Well-Pleased Prisoners

My husband was reading G. Campbell Morgan's commentary on the book of Acts today and called my attention to a song that Madame Guyon wrote sometime between 1695 and 1705, a 10-year period that she spent in a French prison. Morgan related Madame Guyon's song to the joy that Paul and Silas displayed as they, in stocks and bleeding from having been publicly whipped, worshipped God in their dark dungeon cell. Think of her song when you find yourself complaining about what life throws at you:

A little bird am I

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 pleaseth Thee.

Nought else have I to do;

I sing the whole day long;

And He Whom most I 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 same, 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 my 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.

Need I say more?

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Sharon Kaufman

Jesus Christ has been my Savior since 1975. Robert, the wonderful man that God provided to love me has been my husband for 48 of those years. We have five grown children, with children of their own. Of course, that means that we have grandchildren - ten to be exact, and nine great-grandchildren with another one on the way. I have been a stay-at-home mom, sometimes helping to supplement the income from within the home. Now I am a stay-at-home grandmother. Jesus Christ has been my guide and keeper and I have found, in all the trials, heartbreaks and good times that He just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter as the years roll by. My future is secure and I look forward to eternity in the presence of my Creator, Redeemer and King.