You Could Have Called Them

This is the fourth in the God Bent Down Series Verse 1 I have read of how You knelt there In the dark of olive trees Where the burden of my wandering Pressed You to Your knees You could have called ten thousand angels Could have walked away unbowed But You rose and walked toward Judas Into darkness all alone Matthew 26:36–56; Matthew 26:53; Luke 22:39–46; John 18:4–8 Pre-Chorus And I begin to understand What power chose to lay aside — The deepest kind of love Will not compel or override John 10:17–18; Philippians 2:6–8; 1 John 4:8 Chorus You could have called them But You didn't You could have stopped it But You stayed Not a will bent under compulsion But a heart that freely gave And I know now what love looks like When it gives itself away You could have called them But You chose me Matthew 26:53; John 15:13; Romans 5:8; John 3:16 Verse 2 I have stood before the question Of a God who lets things break Why not speak and end the sorrow Why not act for mercy's sake Then I see Your hands at daybreak Open wide and asking still Not commanding, not compelling — Love that waits upon my will Luke 13:34; Revelation 3:20; John 6:67; Deuteronomy 30:19 Pre-Chorus And I'm undone by what it cost You Just to leave the choice to me You would rather bear the darkness Than to take away my free Romans 8:32; 2 Peter 3:9; EGW, The Great Controversy, p. 493 Chorus You could have called them But You didn't You could have stopped it But You stayed Not a will bent under compulsion But a heart that freely gave And I know now what love looks like When it gives itself away You could have called them But You chose me Bridge You are not a God of iron You are not a throne of dread You who chose to be forsaken And rescued me from the dead Matthew 27:46; Psalm 22:1; Romans 4:25; Acts 2:24 Outro — You could have called them... But You stayed... You could have called them... And You stayed... Matthew 26:53; John 10:17–18