wordsout by godfrey rust
The sailing of the ark  < 25 of 45 > 

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25

The history of Israel is a black cloak of failure
patched with brief colours of brighter cloth—

covenants broken, the pointless
wandering in the desert,

anarchy under judges and the tragedy of kings:
Saul's madness, David's lechery,

Solomon and all his wives, and after them
the slow descent into apostasy,

dogs kept off by alliances with wolves.
Jerusalem defiled, ransacked, abandoned,

then painfully and partially restored—
if it seems familiar it is because it is

our own story, the tale of good intent
sacrificed to the idols of our selves.

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Saul’s madness cf 1 Samuel 16:14.

David’s lechery cf 2 Samuel 11:2-4.

Solomon and all his wives cf 1 Kings 10:3.

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