“Be a man!” they say.

Love to.

Desperately do I desire to be a real man, a good man, a godly, kingly man. There is so much at stake, so many at stake. And my inner heart, my left-over little boy’s heart dreams of and yearns for genuine Manhood.

But I’ve spent my whole life as a fallen human being in a fallen world, so Manhood, like everything else that is pure and good, has become twisted, murky, and out of reach.

Like Paul said, I have the deep abiding desire, but I don’t know how to accomplish it. (Romans 7)

It ain’t easy being a man. It’s almost impossible to even know what constitutes a real man in this world. All we see and hear in our culture are conflicting caricatures of that elusive and endangered creature, the Real Man.

Yet manhood is thrust upon us, ready or not.

So, to whom do we look for an understanding of real manhood? And where do we look for the ability to become that man whom we desire to be?

To the Man’s Man, the Creator of men, the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here are the lyrics to a song I wrote several years ago. The words still ring true for me.

Strong Hand (based on Isaiah 53)

There is a man that I try to be; the kind of a man who you can look up to;
The kind of a man who will always stand tall; now he may stumble but he won’t fall.
And if you should need him, why you just call and he’s right there.

And so I try so hard sometimes to be what I know that I ought to be,
To swallow my fear and take my stand, to fight for the right and to be that man,
But deep down inside I need to hold somebody’s hand,
A strong hand.

I read about a man one time, who lived a life that was just like mine,
Faced the same problems that face me, the only difference is that while I’m weak
He showed the greatest possible strength and he made it through.

And then I read of how he cried, of how he was hurt down deep inside,
He used all his strength just to care for me, embracing my shame and my agony;
He even became my sin for me and that’s how he died.
For me he died.

Sometimes I think that I’ve got it so rough.
Find out I’m weak when I thought I was so tough.
But he poured out his life and he paid God’s price to extend to man
A strong hand.

Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
He is despised and rejected of men, a Man of sorrow and acquainted with grief
Our griefs and our sorrows He has born and we esteemed Him smitten of God.

But He was wounded for our transgressions, and He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray and the Lord laid upon Him,
The iniquity of us all.

Sometimes I think that I’ve got it so rough,
Find out I’m weak when I thought I was tough.
But He poured out His life and He paid God’s price to extend to man
A strong Hand.

This is that man that I try to be, the kind of Man Who I can look up to,
To give Him my fear and to take His stand,
To fight for His Right and to be His man,
‘Cause deep down inside I know He’s holding onto me,
With a strong Hand

Sometimes we think that we’ve got it so rough,
Find out we’re weak when we thought we were so tough.
But He poured out His life and He paid God’s price to extend to man
A strong Hand.
A strong Hand.

Thank you, Lord, for understanding.

And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon a Rock”
-Exodus 33:21