1 Once a prophet pictured Israel,
like a vineyard, overgrown,
no more fruitful, judged and broken,
left to ruin, overthrown.
2 In the tone hear disappointment
in the prophet’s call and cry,
seeing bloodshed wound his nation,
justice now a living lie.
3 Trampled waste land, good for nothing,
barren, fruitless, destitute,
is this now the way God sees us,
arid earth that feeds no root?
4 Or are we a fruitful people,
sown in faith to nurture grace,
bringing hope to all the nations,
love sustained in every place?
Andrew Pratt
Words © 2011 © Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England copyright@stainer.co.uk . Please
include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and
any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Metre: 8.7.8.7
Tune: CROSS OF JESUS
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