Our Rulers Act Without Conscience

This song is inspired by Isaiah’s image of the “stump of Jesse”: when the tree has been cut down and the landscape looks beyond saving, God is already nurturing new life beneath the surface. It names the devastation of unjust power and the fear we feel when hope seems under threat, without rushing to easy answers. And then it listens for what still breathes — the hidden root, the quiet seedlings, the first shoots of justice. Each chorus becomes a shared prayer: that love would take root and flourish, that hope would rise where it’s least expected, and that our lives might help prepare the way for God’s reign.

Our rulers act without conscience,
their hollow slogans deceive;
their lies are endless, abusive,
their crowns lie shattered in shame.
For the forest of our empires
lies silently on the ground,
yet a hidden root is breathing;
holy hope prepares to grow.

From the stumps of devastation,
shoots of justice start to rise;
let love take root and flourish
as we welcome in your reign.

When your promises feel threatened,
and the axe swings at our hope,
we cry out, bewildered, frightened,
trapped in systems we can’t change;
for the landscape of our failures
seems to silence every dream,
yet beneath these broken branches
quiet seeds of trust remain.

From the stumps of devastation,
shoots of justice start to rise;
let love take root and flourish
as we welcome in your reign.

Teach us how to notice seedlings,
signs of justice breaking through;
give us courage to tell others
that the reign of God is near.
For the shoots of stubborn justice
push through concrete, stone and pride;
let our lives proclaim their rising,
to prepare the way of God.

From the stumps of devastation,
shoots of justice start to rise;
let love take root and flourish
as we welcome in your reign.

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