Give us a king like Saul—handsome and tall—

to ride out before us,

a king like David—charming and skilled—

to conquer our enemies,

a king like Solomon—winsome and shrewd—

to build our wealth,

we prayed.

But God gave us

another man with a beard 

who would have been lost in the crowd

if He had not been so strange;

whose untamed voice sliced through pretense,

whose unpillowed head garnered hate, 

whose un-lowered eyes could flood with anguish,

whose unstained blood would drain out on stone. 

God gave us His Son, 

without whom we would have died in our sins.