Son of David, Have mercy upon me.

Here is a poem based on the powerful plea of the blind beggar in the Gospel, interwoven with the scripture that tells his story.

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A Cry from the Dust

(A Poem on Bartimaeus, Son of Timaeus)

The world was but a haze of sun, A shape of noise,and never done. I knew the heat upon the stone, The chill of being left alone. My name was“Beggar,” “Sightless one,” Beneath the weight of Jericho’s sun.

Then through the blur, a tremor ran, A shifting in the dust—a plan? The crowd’s dull roar became a shout: “Make way! He comes!”and left no doubt. And in my darkness,I began To see the Hope of Son of Man.

I had no coin, no worthy plea, No offering for His courtesy. Just one stark truth I could not hide: Have mercy upon me!I cried. I,son of David, called to Thee, Who else but Thou can make me see?

They hushed me then, “Be silent, fool!” To know my place,their rigid rule. But need breaks through the proudest wall, A drowning man must louder call. Against their scorn,I found the tool: I cried the more, “Son of David!”

And then… the universe stood still. The press of bodies felt a chill. The noise ceased its cacophony. He stopped.He spoke. They called for me. “Be of good cheer,”they said, “and rise, He calls you now.”Before my eyes

(Though yet unseeing) light was born. I cast my cloak aside with scorn— That cloak that caught the alms of men— I’d need no beggar’s cloth again. I rose to meet that glorious morn And stumbled toward Him,hope forlorn.

“What wilt thou that I should do?” He said. The words hung overhead. The question asked of all the blind, Of every suffering human kind. “Lord,”I breathed, “that I might see.” And in that space,He granted me

Not just the light of sun and dust, Not just a body’s simple trust, But sight to see the I AM there, The Answer to my desperate prayer. The first thing that my new eyes saw Was God,who speaks, and is the Law Of Love that stops and calls our name, And lifts the blind from sin and shame.

Scripture Reference (Luke 18:35-43, KJV):

And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.