New Thoughts (11/19/10-11/22/10)
There was a question that arose in my thoughts as I worked through my preparations for this passage. It is easy enough to recognize that Matthew has a particular interest in demonstrating the connection between the ministry of Jesus and the Old Testament covenants. Particularly, he tends to be the one pointing out the prophetic fulfillments along the course of his narrative. So it is here. John, it is true, will also note the prophecy, as we shall see in the next section. But, it remains so much a trademark of Matthew’s writing, this noting of each prophecy satisfied by Jesus.
What began to capture my imagination though, is this: How is it that Matthew was so aware of all these fulfillments? Yes, he was there for most of what he records. But, then, so was Peter, who is generally thought to be Mark’s source. In fact, Peter was there for more of it, and some of the most intense moments were moments that he witnessed and Matthew did not. Likewise, John was there from the start, although he waited until much later to record his own added thoughts on the Gospel narrative.
So, where is Matthew getting all this? Was he a serious student of Torah in his youth? Not that we are aware of. What we know is that he was a tax collector, and as such, was likely not allowed anywhere near the synagogues or any other respectable Jewish establishment from the time he took that employment. So, I arrive at this possibility: We recall the story from Luke’s gospel, that in the aftermath of Jesus’ crucifixion, there was an occasion upon which two disciples were heading out to Emmaus (Lk 24:13). Luke doesn’t identify which two. But, there they were, and Jesus joined them on the road, although they didn’t realize it was He. After all, who would be expecting a dead man to join them for a hike? Now, it is the finale of that particular scene that has me thinking. “And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Lk 24:27).
Interesting. Could it be that Matthew was one of that pair on the road? Obviously, this is not something I can answer with certainty. It wouldn’t surprise me, though, were I to go digging, that others had come to a similar supposition. You know as I know that God works in mysterious ways. It was particularly mysterious that He was there on the road to chat with these two in the first place! As one who sees Jesus moving always in very purposeful fashion, I don’t suppose this was just a casual meet up for His amusement or theirs. He had a reason for meeting these particular two and relaying to these particular two the details He imparted. Why? Perhaps because the two were better able to write down what He was imparting? Matthew, in his training, would certainly have learned how to write. The trade he chose may have been reprehensible to his countrymen, but it required a certain degree of skill to maintain the records, and to assess the papers of those traders coming through the area.
At the very least, I think I could suppose that Matthew would make a good fit for being one of the two. He had the skills and the mind to record what Jesus poured out in that encounter. He had, perhaps more strongly than the others, an innate urge to connect his faith with that of his fathers. This man who had been so long rejected by Jewish society because he had served the Romans, can we not see how he would be particularly hungry to show that same Jewish society that this new faith was not a departure but a fulfillment? Who among the disciples would have been more concerned to reconcile the faith of the disciples with the faith of Israel? And, here he had been handed the exact information needed to establish the continuity for those he most wanted to reach with the Gospel. Indeed, God works in mysterious and wonderful ways to see His kingdom expand!
Moving to a new topic, I note with some interest that there is some debate as to exactly how we ought to parse Mark 11:3. Specifically, the question is whether Jesus is indicating that if they tell this person ‘the Lord has need of it,’ that this person will send the donkey with them, or whether Jesus is instructing them to tell that person that they will return the donkey just as soon as they are done. Those that follow the latter understanding would seem to do so based on the phrase palin hoode, which is not present in Matthew’s account. That phrase would indeed seem to support a return. Palin has the meaning of anew, or back, or once again, while hoode has the sense of ‘this same spot’. I can’t say why some of the older translations seem to skip that ‘back’ part. Perhaps they just wanted the accounts to agree a little better than they do. There’s really no need for that, though.
So what is it we have happening in this little vignette? It seems very odd to our modern thinking that Jesus should be advocating what would seem to be theft, or at the very least a rather improper borrowing of somebody else’s property. However, the NET makes note of a practice common to the period which was known as angaria. This practice said that a ‘significant figure’ could simply impress your animal into service. I can imagine that there might be some debate over what constitutes a significant figure, particularly to the owner of the animal being impressed. Would Jesus naturally have counted as such to them? Maybe.
