Acres of Hope

He will allure her

He will pursue her

And call her out

To wilderness with flowers in His hand

She is responding

Beat up and hurting

Deserving death

But offerings of life are found instead

Here in the valley

Walk close beside me

Don’t look back

For love is growing vineyards up ahead

You have called me master

And though you’re in the dark here

Call me friend

And call me lover and marry me for good

She will sing

She will sing

Oh, to You

She will sing as in the days of youth

As You lead her away

To valleys low

To acres of hope

Acres of hope

How the story ends is

Love and tenderness in Him

Not safe, but worth it

So the valley’s up ahead

Or the ones we live

We’ll sing together...

-S. Bernard

“Lord, sustain me in the valley. Give me ears to hear Your sweet tender voice and lead me in to acres of hope in this dry and weary land.... Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. ‘In that day,’ declares the LORD,’you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master. (Hosea 2:14-16)