The other day I started reading a book called Radical by David Platt. My pastor recommended it and so far I love it, though it is challenging me. Perhaps that is why I like it. When I’m done with it I will post a book review, but for today I am posting a poem that was inspired by one of the earlier chapters in the book.
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:36-39 (NIV).
As you read the poem, it may seem odd that I’ve posted on such an agonizing subject on Thankful Thursday. But when you get to the end you will see what I am thankful for today.
The Cup
The cup of
the Father’s wrath
poured out on You
as on the cross You hung,
though the one who
deserved it was me
The cup
You did dread
with drops of sweat
You prayed and bled
in anguish in the garden
of Gethsemane
Not only the wrath
for my own sin
but the sin of
the whole world,
of every sinner
who ever lived
I could never bear
my own portion
of the Father’s wrath.
You bore it all
and I will be
eternally grateful