want most
For next to my most gracious God these treasures cannot boast.

Of what worth are rubies when placed beside His bloody feet?
What will you pay for a diamond when dozens litter the street?
What value is there in a pearl when you are one in His eyes?
And sapphires haven’t a chance when matched with the heavenly skies.

When weariness and struggles shall be past and the battle done
How great the rest and how grand the feast, when the race is run.
When aching hearts and uncertain fears will all be laid to rest,
When upon that glorious day I will have passed the test.

But only by my Jesus’ blood, grace, and unstrained mercy
Have I this hope, this sure command, and I need not worry.
For in his life, he lived to prove God’s vast love and power.
And dying for me he drank that cup—such a bitter hour!

The greatest gift my Lord could give would be the greatest thing
That to this earth he gave himself although he was a king
That might and splendor could become a weak and tiny child
A mystery of love intense and full of something wild.

For one might die for a good man, but die for evil not.
But who would die for a traitor? We’d let our enemies rot!
But my Lord loved while I hated… and cared while I ignored!
He battled Death for my soul and fought with a two-edged sword.

And so I ache to be with Him, my lover, Lord, and life.
I yearn to leave the confines of this world that is so full of strife.
I wait for the day when the glimmers of heaven’ll be mine.
And crave the taste on my tongue of angelic songs divine.

I long for His words in my ears that I may truly hear,
And sweetness of his breath to smell whenever I draw near.
Then I breathe the perfumed pleasantness all so softly spiced
And so I am still reminded here that to live is Christ.