Don Francisco 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 is 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
(Chorus)
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
You, 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
There's no one, no one to stand in between
(Repeat chorus)
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
