Love Like Dew

What should I do? What should I do?
Your love is like the early dew.

Your love is like the morning mist;
You promised bliss, but there’s a twist:

I sought you at first light of dawn,
But you had vanished, you were gone.

—

What should I do? What should I do?
You promised always to be true.

But here’s my heart, it’s mangled, rent,
You broke our sacred covenant.

Should you return to seek a kiss,
I seek no gift, just faithfulness.

—

-Wills Osborn
(8/15/19)

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“For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

Hosea 6:6 CSB
https://bible.com/bible/1713/hos.6.4-7.CSB

Matthew 9:9‭-‬13 CSB
https://bible.com/bible/1713/mat.9.9-13.CSB

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The Backstory

While on a flight to San Antonio to visit my newborn nephew, I spent some time reading the Gospel of Matthew. A phrase Jesus uttered to the Pharisees caught my attention. He said, “Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice…” (Matthew 9:13a). I discovered that Jesus was quoting the prophet Hosea so I turned to the Old Testament to try to better understand the origins of the phrase.

It turns out that during the time when Hosea was a prophet, God was quite frustrated with his people. God had the prophet marry a prostitute who would break their marriage covenant multiple times, running to the arms of other men. After one such episode, Hosea was told to find her and bring her back- despite his broken heart. This graphically illustrated the relationship of Israel with God. They continually turned their hearts after other gods but God was always willing to accept them back.

In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees attempted to memorize and keep every possible law God had given to their people. Unfortunately, they lost sight of God’s mercy and began looking down their noses at “sinners” who didn’t measure up. Fortunately, Jesus was there to remind them that God was interested in having a relationship with everyone, including sinners!

As a result of my reading and meditation, I wrote a poem.

Do you identify more with the Pharisees or with the sinners?