I was reading through the Old Testament and, because I was going rather quickly, something stood out to me that I had never noticed before: God's consistency in who he chose to save, speak to, heal. . . they were not all "Christians" nor even Hebrew. Some were. But not enough to set a pattern. Naaman the Syrian captain, Ruth the Moabitis, Rachab, harlot of Jericho, Tamar who "played the whore," David, the illegitimate son, Abraham of Ur whose father carved idols, and Mary of Nazareth, the poor slums of Israel. What was God's criteria for choosing his people? I believe he chose those who had chosen him and believed what he said. . . He looked down over the crowd, and he called out the upturned faces by name.

capo 2nd

 

G               Em
I was born in Jericho

   C                        G
Like a product, bought and sold

  Em                   B7           A7                   D7
The only thing clean about me was a hope that there was more

C                 D7             G
Someday You’d be knocking on my door.

C                       D7
I couldn’t wash out the stains

C                      D7                  G
Of ways pressed on me since the day I was born

C             D7                         G       
So I cried out, oh my God, for something more

 

 EM-C-G   C                  G
And then you. Lightening in the East

     EM-C-G   C                G
Split my sky, brought me to my feet

         C           D7    G      C  G
The only innocence I have, me and Rahab

  EM              C          G
I believe you’re looking for me.

 

You found the poor and basest  strands

Wove them together into the man

You called yourself, the man of sorrows, acquainted with my grief

And I was somewhere in that tapestry

You cast away the perfect lines

Moth eaten by religion’s lies and a thief

Then you chose the crimson thread of my belief

 

C                          D7               G
It doesn’t get better than this—the highest path

C                             D7         G
Who in his right mind stands before the Holiest

                C         G   - Em      B7-          A7-  
And claims he’s innocent? You alone. You alone, you alone --

  D7       C                  G                 
You’re my innocence. And I am chosen

            C                      G
To stand in this place, and I will hold it

    EM                           C              G
I believe, I believe, I believe you’re looking for me.