29. Tenth Commandment Hymn

And so my series of decalog hymns concludes with this song based on the Tenth Commandment: "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor." My take on this commandment, way back here, is that it safeguards God's "gift of vocation: the relationships and situations where each of us belongs." Here is my devotion on this commandment; and now the hymn...

O Christ, to whom all love is due,
Whence comes this world's rejection?
What god would dare estrange from You
Our unreserved affection?
All worldly vices manage thus,
And thus our idols conquer us:
Our hearts crave misdirection.

So often, Lord, we likewise seek
To plunder from our neighbor
The help his calling would bespeak,
The partners of his labor:
Wife, children, servants, beasts, and friends,
We mean to master for our ends,
And thus bereave our neighbor.

For vile desires and crafty speech,
We turn in contrite sorrow.
Forgive us, Christ; forbid that each
Another's place should borrow.
For You have borne sin in our place;
With unmixed love, our ransomed race
Owes You the glorious morrow.