Pass Over

I tremble a little
I know the holy fire
My faith is brittle
Can it stand that hour?

The blade moves swift
The lamb falls silent
Its life is my gift
How does blood have power?

The hyssop drips red
The sky weighs heavy
In the land of the dead
How can we stand?

I shiver in fright
I hear the screams
Echo against the night
Do I understand? 

The wind howls cold
The angel draws near
We did what we were told
Is the promise really true? 

I wait for the relief
I believe the Word
Help my unbelief
Will we make it through?

The night breaks to sun
The doors open again
Death has not come
Can I believe my eyes?

I stand inside the frame
I put my hands on the blood
I speak His holy Name
It is faith, not its size


Summer 2020

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This poem was inspired by a video clip from D.A. Carson where he explains that it is not the size of your faith that matters for salvation, it is that you have faith. He uses the example of two Israelites in Egypt who obeyed the word of the LORD, slaughtered a lamb, and put the blood on the doorframe. One Israelite is confident and completely trusts that God will indeed pass over his house. The other Israelite is fearful and worried and his faith is weak. However, at the end of the night both Israelites were saved – not on the grounds of the intensity or clarity of their faith, but based on the blood of the Lamb.

I listened to this clip quite a few years back and it has stuck with me since then. I think it is a very powerful, real-life story of what our salvation is based upon. A few weeks back it came to mind again and I thought up the lines: “I tremble a little, my faith is brittle.” After that I worked out the rest of the poem, trying to paint this wonderful example of the power of the blood and the salvation that comes to those who put their faith, however strong or weak, in the blood of Christ.