Death, You Terrible Thing

Verse 1:
I remember the sounds in his hospital room
Saw his heart give out after what he’d been through
I remember the words when they said he was gone        
The way we cried, how it felt so wrong

Chorus:
Oh death, you terrible thing
I know in my bones it’s not
The way it’s supposed to be
But oh death, where is your sting?
‘Cause I have a God who knows
Who sits and weeps with me

And I have a steady hope
That all will be redeemed
But you’re a terrible thing

Verse 2:
I can see her crying on the bathroom floor
The baby they loved isn’t there anymore
In the ICU, in the highway crash
The chemo drip and the heart attack
In the gone too young, in the getting old      
The empty chair, the quiet home
Oh Lord, how long?

Chorus:

Oh death, you terrible thing
I know in my bones it’s not
The way it’s supposed to be
But oh death, where is your sting?
‘Cause I have a God who knows
Who sits and weeps with me
And I have a steady hope
That all will be redeemed
But you’re a terrible thing

Verse 3:
I can see Jesus hanging on that cross
His shallow breathing, his failing heart
I can see him weeping at his friend’s tomb
I know he’s weeping with me too
I can see him rising from the grave
I know he’ll wipe my tears away
But until then, we wait….

Chorus:

Oh death, you terrible thing
I know in my bones it’s not
The way it’s supposed to be
But oh death, where is your sting?
‘Cause I have a God who knows
Who sits and weeps with me
And I have a steady hope
That all will be redeemed
But you’re a terrible thing

Tag:
You terrible thing

Written October 2021, dad passed Sep 15, 2021
See 1 Corinthians 15:25-26, 54-58; John 11:33-35; Isaiah 25:8, Revelation 21:4.

Words and music by Caroline Cobb Smith. Copyright 2022 Sing the Story Music (ASCAP), admin by Integrated Music Rights.

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