Hunger

written during a time I was fasting

Behold, the feasts of the world are spread out.
Feasts of power and wealth are prepared.
From the farthest corners of the world they come,
offering all sorts of worldly pleasure.

They offer the might of kings and princes,
they are prepared in their banquet halls.
The wealth of Solomon, of all the world is set upon the table,
riches and powers and pleasures of the world.

I see these feasts, oh God, and my heart is empty.
The hunger of my soul does not abate.
What can quench this unutterable longing?
What feast is there where my hunger shall be sated?

For the feasts of the world set before me do not sustain.
If I feast on them still I will hunger.
They have no power to fill me up,
they do not satisfy my longing for something more.

You alone, my God, can satisfy me!
I will find lasting nourishment only in your grace
Not like the fleeting satisfaction of worldly feasts is my God,
but his love will fully satiate me.

The feasts of the world give me nothing.
When I partake of them still I hunger.
God alone will satisfy my cravings.
His grace is filling as meat and wine, like good food.

My God, My God, how my soul longs for you!
How I hunger daily for your graces!
My spirit is consumed by need of you.
Without you I would surely perish.

Your words, my Lord, give me strength.
They comfort me like food does a starving man.
You sustain me with your essence, with your very being.
For you my soul is longing.

I am in great need of your Spirit, Oh God!
My soul longs to be full of your grace.
It is pining to be filled with you,
to slake it's thirst with your love.

When you fill me I am satisfied,
while without you I wander hungry and destitute.
Therefore I approach as a beggar,
I beg, my God, for the scraps of your love, your mercy.

But your generosity knows no bounds,
instead of scraps you have given me a feast!
My soul is overwhelmed by your open-handed goodness,
you give contentment to my soul!