Tired Shoes
last chance for damaged goods;
stacking souls in different piles,
and our souls take such abuse,
The metaphor is set in the first verse & our predicament in the chorus. Consider life as a grand salvage store where everything has been broken down. We have been ruined by the Fall of Man back in Genesis 3. Now we are all just wasting away, hoping in vain for someone to love us in the state we are in.
to bring healing with these hands,
We are all in the same predicament. There is none righteous, no not one. (Check out Romans) The murderer & the petty thief may not consider themselves equals, but they are, in fact, equally disturbed by sin. But there is hope, there is a caretaker of this salvage store. He is trying to give the worn out, worthless shoes another shot at usefulness.
wearing sandals made from scraps;
was unworthy to undo their straps
Who else said they were unworthy to undo another man’s straps? John the Baptist. Whose straps was he referring to? None other but the Lord Jesus Christ’s. He is the one who restores our souls (soles). He is the only one who can save. In fact, there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.
and our tongues give such abuse
This final chorus always gets me. Our tongues really do give a lot of abuse. The metaphor notwithstanding, our words carry more weight than we know & intend. This hints at James’ admonition to tame the tongue. But when my tongue wreaks havoc, I know that the Caretaker will take me back & bring healing.