Job’s Lament

Man who is born of a woman
Flowers and then fades away
He flees like a shadow at sunset
In a lifetime as short as the day

And there's hope for a stump that is severed
Though its root grows old in the earth
At the first scent of water, it wakens
And branches come out in new birth

But man, he lies down, and where is he?
The mourners, they grieve and they weep
But from then 'til the end of the ages
He will not awake from his sleep

But oh! That my pain would be written
With lead and a steel-pointed pen
Forever engraved into granite
That my words would endure to the end
And though the cry of my heart goes unanswered
When the breath flees away from these bones
In my grave I will wait in this knowledge
In my flesh I will see You alone
Yes, I know I shall see God my Savior
I will look on Him just as He is
And at last, we will stand here together
For I know my Redeemer lives

Now my days, they go by like a runner
Like ships driven hard by the wind
Like an eagle that swoops on its quarry
They rush to my death at the end

Though I wash me in crystal clear water
Though I cleanse all my fingers with lye
In the fierce holy light of Your presence
My uncleanness will stink to the sky

Turn away, then, Your gaze and Your terror
'Til I go to the darkness unseen
For You're not like a man I can answer
And there's no one to stand in between
No, there's no one, no one to stand in between

But oh! That my pain would be written
With lead and a steel-pointed pen
Forever engraved into granite
That my words would endure to the end
And though the cry of my heart goes unanswered
When the breath flees away from these bones
In my grave I will wait in this knowledge
In my flesh I will see You alone
Yes, I know I shall see God my Savior
I will look on Him just as He is
And at last, we will stand here together
For I know my Redeemer lives
Yes, I know my Redeemer lives

Man who is born of a woman
Flowers and then fades away
He flees like a shadow at sunset
In a lifetime as short as the day