Distant God

David Leonard opens by correcting a rumor rather than making a new claim — "You are not a distant God, You are not who they say You are." The whole song reads like a rebuttal, aimed at whatever version of God feels far away or indifferent.

His images stay close and physical instead of abstract: a father beside "a wounded child," presence "in the peace and in the wild," someone who doesn't disappear "when the lights go out." Leonard lists the moments most likely to feel abandoned — a long road, the heat of battle — and insists each one is exactly where God actually is.

Psalm 34:18 promises God stays "nigh unto them that are of a broken heart," and Moses tells Israel in Deuteronomy 31:6 that God "will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Leonard's closing "Hallelujah" doesn't follow an explanation so much as a realization — "love has found me," not the other way around.