I was about to suggest that the practice was likely to involve Romans procuring such animals for their use, but somehow I wonder. Would the donkey fit with the Roman dignitary’s view of his own importance? Probably not. So, perhaps the practice really had to do with Jewish culture itself. This might impact our view of what’s happening, then. To a Jewish sensibility, Jesus might well have counted as a ‘significant figure’ simply for the fact of His being a teacher of some note, let alone the tales of miracle that followed Him.
What seems more striking to me, though, is that particular phrasing in Mark’s account. Jesus is not simply making use of custom, or even availing Himself of something that is His by rights. He is doing more than that. He is not going to press that animal into service so much as He is going to borrow it, and He wants to make certain that the owner of the animal has the comfort of knowing his property is not being taken from him to his loss. “The Lord needs it. But, He will send it back right here.” The journey is short enough. They are only going across the valley into Jerusalem, a Sabbath’s walk. It will be soon enough that He returns this way, anyway, and though we don’t read an account of that animal’s return, we can be assured that detail was not forgotten.
One thing that is interesting in this whole matter is that Jesus, while clearly revealing His real authority, is still unwilling to avail Himself fully of that which He is authorized to take for Himself. This Man, King of Israel, King of creation, certainly had the right to simply take the colt and its mother without so much as a thank you, sir. But, even as He begins the royal entry into Jerusalem, He remains the humble servant. He will have the creatures returned. It is enough that He have the use of them for this one or two hours.
Yet, there is authority revealed, isn’t there? There is no doubt in Him as He issues His instructions. There is no question of whether the owners will accede to His need. It shall be as He has said. There is the authority of heaven in this! There is no room for doubt because the King of kings has decreed that it shall be thus. As Matthew points out, He had decreed it a very long time ago.
I wonder if we aren’t being reminded of His royal status in the detail that Mark and Luke point out, as well. They give us the added detail that this colt is one ‘on which no one yet has ever sat’. Why is that important? What is the significance of it? Is it simply Jesus making clear which colt He was looking for, supposing there might be more than one to choose from? This doesn’t seem likely. It’s interesting to note that other occasion which concerned the nature of the tomb in which they later laid His body. That tomb, Luke notes, was one ‘in which no one had ever lain’ (Lk 23:53). Again, there is that point of newness made. There has been no previous user. It seems to me that there is an undercurrent of thought here that would say that had there been a previous user, it would not have been fit for this King.
I’m not going to chase down the reference, but there is that part of David’s narrative, near the end of his life, that they sent in a young woman to keep his bed warm in his old age. The upshot of that narrative is such that we are assured that there was nothing of a conjugal nature to this arrangement. The woman was as pure thereafter as she had been before. This lies in contrast to the foul actions Absalom took with David’s concubines. The big deal here was that in so acting, Absalom was making further claim upon his father’s throne and further debasing his father’s reputation. This was, in short, a severe violation of his father, of the rightful king.
I think that same sense of the King’s proprietary claim on such things as were His to use is in play as we consider the colt. To be fit for the King, it is imperative that the colt has not been used by another. It simply would not be fitting were it otherwise. Likewise the grave. It seems an odd note to sound on that point. I mean, it’s not like we would expect somebody to be buried only to be dug up later and the space reused by another. But, that’s our cultural setting. The custom of that period and place differed. There was limited space to be had. There were only so many cliff faces into which such caves could be dug, and the bodies, once they had sufficiently decomposed, would have been shifted to ossuaries, so that the cave could be made available to another. But, such a recycled resting place would not befit a king’s dignity!
I am put in mind that throughout the record of the royal period of Israel’s history, the kings tended to be buried in one place together. I rather doubt that they were all being tossed into some common hole, but there was a royal burial sight of some sort, and there the kings were buried except (if memory serves me this morning) for a few whose reputations were so bad that they were deemed to deserve no such honors. But, even this site, if it was still known at the time, was unfit for this particular King. It’s not that He was undeserving of such honors. It’s that such honors were undeserving of Him. He being the King of all kings, to be buried with those lesser authorities would have been no more fitting than that He should be on a used donkey.
That the significance of these details is left unsaid probably speaks more to the times to which the disciples wrote than anything else. Noting the detail would suffice for their immediate readership. They would understand the significance where we are left to speculate. That significance, I must note, does not stop with the fact of the colt’s newness. But, before I get to that, I would like to note yet another aspect of this King’s care for all His realm.
