The Dog in the Mire

I wake up to thunder inside of my chest,

I stagger through days with a debt to confess.

The ghosts of my past, they rattle their chains,

Singin’ my sins like a drunk in the rain.

They tell me, “You’re lost!”—they tell me, “You’re done!”

They say that the Shepherd don’t call back His sons.

But I seen the blood on the lintel, it’s red,

I know who I am, and I know what He said!

Oh-ohhh, I spit in the fire!

Oh-ohhh, I ain’t layin’ down!

Oh-ohhh, the dog’s in the mire,

But I ain’t stayin’ on the ground!

I fall! I crawl! I drink down the gall! (Drink it down!)

But grace still calls, and I give it my all! (Give it all!)

I know the taste of the grave, the pit, the pyre—

But Christ still lifts the dog from the mire!

I danced with the devil, I sang with his choir,

I made my home in the belly of liars.

I raised my glass with the worst of the lot,

Till mercy came in like a kick to the gut!

I shoulda been lost, I shoulda been dead,

I shoulda been gone, but He called me instead.

Now I ain’t no saint, I ain’t got no crown,

But the King of the heavens? He ain’t let me drown.

Oh-ohhh, I spit in the fire!

Oh-ohhh, I ain’t layin’ down!

Oh-ohhh, the dog’s in the mire,

But I ain’t stayin’ on the ground!

I fall! I crawl! I drink down the gall! (Drink it down!)

But grace still calls, and I give it my all! (Give it all!)

I know the taste of the grave, the pit, the pyre—

But Christ still lifts the dog from the mire!

I been a traitor, I been a thief,

I been the coward who ground down his teeth.

I cursed His name, I ran from the light,

But still He came and He called me to fight!

(Shouted) Still He came and He called me to fight!

I fall! I crawl! I drink down the gall! (Drink it down!)

But grace still calls, and I give it my all! (Give it all!)

I know the taste of the grave, the pit, the pyre—

But Christ still lifts the dog from the mire!

Still He calls, still He saves…

Even a dog like me, raised from the grave.