I read this passage as the Lector in church on the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany. The passage stirred my heart, and a new song was the result. I am including the reading as well as the lyrics to the song. I couldn't help but think this passage had a bearing on the politics of these days.
"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.
And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed, and your sin is blotted out.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”
And he said, “Go and say to this people: ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.’ Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed.” Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is utterly desolate; until the Lord sends everyone far away, and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land. Even if a tenth part remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains standing when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump."
I've now recorded this and it' s on my music page.
Turn Away
In the year that the leaders bent the knee put a crown on the head of the wanna-be
I read these words from the book of old, it’s the story that needs to be told
Isaiah had a vision sent from above, he saw angels with six wings
God had a message for the Israelites, hard times were about to begin
Turn away when they call evil good
Turn away when hate’s called brotherhood
Turn away while you still can
Empty promises won’t get you to the promised land
The people may be listening, but they do not hear
The people may be looking but they don’t see clear
The people may be thinking but their minds are dull
Their plates are empty while their leaders are full
Turn away when might’s called right
Turn away when right’s itching for a fight
Turn away while you still can
Broken promises won’t get you to the promised land
There is no healing found upon this earth
There is no rescue coming though you may search
The land is dying, the sea’s a wet void
Not a tree left standing – Eden’s been destroyed
Turn away when you’ve been led by a fool
Turn away when you’ve been used like a tool
Turn away while you still can
A traitor’s promises won’t get you to the promised land
But God told Isaiah he’s planted a seed
In the stump of a holy tree
These times will pass the story’s not done
The story’s not over ‘til we’ve overcome
So turn away while you still can
Come on everybody, come on and make a stand
Turn away when you understand
Love and Mercy are what gets you to the promised land