The Time Has Come
I do not ask anymore for myself
It is very late and the night is upon me. There is no more time for preparation. Everything is now ready as it was from the beginning. I would shed tears, but I no longer have the strength. All the power You had given me is gone. My bones are crushed as if powder. I stand naked before You without any covering to hide my shame. The time has come. I now bear the full brunt of the deficiency You created at the very beginning until the end. It is now mine and mine alone to bear. I stand before this lack with nothing to support me except Your Voice. Yet, I cannot hear it anymore, it is like a distant memory. I was accustomed to hear it at every moment of my life, but now it is silent. It is as if You have abandoned me. At one time, I would have raised my voice in supplication, but now I have not even the strength to do that. Everything in me is dried up. I am like a pile of lifeless dust. The living waters no longer flow within me. They are far away, but no plaint leaves my lips. I have now finally come to accept this fate. The burden of the Kingdom. I intone:
My praise comes from You, in the great congregation; I will pay my vows before those that fear Him. Let the humble eat and be satisfied; let those who seek the Lord praise Him-may your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and return to the Lord; all families of nations will bow down before You. For sovereignty is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations. All the fat ones of the earth will eat and bow down, all who descend to the dust shall kneel before Him, but He will not revive their soul. The progeny of those who serve Him will tell of the Lord to the latter generations. They will come and relate His righteousness-all that He has done-to a newborn nation.
I remain silent as I bow down to death releasing any hope for salvation. May You accept me as a burnt offering, as an oblation poured upon Your altar, as a lamb led to slaughter. Amen.