Some would look at Matthew’s account and simply suppose that he is doubling things again. There he goes. Not good enough for him to simply relay the story, he’s got to embellish. Well, what would expect from somebody with his background? Doubtless, he’s used to cooking the books a bit. But, that’s never been a valid criticism of Matthew, and it certainly doesn’t suit here. What is the added detail that Matthew brings out? It’s that the colt was not taken alone, but along with its mother. Why mention it?
I am reminded of a favorite point of Pastor Najem’s: God doesn’t waste words. If He wanted it written, He wanted it written for a reason. Therefore, we do well to wonder why Matthew includes this detail. I could take a pragmatic view of this. That colt, as is noted by the others, has never been used as a mount before. It’s entirely reasonable to think it might therefore be a tad skittish under load. To add to that the trauma of being separated from its mother for the first time would be simply begging for certain indignities to befall Jesus as He makes His entrance. Rather poor planning that would prove to be!
But, there is another aspect, one in keeping with His promise to return the animals so soon as He has finished this brief trip into Jerusalem. As He did for the owner, He does for the owned. He goes the extra mile. He sees to it that this young colt doesn’t have to experience any undo fear as it fulfills its critical role. Mama’s right there, young one. Rest and take assurance from her. This experience is new, yes, but if she is not moved to defend you, then you know it’s ok. She’s right there. No fears.
The combined effect of this – of His concern for the colt and His concern for its owner – is to demonstrate quite fully the character of my Lord and Savior. He is forever going the extra mile. He will see to His own requirements, yes, but really it’s only because those requirements are not His own. They are required by the Father Who sent Him. It must be done thus. There is as little choice for this colt as there is for Him, quite frankly. But, He will go out of His way to ease the impact on everybody but Himself. He is indeed the suffering servant, even as He reveals Himself as the triumphant King of kings.
What a wonderful thing to recognize in our Lord. He goes the extra mile. He has certainly done so on my behalf. He has gone to great lengths to see me as His own. He has done great things to keep me from falling irreversibly into the hands of my enemy and His. Were there things from which I would that He had kept me when He did not? Certainly. There are things even today which I would greatly prefer that He would simply remove from my equation. But, He is King, and an immeasurably Good and Wise King at that. I can trust Him. And, as I see from this picture, I can trust Him to care. He does not simply use His subjects and dispose of them when they are worn out. He does not imperiously demand His every right and comfort with no concern for those over whom He rules. No! He is King, but He remains our great Good Shepherd, and He cares deeply for His sheep.
This, too, is captured by the scene before us. Why, after all, has this great King chosen to ride so lowly an animal, and why here? Why now? The symbolism of this ride is impossible to overstate, I think. This is indeed a triumphal entry, as so many Bibles will mark the section. This is the conquering King riding into the capitol city of the conquered nation. Make no mistake! I can assure you that the chief priests did not. The Roman authorities may have missed the significance of this little parade, but the locals? No way!
Isn’t it sad, too, that Jesus must come into His own city as a conqueror? Isn’t it sad that there must be a battle between Himself and His own? It ought not to be. And yet, I know it was thus with me as well as anybody in that city. I had to be conquered. Had He not chosen to overwhelm my defenses I should still be outside the camp of the redeemed. But, He did. He broke down my walls, stormed my strong tower, and pulled me from where I was. But, He came riding a donkey, even in victory.
I am told that this is symbolic of the King coming in peace. In a more physically evident battle, this would be the moment of great trepidation for those left in the city. They would know that they had lost. They would know they were defenseless. At this point, whatever the conquering king felt like doing, there was no recourse for them. They would just have to hope maybe they’d survive it all. So, every eye would be upon the march of the triumphant king. What is his demeanor? What can we expect from his hand?
The first visible clue in this circumstance was the choice of mount that this king had made. A horse, being primarily a military asset, would indicate vengeance was yet on the mind of the king. A donkey, on the other hand, suggested peace. The battle was over, the king victorious, and he had no taste for further violence. He would be benevolent towards those he had conquered, so long as they presented him no trouble. The king, of course, would know how these vanquished foes were looking out from their walls to see his approach. He would understand their fears and concerns, and would be certain to fit his mount to his intentions.
