Q5. Reflections: May15

29 May 2015

Mother’s Prayers Have Followed Me

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Also see 30+ Ideas for Promoting Hymn Singing in your church.

Words: Lizzie Douglas Foulks DeArmond (b. July 23, 1847; d. Oct. 26, 1936)
Music: Bentley DeForest Ackley (b. Sept. 27, 1872; d. Sept. 3, 1958)

Links:
Wordwise Hymns (Lizzie DeArmond)
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

Note: A bit of a departure today. A longer story, without my usual devotional comments–though you will certainly see something of the parable of the prodigal son (Lk. 15:11-32) in this true account. Lizzie DeArmond wrote the song in 1912, out of concern for a young man in her Sunday School class. But it was to have a dramatic affect on another man. This is a thrilling example of the providence of God, and of His love and grace. It should also motivate parents and grandparents to keep on praying for wayward family members. An even longer version of the story can be found on the Cyber Hymnal here.

Jack Norton had been raised in a loving home. When he graduated from high school, his parents provided for him to attend a large college in the eastern United States. There, he became friends with a young man from a very wealthy family, someone who was not a good influence. Dick Randolph got Jack interested in living it up. Pretty soon, he was more familiar with poker chips and cocktails than he was with his school subjects.

After graduation, his father had hoped he’d become a partner in the paint factory he had started forty years before, but the young man would have none of it. “This is no place for me,” he said, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. “I’m going to New York, where a man of my talents has a proper chance. So, let me have what’s coming to me.”

Sadly, his father made out a large cheque, telling him that was all the money he’d ever receive from them. Jack’s mother gave him a Bible that had been hers since she was a girl, promising that she would pray for him every day. Her son smirked, in a superior way, stuffing the Bible in the bottom of his trunk, just to humour her.

His college friend, Dick, got him a post at an architect’s office in New York, but Jack was more interested in late-night partying than in work. He met an actress named Flossie Brandon, and began to keep company with her. As long as his money held out, he was popular with the night club crowd. Letters came regularly from home, though he seldom answered them. When his mother wrote, she always ended her letter with these words: “You will know that I am praying for you, every night at eight o’clock.”

One evening, Jack entertained his friends at his apartment. It was Flossie who came across that old Bible, and held it up for the others to see. Embarrassed, Jack tried to shrug it off. “Oh, that’s a relic! Quite a curiosity, isn’t it?” he said. Just at that moment, the door of the little cuckoo clock in the corner opened, and chimed: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight o’clock, and he remembered his mother’s words. Surely it was a coincidence! Or, maybe not.

It wasn’t long before Jack’s money was gone, and his debts began to snowball. Then, one day, at the office, he saw the cashier open the safe, and accidentally drop a slip of paper on which he’d written the combination. Jack picked it up and put it in his pocket. Later that evening, he returned, determined to steal from the company.

As he turned the last number of the combination, the office clock tolled the hour. Eight o’clock. The words burned into his mind: “You will know that I am praying for you, every night at eight o’clock.” Bathed in perspiration, he removed two thousand dollars from the safe, and left. And though the identity of the thief remained a mystery, he was fired shortly after for his poor work and careless attitude.

The stolen money melted away, and the young prodigal was unable to find another job. His friends soon deserted him. For several weeks, he tried to drown his troubles in alcohol. One evening, he slouched drunkenly in a doorway, and watched a group of well-dressed men and women emerge from taxis, ready for a night on the town.

Approaching them, he pleaded, “Please, can you give me the price of a cup of coffee and a bed?” One man turned to him impatiently, intending to refuse. It was Dick Randolph. Scornfully, he tossed the derelict a few dollars, and told him to “Beat it!”

That was the end of hope. Devastated, Jack entered a pawn shop. With the money, he bought a revolver and some cartridges. Making his way to a park bench, he loaded the revolver, and put it to his head. But just at that moment a Christian group holding a street meeting nearby started playing music, and the clear, high voice of a girl began a song he’d never heard before.

