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God Marked a Line and Told the Sea
1. God marked a line and told the sea
Its surging tides and waves were free
To travel up the sloping strand
But not to overtake the land.
2. God set one limit in the glade
Where tempting, fruited branches swayed,
And that first limit stands behind
The limits that the law defined.
3. The line, the limit, and the law
Are patterns meant to help us draw
A bound between what life requires
And all the things our heart desires.
4. But, discontent with finite powers,
We reach to take what is not ours
And then defend our claim by force
And swerve from life's intended course.
5. We are not free when we're confined
To every wish that sweeps the mind,
But free when freely we accept
The sacred bounds that must be kept.
WORDS: Thomas H. Troeger, 1986
MUSIC: Attr. Elkanah Kelsay Dare As in Pilsbury's United States Harmony, 1799
Scripture: Genesis 2:15-17 Genesis 2:4-9
Theme: God