Jesus, as He makes His approach to Jerusalem, would be particularly visible. This town of Bethphage from which He has selected His mount stands atop a rise across the Valley of Kidron from Jerusalem proper. So, as He takes His seat and makes His way towards the city, He will be particularly visible. Granted, much of that city may not be expecting a triumphal entry today, but as we shall see, it wasn’t possible that His entrance was going to go unnoticed. Neither would the significance thereof. Too many were making a scene, and the scene they made was filled with royal symbolism. And, as the noise of their excitement caught the attention of the city, what would its citizens see?
“Behold your King is coming to you, Gentle, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” They would hear the shouts. “Hosanna!” wasn’t just an exclamation of joy. It was fraught with significance. Those palm branches: they weren’t just yanked from convenient trees. They were the symbol of the royal line of Israel. They were making an undeniable statement. The rightful king of Israel comes, the Messiah, the long awaited Hero! “See? Your salvation comes! Behold! His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him” (Isa 62:11).
Yes, the Conqueror rides. The battle has already been won. One can hardly have a triumphant entry otherwise! Yet, there has been no noise of conflict. The Romans remain. Nothing looks different. Indeed, as the next several days unfold, it seems preposterous that He has made this futile gesture. But, the reality is that the gesture is far from futile. It is a fully accurate statement. The battle has been won. “I have overcome the world.” It is just as He has said.
I can imagine a degree of surprise from those two disciples who went for the donkey. “It is just as He has said!” You know, no matter how many times we experience this, it’s still just as shocking, just as exciting the next time. It’s like that news you know is coming and yet, when it finally comes, the impact is still one of surprise. But, this is our God. It can hardly be shocking, after all, that He fulfilled those prophecies of which Matthew makes note. He spoke them! Yes, it was in Isaiah’s voice, or Zechariah’s, but it was He who spoke. The prophet, if prophet indeed, was ever mindful that he spoke not for himself and not of himself. There was a reason for that, “thus says the Lord”. And woe be to that man who would proclaim such a thing when the Lord had not indeed said!
So, yes, it should hardly be shocking that they found events falling out just as He had said. It should hardly be shocking to us that things are still to this day falling out just as He has said. But, I want to focus on what is being said by this ride into the city, and what is being said is plainly, “I won!” It’s all over. Nothing can stop the downfall of His enemies. Oh, there may be pockets of resistance yet, places where news of the war has not yet reached, but it doesn’t matter. The war is over, and the King is come. Yes, and He has come humble, hopeful for peace even with those who have so long opposed Him.
He has not come with naivety. He is no fool, and He will brook no rebellion. He has come with peace in His hand, but for those who are unwilling to know peace, See that He has not only His reward with Him, but also His recompense. If you are so inclined as to continue to oppose Him, He can hardly be faulted for imposing that recompense upon you.
I understand that the term recompense can (and typically does) have a more positive sense to it, the idea of repayment for damage done, or the wages for a task performed. Ah, but what are the wages due to the persistent worker of iniquity? Surely not salvation! Salvation, if it to be had, is had by the mercy of the King. But, wherefore mercy upon those who continue to oppose Him even in this, His victorious hour? Shall there be mercy? Will He Who sits on the throne continue to wink at such open rebellion to His rule? I think not. Behold, He comes! He comes with the promise of peace to those who will have peace. But, for those who reject His peace, there remains a recompense for their attempts to sabotage His reign.
Another shift of focus, and relatively brief: This is a thought I explored during preparations, but I’d like to revisit it. The owner of these animals, when he sees the two disciples simply walking up and untying them, is curious to say the least. Depending whether one follows Mark or Luke on this, his reaction was either, “What are you doing?” or “Why are you doing this?” In thinking on this, I find the first form puts me in mind of indignation, which is something I suspect I’d be feeling under those circumstances. In the latter form, I hear something different. It could be hurt that somebody would do such a thing to me. It could be concern as to what has pushed these two men to such extremities that they would be thus robbing an innocent man. Or, maybe it’s something else.
Maybe it’s resignation. Maybe you know the feeling. The world, after all, is such a fallen, darkened place that it’s hardly surprising when it’s lost inhabitants act like the lost. It can hardly be shocking when a hardened and unrepentant sinner sins. It’s far more shocking when they don’t! When the light suddenly bursts in on them, and they realize that there is hope, there is a better way, and they needn’t continue has they have been thus far.
