Long ago, the promise came

to a man and woman wrung

from their first grasp of evil.

Justice, yes, but mercy’s flame

flickered brightest in the words

the Wronged Sovereign gave.

He Himself would take our frame—

the Maker knit together

in a virgin’s womb.

Angels at His birth proclaimed

hope for all the earth

in Bethlehem that day.

The angels still speak hope to shame—

in scriptured memory

to my cowering heart.

I am freed from all the blame

of sins I could not purge—

for Jesus is His name.