You knew me from before my birth, You knew that I would be this fool. You knew I'd squander heaven's worth. Can it be true? Are you so cruel? You let me make a padlocked purse To keep my silver in reserve. You chose for me a subtle curse, Abundant blessings undeserved. You give and give. Again you give And watch me as I blunder on Determined, doggedly, to live As pettiness's paragon. I flattered myself I would be The best behaved of penitents. You stopped me short of ignomy But showed my virtue swiftly spent. You knew how I would try to pray, You knew how I would force the words, How I would make a mocking bray Out of the saintly song of birds. You knew all this, You know still more. You see so much that I cannot. You hear, of course, when I implore, Remember all that I forgot. You give and give and give again. I know, oh fear, that You may take. But how Your mercy comes like rain, A miracle, for heaven's sake.
Author? And can this author really mean what this poem effectively means? The the concept of an omniscient omnipotent benevolent God is either a cruel joke or an absurd impossibility?