But Not Yet (The Divided Will)
[Verse 1]
I command myself to follow, but the order won’t go through —
There’s a saint I’m gonna be, Lord, give me one more night or two.
The spirit’s at the altar but the flesh is at the bar,
And my restless heart’s still dancing, not sure of who You are.
[Chorus]
So make me chaste — but not yet!
Make me pure — but not now!
Let me finish out the chase and I’ll renounce it all somehow —
One more turn around the floor, one more sin before the cure;
Make me chaste, Lord, make me chaste… but not yet, I swear.
[Verse 2]
Every craving forged a habit, every habit forged a chain,
So I built my own dungeon — then I cried about the pain.
I want the thing I do not want, I’m fighting what I will —
Two wills at war inside one man, and neither one stays still.
I tango toward the temple, then I tango back to vice,
And the heart can’t find its rest while I keep paying the deferred price.
[Bridge]
Then a voice beyond the garden cut the music in the air:
“How long will ‘later’ last? Must the cure be always elsewhere?”
And the bargain finally broke there on the floor —
“Tomorrow” had a deadline I had never seen before.
[Final chorus]
Now make me chaste — and yes!
Make me pure — and now!
The chase is finally over, and I never learned quite how.
The restless heart lies down, and I finally understand —
You were leading all along; I just wouldn’t take Your hand.
[Outro]
“Not yet”… “not yet”…
turned, at last, to “now.”