Maybe we feel it on a different level. Maybe we feel that sense of resignation when it comes to politics and governance. Maybe we feel beat down by change that changes nothing but the names who are become obstacles to our well being. We become resigned to life. It’s just the way things are and they’re not going to change so we may as well get used to it. If I have a donkey and somebody with authority decides they want it, I really have no recourse anyway. No sense getting angry any more. Just disappointed. Did you ever hear that from your parents when you were young? “I’m not angry at you, just disappointed.” Depending where that came from, it may well have been that same voice of resignation. I can no longer hope to change you, son. You’ll have to make your own way, and though I continue to hope for the best, I can’t honestly say I consider your chances particularly good. It’s disappointing. It’s disappointing in part because I must face my own failure on your behalf, and that’s never comfortable.
On the other hand, this may very well be one of the most Christian expressions we encountered in youth. It echoes the voice of our Father in heaven, I suspect. “I’m not angry with you, just disappointed.” I had hoped you would choose more wisely. I had hoped you might run from evil as I instructed you. But, you had to have your season, I suppose. No, I’m not suggesting that God was caught out by the sins of my youth, nor by the sins of my yesterday. It’s the feeling I’m after. Resignation. You will be what you will be, and I am left to manage as best I may with the consequences.
Again, this business of impressing another man’s animal, I’m not certain how that would have applied to the Romans in the region, whether they would have been inclined to make use of a mule. I suppose they might very well have used them as pack animals. But, as mounts? It seems so beneath their dignity. Is this, though, what’s on his mind? It’s those pesky Romans again, and what can a man do against them?
What is rather amazing about this is that he hears such a simple explanation for the action and is satisfied. “The Lord has need of it.” What Lord? Where? Are they pointing back down the road to where Jesus waits? And how lordly do you suppose He looks if He is in sight? Seems to me the record indicates that He had nothing much in Himself by which to recommend Himself to our consideration. Just an up-country carpenter’s boy, and one who’s been living off the land these last several years. I rather doubt His outfit really suggested ‘Here is a man of means’. And yet, the owner of these animals, a man of means himself by the looks of it, is apparently satisfied by those words. Oh, well if that’s the situation, by all means! Have at, and well met. In fact, though I am convinced that there was indeed a promise of the return of his animals, I have the feeling that it wouldn’t have changed things had that promise not been given.
It was not, after all, a material decision that led him to grant his blessing on the deal. It was spiritual. How can I say that with any degree of confidence? Simply for this reason: Those who were sent found things just as He had told them. It could hardly be otherwise. It was necessary, you see, in that particularly theological sense, that these things should occur as they did. This was, after all, the Prophet like Moses, the Messiah. Indeed, this was very God of very God, the Son come down from heaven. It is hardly to be conceived that where He has indicated that things shall fall according to a certain flow of events they should fall any differently than He has said.
This prophetic aspect of our Lord and Savior becomes particularly intense as the final days of His ministry unfold. It seems, in this last week or so, that there is not so much as one word that comes from Him that is not fraught with prophetic significance. There is not one move He makes that doesn’t absolutely drip with significance. If ever there was a period of life being lived intentionally, this is it. I don’t in any way seek to discount the intentional nature of His life up to this point, but everything is accelerating as we might see it. Everything is accentuated and amplified.
He is not simply issuing instructions here. He is not simply counting on common, everyday behaviors. He is explicit. It might be commonplace enough to expect a donkey even in such a village as Bethphage. Maybe. But, it’s more than that. It’s a donkey and colt, right as you get into town, tied and waiting for you. That colt: it’s not just a young donkey. It’s one that has never been used as a mount by anybody, not the owner, not the owner’s child. And then, there is the matter of the owner himself. Were this to go down in such a way that the owner would not see the animals taken, there would have been no instruction on the matter. The fact that instructions were given is evidence that there would be an encounter with the owner, and that the Spirit of God was already at work upon that man such that he would require nothing further than those simple words, “The Lord has need.”
This brings me to the critical message of these events. It strikes me that this owner of the donkeys, though all but invisible in the account, must be our focus. I say this for the very simple reason that he, having heard that the Lord had need, acceded to the need. Let me stress this just a bit. He didn’t demand further explanation. He didn’t seek any sort of certification that this lord of which they spoke was important enough to satisfy the requirements of custom. It was enough. The Lord had need, and he met the need.
