I am the man who has seen affliction,
Neath the whip of God’s angry lash;
He bound me, drove me into seclusion,
Into the darkness beneath divine wrath.

He has walled me in, no more to be free ~
Heavy has he made my binding chain ~
So I cry to God from the pit with my plea,
But who am I to lift my voice to complain?

Like a bear in wait, or the lioness in hiding,
God turned me round to tear into my flesh,
Leaving my bones to lie in desolation abiding.
Is there any grace for restoration afresh?

Remember my pain! Consider my wandering!
And the jeering, sneering, wormwood and gall!
My soul will not forget, in shame ever bowing;
Yet hope, too, I have when this truth I recall:

That the steadfast love of the Lord never ends;
His mercies shine with every new dawning.
Even divine wrath the love of God transcends,
So till he redeems will I weep without ceasing.

For I called unto the Lord and, aye, he heard;
He heard from the depths of the pit my dying plea;
God came near to save me with His glorious Word,
Who looked like a shepherd, who said, “Be free.”

“For to free you I came, and free indeed you will be,
And do not fear, my child; I will always be near.”