Madame Guyon was imprisoned in the Bastille for 15 years for her beliefs, yet this poem conveys the beauty and the freedom of a clear conscience, which is what the Lord Jesus Christ gives us. The circumstances of life may rise up and strip away from us wealth, security, health, or family, but if we have a clean conscience before God through our faith in Jesus Christ, we can continue to soar in freedom. This is a gift which no one can take away from us no matter what our circumstances may be!A little bird I am,
Shut from the fields of air;
And in my cage I sit and sing
To Him Who placed me there;
Well pleased a prisoner to be,
Because, my God, it pleases Thee.
Naught have I else to do;
I sing the whole day long;
And He Whom I most love to please
Doth listen to my song;
He caught and bound my wandering wing;
But still He bends to hear me sing.
Thou hast an ear to hear,
A heart to love and bless;
And though my notes were e'er so rude,
Thou wouldst not hear the less;
Because Thou knowest as they fall,
That love, sweet love, inspires them all.
My cage confines me round;
Abroad I cannot fly;
But though my wing is closely bound,
My heart's at liberty;
My prison walls cannot control
The flight, the freedom of the soul.
Oh, it is good to soar
These bolts and bars above,
To Him Whose purpose I adore,
Whose providence I love;
And in Thy mighty will to find
The joy, the freedom of the mind.Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717)
"A Prisoner's Song"
The quotation on the picture is from the 4th stanza of Richard Lovelace's poem "To Althea, From Prison". He speaks of the same kind of freedom. I find the courage of these people and the beauty of this poetry to be strengthening in an age which would have us take the easy way out, find easy solutions or place the blame for our problems on someone else.
There is no blame placed in these poems. There is only the security of resting in their relationship with the Lord and the knowledge that He is in control of all their circumstances. This is true victory!
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2 comments:
Vicky, how very grateful I am for you today for posting this poem to your blog. I am so happy to refresh my memory of this poem by Madame Guyon! I discovered this poem in 1976, shortly after my sister, Brenda, was killed in a car accident at age 17. I started a journal, and determined to fill it with those words that brought comfort and helped me to understand God's ways during my time of grieving. This poem spoke to the depths of my being, calling me to find love and joy in Him, regardless of the circumstances. I read it over and over, and had most of it memorized. It is a lesson that I need to remember as much today as I did then, our joy in the LORD must never be based upon the favor of our circumstances but upon who He is now and forever.
lovely, lovely. just lovely. you just reminded me that as a believer, we are NOT bound by our circumstances, no matter how dire they seem here on earth and how they seem to appear.
and, the picture is beautiful, too.
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