The Friend Is Nigh... Poem by Denis Martindale

They tell me that you don't believe but that's how people start.
How else could you in time receive the Saviour in your heart?
You may be far from kingdom faith, determined there to stay,
Until there's no more time to save and then it's judgement day.
The Bible says Christ died for you, right there upon His Cross,
Stayed there each hour, through and through, to bear your shame and loss.
To bear upon His very soul the debts that sins have brought,
For only Christ could play that role… that's what His sermons taught.
A thousand miracles and more yet Christ was crucified.
Despite the pains He must endure Christ stayed there and He died.
Yet God the Father watched above while Mary watched below
And both then wept their tears of love and let them overflow.
The angels stared in silent awe at such amazing grace
For who among them could ignore the Saviour's blood-stained face?
Or look away from Calvary upon that fateful day?
Because Christ died for you and me, God's mercies to portray.
The Lamb of God was in plain sight, right there then hoisted down.
The victim of the Devil's spite yet Jesus wore a crown.
God sees that crown worth more than gold, more precious than the stars.
The greatest story ever told no writer can surpass,
Nor poet pen more tenderly, nor singer share the theme,
Nor prophet yet express to me what I saw in my dream.
For I saw Jesus writhe in pain upon that distant hill,
Then light came down, there to remain and then to overspill.
It stretched across the valley's land and flowed like blood to me.
And while, of course, that sight was grand, I stood still fearfully.
Was God about to take my life, to end it once for all?
Oh, no, I learnt I would survive, thanks to a miracle.
A red cloud came and I felt love, engulfed within its frame
To know that God's grace was enough, though it felt like a flame.
And maybe you will have dreams, too, before your life must end.
The friend is nigh, I'm telling you and Jesus is that friend…


Denis Martindale June 2020.