Chorus:
Oh God,
How many are them that hate me.

Narrator:
Strangers are risen up against me. 
Oppressors seek after my soul. 
I have seen violence and strife in the city.

Chorus:
Oh God,
How many are them that hate me.

Narrator:
My heart is sore pained within me; 
and the terror of death are fallen upon me.

Chorus:
Oh God,
How many are them that hate me.

Narrator:
From Words in the Mourning Time
Voice in the Wilderness — Robert Hayden
“Know that love has chosen you
to live his crucial purposes.
Know that love has chosen you.

And will not pamper you nor spare;
demands obedience to all
the rigorous laws of risk,
does not pamper, will not spare.

Oh, master now love’s instruments—
complex and not for the fearful,
simple and not for the foolish.
Master now love’s instruments.

I who love you tell you this,
even as the pitiful killer waits for me,
I who love you tell you this.”