.adversary.

you persuade us that He withholds.

that He turns away.

that He's long gone.

and when we fail to lift our heads, your words and ways are quite convincing.

you would keep us from everything that we have in His name.

and you weaken us until we bend low enough to hear you whisper "fall".

but you deceive us.

deception is the song of the defeated and you,
you have been mightily defeated.

you lost in the desert.
you lost in the garden.
you lost at the tomb.
and you lost we who shout His Word over every fallen whisper you have ever spoken.
That Word is our God.

and so we live victoriously,
over every "save yourself"
every "if you are..."

and the treachery that is your existence.