"Pharaoh Was a Brutal Tyrant"
/Here's a hymn that is the fifth in a series I’m writing that is inspired by A Sanctified Art’s upcoming 12-week creative bundle, "“Unraveled.” It is written in 8.7.8.7 D and is sung to the tune, EBENEZER or JEFFERSON, which is commonly used to sing “Silence, Frenzied Unclean Spirit" and “Now the Heavens Start to Whisper,” respectively. It’s inspired by Exodus 7:8-23.
Permission is given for use in congregational worship. Please give the following credit: "Copyright 2019 Stephen M. Fearing | www.stephenmfearing.com"
Click here for a pdf of this hymn using EBENEZER.
Click here for a pdf of this hymn using JEFFERSON.
Pharaoh was a brutal tyrant, caught up in his thirsty greed.
Long the Israelites had suffered so they cried out to be freed.
Pharaoh worshiped high production, looking for the bottom line.
All his subjects did his bidding, kneeling down before his shrine.
Moses joined his brother, Aaron, to deliver God’s demand.
They were sent to guide God’s people, bring them to the promised land.
When God called for Pharaoh’s action, he objected from the start.
Pharaoh failed to follow justice, callousing his hardened heart.
Pharaoh laughed at God’s commandment, he refused to let them go.
When he stood out by the banks he saw the river’s bloody flow.
Though he could have stopped the terror, ending Egypt’s horrid pain,
Pharaoh chose to welcome violence, all to save his wretched reign.
We have Pharaohs all around us; maybe we are like him, too.
May we heed God’s call to kindness, may we see God’s grace ensue.
God will turn God’s sure attention to the place where there’s despair,
Let us join in God’s salvation for all people everywhere.