451. Who believes what we have heard

Author: Christopher Idle

Who believes what we have heard,
who has seen God’s power made known?
When the Servant of the Lord
grew unnoticed and alone;
undesired by those around
and unlovely to their eyes,
like a root in desert ground
which men trample and despise.

2. Yet for us the Servant grieved,
all our sorrows he endured;
his the torment unrelieved,
his the bruising from the Lord;
here is all our guilt engraved,
here are all our wrongs revealed;
by his suffering we are saved,
by his tortures we are healed.

3. Far away like sheep we strayed,
by our own desires misled,
but the Lord our God has laid
all our sins upon his head;
to the slaughter once he came-
see the willing victim stand
as a sacrificial lamb
silent at the killer’s hand.

4. So he spent his final breath,
all his life for us he gave;
men of violence shared his death
and a rich man lent his grave;
target of his people’s hate,
by oppression snatched away-
who was mindful of his fate,
who considered it that day?

5. But he now prolongs his days,
risen from darkness into light;
sees his children bring their praise,
vindicates and sets them right;
for the criminals he prayed,
for their crimes he bled and died;
now the sacrifice is made
and the Servant satisfied.