“These Late Watches of the Night” (My first attempt at poetry)

Father, redeem these late watches of the night

That have too long been a stronghold of the Enemy.

May these hours be spent no longer

In service of my flesh:

 

Aimless surfing across these pages,

(Haven’t I been to this site already tonight?)

Fruitless browsing in search of nothing,

(Isn’t it you that I should be searching for?)

Loveless skimming of these posts.

(Should I have prayed for her tonight

Instead of liking her status?)

 

Looking through these pictures, click by click,

On one that it shouldn’t, my gaze remains for a moment,

Short enough (I think) not to count as lust,

But long enough to wound my soul (and her’s).

I’m aching for something – a laugh?

The video ends; Youtube too has left me empty.

On to the next one.

 

Laziness – a little folding of the hands to rest,

I make a list of productive things to do,

Things that I will do when the sun rises.

Now? Maybe I’ll go play a video game or something,

Rejoicing over the violence before my eyes,

All the while a sermon playing behind,

so I feel like I’m not wasting my time.

 

Season Six just came out; I’ll watch those episodes,

Offering my time at the altar of Entertainment.

So what if I’ve seen this movie ten times before?

“This film,” I say, “is worthy of my praise.”

But I leave your praises unsung in these hours.

Instead I sing along with the hymns of idols,

Written to the gods of Money, Sex, and Pride.

 

All too often this wicked waste is the norm,

But the greater wickedness is in what I don’t do.

How many times have you waited for me

To meet you in prayer, my Loving Father?

How many time has your Spirit waited

In the pages of that beautiful book?

(So much more than a book.)

 

By day your Word is my delight,

But now I push it from my mind (and my desk).

By day I listen to the voice of your Spirit,

But now I drown it out with music that grieves Him.

By day I speak of the unmatched worth of your Son,

But now his “worth” is outmatched.

Wretched man that I am.

 

It is said that light reveals all things,

But hypocrisy is revealed by the darkness.

 

Glorious Lord of Heaven, Earth, Day, and Night

May your Kingdom come to this darkness within!

Strengthen our weary souls in these hours

When the demons emerge to do their work.

King Jesus, our Savior of limitless might,

May your glory shine forth as the noonday

even in these late watches of the night.*

 

*Written at 2:30 AM.

 

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