God is Not a Cow! (Poem)

They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.   - Exodus 32:8

Some people think that God’s a cow,

And to its likeness bend and bow,

But I am here to tell you now

That God is not a cow!

Now how it ever came to be

That some could think so foolishly

Is still a mystery to me,

For God is not a cow.

No, God is not a cow,

And God is not a tree,

And God is not the Monster that

Some picture Him to be.

And image made of wood or stone

Is not our God, my friend -

And falser yet, the Sovereign that

Would torment without end.

Now Aaron made a golden cow

And said it just popped out somehow,

But I am here to tell you, pal

That God is not a cow!

To think a cow could be our God -

A bovine beast of earthly sod

Is certainly a thought most odd -

For God is not a cow.

No, God is not a cow,

And God is not a stone,

And God is not a tyrant that

Will torture on and on.

An idol fashioned out of gold

In distant, heathen lands

Is no less false if made from thoughts

Instead of human hands.

King Jeroboam made a cow -

Samaria it did endow - 

And worshippers did think it “Wow!”

But God is not a cow!

I think today his golden calf

Would just cause most to sneer & laugh

And scorn it as unholy graft,

For God is not a cow!

No, God is not a cow,

And God is not a bird,

And God as such a cruel madman

Is just as much absurd!

To fancy God to be a beast

Is such a fairy tale -

But even worse is One whose curse

Is endless pain in Hell.

So why do some think God’s a cow?

Do any scriptures doth allow?

No, not a one I firmly vow

Would say that God’s a cow.

‘Twas vain and empty myths of men

Corrupted in the mire of sin

Of rusty, crusty way back when -

But God is not a cow!

No, God is not a cow -

He is the Lord of all;

He is the faithful Father Who

Will hear the righteous call.

No limit to His mercy great -

A limit to His wrath -

His wheat He gathers in His barn,

But burns up all the chaff.

Eternal life He gives His sheep -

That’s what our Savior saith -

They will not perish in the fire

Which is the second death.

Nor will He keep the lost alive

For aye to scream and howl -

That god is not the God we know -

That god is such a cow.

No, God is not a cow

And God is not a rogue -

It’s hard to think that such a thing

Has been so long in vogue.

The God revealed in Holy Writ

Is not a fiend so foul -

He is the God revealed in Christ,

And nothing like a cow!

So now I wonder, wonder how

We could be rid of this old cow,

And cease to hear its vulgar growl -

For God is not a cow!

If we could read His Word anew

Unfettered by a point of view -

Its words would read so clear and true

That God is not a cow.

No, God is not a cow-

He is the Lord above -

A holy God of justice and

A gracious God of love.

His judgment has a fearful end,

And yet an end most just;

Oh, He is worthy of our praise -

Deserving of our trust.

     

And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.  Romans 1:23

For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.  - Isaiah  57:16