The Ninety and Nine

The words to a poem started flowing into my mind on May 28, 2015. The title of the poem was, “The Ninety and Nine.” This poem was not completed until May 28, 2018—exactly three years after the first impressions came to me. I kept the initial handwritten words of this poem in my Scriptures, so I wouldn’t lose them and said to myself, “Someday I will finish this poem.” I was a bit startled when I looked at the date I started writing this poem because now, three years later, someday had finally come! Once again, this was a lesson for me to hold onto the bits of inspiration that occasionally come to me—and keep them in a safe place so I don’t lose them!

the ninety and nine
were doing just fine
but one sheep went
quietly astray

not wanting to be seen
with a “shepherd” scheme
the black sheep simply chose
to walk away

but the shepherd wouldn’t stop
until she would drop
while searching for the sheep
that disappeared

she worked every day
and fasted and prayed
for the black sheep and to
quiet her fears

it didn’t seem fair
the sheep didn’t care
if he was found or if
he stayed hidden

but the shepherd pursued
every little clue
while searching on paths
that were forbidden

she eventually found
there on the ground
broken footsteps of the one
who’d been lost

she followed the trail
till she heard a faint wail
of a sheep that had fallen
at terrible cost

she bound up his wounds
and the sheep came back soon
to the fold where he’d once
walked away

the prodigal had returned
with life’s lessons he’d learned
the lost coin had been found
and was paid

the black sheep had been last
but sins stay in the past
for Christ’s atonement
had made him whole

the black sheep was now first
with a hungering thirst
to drink living waters
for his soul

in the vineyard he now labored
so others could savor
and receive equal wages
for their prize

and those who thought it not fair
didn’t understand God’s care
that every soul is great
in His eyes

for these are His sheep
that He’s trying to keep
from climbing dangerous cliffs
that are steep

as He fervently seeks
for good shepherds to reach
every lost soul and all
wayward sheep

——

Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

—Luke 15:10