Ma Balavath Karana

In the Lord who makes me strong,
all things can be done
all things can be done…

There is no doubt, no fear in my heart,
for you are the mighty one, my Lord…
keep me safe, my Lord,
in every passing moment…

Wiping away our tears, comforting us,
setting us free from every evil…
you are constant, my Lord,
thanks be to you, praise be to you…

The flames of fire in the heart, the sighs in the soul,
it is you who quenches them, my Lord…
give me room, my Lord,
to remain within your hand…

As a poor one among the poor,
it was you who came, my Lord…
on the summit of Calvary,
the King who gave us salvation…

This is a hymn of confident trust, built on one of the best-loved promises in the New Testament, where the apostle Paul writes, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The song makes it its opening declaration: “in the Lord who makes me strong, all things can be done.” Notice the careful humility of it, the strength is not the singer’s own; it is found “in the Lord.” That is why he can add, without arrogance, “there is no doubt, no fear in my heart, for you are the mighty one.”

From that confidence flows a series of quiet requests and thanks. “Keep me safe, my Lord, in every passing moment”; and the tender picture of God “wiping away our tears, comforting us, setting us free from every evil.” When “the flames of fire in the heart, the sighs in the soul” threaten to overwhelm, “it is you who quenches them.” The prayer at the centre is simply for nearness, “give me room to remain within your hand,” to stay held.

The final verse grounds all this strength in the humility of Christ himself. “As a poor one among the poor, it was you who came,” a reminder that the mighty Lord entered the world in poverty, alongside the lowly. And it ends at the cross, “on the summit of Calvary, the King who gave us salvation.” What the listener is left with is a settled, fearless faith, the assurance that a person joined to a God who came in poverty and saved from the cross can face every moment unafraid, able to do all things, not by their own power, but by his.