THE FOOL’S PRAYER by: Edward Rowland Sill (1841-1887)
The royal feast was done; the King Sought some new sport to banish care, And to his jester cried: "Sir Fool, Kneel now, and make for us a prayer!" The jester doffed his cap and bells, And stood the mocking court before; They could not see the bitter smile Behind the painted grin he wore. He bowed his head, and bent his knee Upon the monarch's silken stool; His pleading voice arose: "O Lord, Be merciful to me, a fool! ... "These clumsy feet, still in the mire, Go crushing blossoms without end; These hard, well-meaning hands we thrust Among the heart-strings of a friend. ... "Earth bears no balsam for mistakes; Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool That did his will; but Thou, O Lord, Be merciful to me, a fool!" The room was hushed; in silence rose The King, and sought his gardens cool, And walked apart, and murmured low, "Be merciful to me, a fool!"
The Bible recognizes three distinct types of sin: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These were evident in the very first sin, when Eve saw that the fruit was “good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise.” They were also evident in Satan’s temptation of Jesus when He was offered bread from stones, the kingdoms of the world, and the spectacle of jumping off the temple.
All these sins can provide powerful and subtle temptations to man, but pride is perhaps the most powerful and sneakiest of all. Pride is the sin that caused Satan to fall from heaven, wanting to be God. Many people today think they know better than God what is right or wrong.
Many people today think they know better than God what is right or wrong. Each person learns two truths: First, There Is A God; and Second, They Are Not Him. Hopefully, they learn it in this life. If not, they will learn it too late. God made it clear in His first Commandment – “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3) Jesus reinforced it in His commandment – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37)
When we begin to get other temptations under our control, pride can cause us to think that we are better than those “others” who can’t resist temptation. Scriptures repeatedly warn us that pride goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18), and that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. (James 4:6, I Peter 5:5) Like the king in the poem, we all need God’s mercy.
If we humble ourselves before God, He will lift us up. (Psalm 147:6, James 4:10)