Vati Vati Ma Yali Lyrics by Paul Fernando

When I fell, and rose, and fell and rose again,
you took my hand and showed me the way
when weariness set my heart trembling,
you sent me thoughts that gave me courage

My Lord… you are the marker of my road
my Lord… you are the strength of my life

When lust and desire covered over my eyes,
you showed me what true joy is
when the purpose of life faded out of sight,
you were a medicine that gave me light

My Lord… you are my comfort and my joy
my Lord… you are my divine medicine

When want and lack crushed me down,
in human form you became my refuge
when my friends abandoned me and left me alone,
you stayed beside me and gave me comfort

My Lord… you are my refuge forever
my Lord… you are my constant comfort
my Lord… you are the marker of my road
my Lord… you are my divine medicine

This is a hymn of gratitude for a God who shows up in every kind of trouble, told through a series of “when… you…” pairs that add up to a whole life held by grace. It opens with the most human of struggles, the repeated falling and getting up of anyone trying to live well: “when I fell, and rose, and fell and rose again, you took my hand and showed me the way.” God is not disappointed by the falls; he is there for each rising, guiding.

Each verse names a different kind of distress and the way God met it. When “weariness set my heart trembling,” he sent “thoughts that gave courage.” When “lust and desire covered over my eyes,” he “showed me what true joy is,” offering something better than the counterfeit. When “the purpose of life faded out of sight,” he was “a medicine that gave me light.” And when poverty crushed him, “in human form you became my refuge,” a lovely nod to the incarnation, God taking on flesh to be near the suffering.

The most tender line comes near the end, “when my friends abandoned me and left me alone, you stayed beside me and gave me comfort.” God is shown to be the friend who remains when human friends fall away. The refrains gather it all into simple titles of trust, “you are the marker of my road, the strength of my life, my comfort, my divine medicine, my refuge forever.” What the listener is left with is the picture of a faithful companion for the whole journey, a God who takes the falling hand, steadies the trembling heart, heals, shelters and stays, through every stumble and every loss.