This, my friends, is a model for our own lives. We know nothing of this man, whether he was one who had been touched by the ministry of Jesus or not. He is a nobody. He is not even named, barely even noticed. Yet he responds to the call. Yes, there is absolutely a move of the Holy Spirit involved here. It is nothing good in the man that has brought him to such a place of immediate response. Neither, should we attain to his example, is it any commendation of ourselves. It is that same Holy Spirit who moves us to not only hear, but to hear and obey.
Yet, there is this that I know against myself: I know this Lord Who calls, Who declares a need. I have on so many occasions proclaimed to Him, “Thy will be done on earth as in heaven.” I have said that with a clarity of mind, with the understanding that this earth of which I speak is me, and that in heaven, His will is done without argument, without question and without delay. I know this is my rightful response to Him and yet, how often do I make excuses? How often do I pretend not to have heard? How often do I require further proof of His command to me?
When He sends that ‘the Lord has need’ of my funds, do I first check the account balances? It may not be that I feel the need to pull up the spread sheet, or go check the website and see exactly where things stand. But, am I running the mental calculations, counting the cost? Yes, I know there is a call from Him to count the cost before committing, but that point was passed a long time ago. That was the entrance exam. This is matriculation.
If He says go, am I really ready to go without a bunch of questions? If He says go, am I even willing to listen? If He requires me to reject certain things, to change my thinking on certain matters, or to hold fast even when it seems so hurtful; what shall I do? Part of me says, how could I refuse for He is indeed sovereign and unopposable. Yet, I know that other part of me, that part that realizes that He, though unopposable may yet allow me my choices, usually to my chagrin and sorrow. I would prefer not to find myself in such a place any longer, seeking to follow by having my own way. It doesn’t work anyway, and it’s less than fruitless. It’s deadly!
Yet, I know a certain tearing at this point. I am being asked to contemplate certain viewpoints regarding this God I serve that in some aspects at least are at odds with my own. I am challenged. I am challenged to hear God clearly here, for it really is a matter of life and death, whether of the body or of the spirit I am not yet certain. But, I know this: I dare not be so calcified in what I ‘know’ of God that I cannot hear Him correct my foolishness any longer. At the same time, I dare not abandon those things He has established in me simply because some new wind of purported doctrine happens to be blowing. I am not interested in deciding to believe what happens to be convenient, or what feels better. I am interested in believing what is True, even when it hurts, even when it’s unclear to me exactly how it all fits.
That, however, is simply the doctrinal side of me, the need for a sound foundation. Yet, the foundation is of no use if I will not build upon it. This is where the question really lies. Knowing my Lord and Savior as I claim to know Him, how is it that I have any hesitation whatsoever at His call? I know it’s there. I know there are those things I simply don’t want to obey, and therefore don’t. What sort of servant is that? I am challenged to grow, to grow not so much in knowledge at this point, but to grow in application.
To that end, I thank You, Lord, that You have placed me in a new place. You have set me in a place of safety, at least as I perceive safety. You have freed me of the strain of having to check everything that is spoken with claim to Your authority. You have surrounded me with men of Truth, men committed to knowing You in truth, and to teaching only Your Truth. Part of that freeing, I know, is to allow my actions to come up to where You have set my understanding, to allow my life to become more than knowing, but acting on knowledge. You are moving me from knowledge into wisdom, and it’s not an easy path for me.
Holy King, lead me. Free me from this self-sufficiency I suppose is mine, in spite of knowing better. Bring me to that place I should truly be: wholly depending on You. I need You to guide. I need You to lead. I need You to be my Answer and in my answers as I seek to better fill the role in which You have set me, particularly in this household, but also in Your household. I need You, Lord, to move upon my heart such that I am indeed more instant to accede to the need You express.
Make of me, Lord, such a one as can honestly say, “If You say go, I will go.” Here I am, Lord. Send me as You will. Use me as You will. Make of me a servant after Your own heart, and it shall be exceedingly and abundantly more than enough.
As to the challenges of the present, Lord, You know. Keep my eyes and ears open, Lord, but only to You. Grant me the strength to accept the Truth of Your Word and Your character, whether it requires me to change or whether it requires me to hold fast. Only as You reveal, Lord, thus let my words be.
