1. Beauty for brokenness, hope for despair,

Lord, in your suffering world this is our prayer.

Bread for the children, justice, joy, peace,

sunrise to sunset, your kingdom increase!

Chorus:

God of the poor, friend of the weak,

give us compassion we pray.

melt our cold hearts, let tears fall like rain;

come, change our love from a spark to a flame.

2. Shelter for fragile lives, cures for their ills,

work for the craftsman, trade for their skills;

land for the dispossessed, rights for the weak,

voices to plead the cause of those who can’t speak.

Chorus:

3. Refuge from cruel wars, havens from fear,

cities for sanctuary, freedoms to share.

Peace to the killing fields, scorched earth to green,

Christ for the bitterness, his cross for the pain.

Chorus:

4. Rest for the ravaged earth, oceans and streams

plundered and poisoned — our future, our dreams.

Lord, end our madness, carelessness, greed;

make us content with the things that we need.

Chorus:

5. Lighten our darkness, breathe on this flame

until your justice burns brightly again;

until the nations learn of your ways,

seek your salvation and bring you their praise.

Chorus:

(Graham Kendrick)

Related Articles:

• “You Raise Me Up” (Do they sing this at your church?)
• Great God your love has called us here (Brian Wren)
• Amazing Grace by Wintley Phipps
• An Australian Hymn To The Tune Of Waltzing Matilda
• By the Babe Unborn

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