The Lamb [Advent: Day 4 of 28]

He is despised and rejected of men;
A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
And we hid as it were our faces from him;
He was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:
Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities:
The chastisement of our peace was upon him;
And with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned every one to his own way;
And the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
Yet he opened not his mouth:
He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb,
So he opened not his mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment:
And who shall declare his generation?
For he was cut off out of the land of the living:
For the transgression of my people was he stricken.
And he made his grave with the wicked,
And with the rich in his death;
Because he had done no violence,
Neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him;
He hath put him to grief:
When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin,
He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
He shall see of the travail of his soul,
And shall be satisfied:
By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many;
For he shall bear their iniquities. - Isaiah 53:3-11 (KJV)

We sinned, which brought upon us death,
A death we can't avoid;
We fasted, prayed, spent every breath
For hope of sin destroyed.

And God delivered: He has said
That paid will be our sin,
For one will come with crownèd head,
And he, though dead, shall win.

He is despised, rejected, scorned,
A man well-knowing grief;
With bruises, wounds, and stripes adorned,
He loves beyond belief.

For we have gone astray, astray:
Like foolish sheep we are,
Yet God will lay on HIM our gray
And deadly sins that mar.

He, like a lamb, for sheep is slain,
Is struck down by the LORD;
He breaks apart the sin-made chain,
And we are his reward.

[Red/Prophecies of Christ's Birth]

Rain

The rain, damp rain upon the dusty sky,
Makes clear the air, and paints it purest blue;
But as the storm breaks, clouds still sailing by,
Above the floating wrack the sun shines through.
A cold wind blows, and autumn fills the air.
The wet gray sidewalk smells of changing seasons
As drops drip down and splash upon the stair.
O! this, among a thousand other reasons,
Convinces me of God’s great love for man:
That he would bless us with such stunning sights
As sunset-painted clouds o’er sky’s deep span
And whisper through the feel of starlit nights
In cold, crisp air—Ah! what more can be said?
Where God has spoken, how can words dare tread?