CH-1) I grieved my Lord from day to day,
I scorned His love so full and free,
And though I wandered far away,
My mother’s prayers have followed me.

I’m coming home, I’m coming home,
To live my wasted life anew,
For mother’s prayers have followed me,
Have followed me the whole world through.

Jack dropped the revolver in his pocket, and headed in the direction of the music. He followed the group into a little mission hall, with the words of the song dancing in his head. Slouching onto a bench, he tried to listen. Then, he saw it. Above the speaker’s head was a clock. As the meeting began, the hands pointed exactly to the hour of eight. Again, his mother’s words struck him: “I am praying for you every night at eight o’clock.”

The shipwrecked man responded to the gospel invitation, and got right with God that night, confessing his sins. But the superintendent who counseled him insisted that he also had to deal with the matter of the stolen money, even if it meant going to prison.

While Jack was taken to a bed in the mission for the night, the superintendent sent off a long telegram. In the morning, the two of them made their way to the architect’s office and Jack admitted what he’d done. “I’ve got to do my duty,” said his former employer, pushing a button on his desk.

Behind Jack, a door opened. But it wasn’t the police who entered. It was his parents. “We’ve come to take you home,” his father said. “I’ll pay the money back, son, and give you a chance to work it off at the factory.” By the grace of God, Jack Norton did get his life turned around, and his favourite gospel song became Lizzie DeArmond’s Mother’s Prayers Have Followed Me.

Links:
Wordwise Hymns (Lizzie DeArmond)
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

27 May 2015

Nor Silver Nor Gold

Robert Cottrill Q5. Reflections: May15

Also see 30+ Ideas for Promoting Hymn Singing in your church.

Words: James Martin Gray (b. May 11, 1851; d. Sept. 21, 1935)
Music: Daniel Brink Towner (b. Apr. 5, 1850; d. Oct. 3, 1919)

Links:
Wordwise Hymns
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

Note: This gospel song was written in 1900, during the time that Dr. Gray served as a teacher in the summer sessions of Moody Bible Institute, in Chicago. In 1904, he was called to be dean of the school, and later became president–the office he held when my father was a student there. The hymn, as published today, is the same as the author wrote it, with one exception. Line two in CH-1 originally said, “No value on earth could have saved my poor soul.” The change seems to me to make the thought clearer.

CH-1) Nor silver nor gold hath obtained my redemption,
Nor riches of earth could have saved my poor soul;
The blood of the cross is my only foundation,
The death of my Saviour now maketh me whole.

I am redeemed, but not with silver,
I am bought, but not with gold;
Bought with a price, the blood of Jesus,
Precious price of love untold.

I can remember, many years ago, getting a haircut for twenty-five cents. And it’s startling to see the cost of other things from way back when. In 1950, a gallon of gasoline sold for around that same amount. A man could buy a suit for about thirty dollars, and a nice house could be purchased for under twenty thousand dollars. Now everything costs so much more.

Of course, we have to take into account that salaries were much lower back then. In 1950 the average salary was around three or four thousand dollars a year. That means that, in terms of purchasing power, there’s less of a disparity than might first appear. But in spite of the radical increase in both income and “out-go,” it’s still true that the rich can buy pretty much whatever they want, and the poor have to struggle to get by.

There’s another escalating factor that has complicated things in recent years. Planned obsolescence. In order to keep us buying more, things are purposely made cheaply and made not to last, and many can’t be repaired when they break down. Or, in the case of computers, new operating systems are incompatible with older programs. So we must discard outdated equipment and buy new.

These realities came to mind as I looked at this gospel song. It’s based on First Peter 1:18-19, which says:

“You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold…but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

In the Old Testament, the first Passover ceremony included the sacrifice of a lamb “without blemish” (Exod. 12:5). It symbolized the principle of an innocent substitute dying in place of the guilty sinner. The Lord Jesus Christ was the fulfilment of that picture. When He came on the scene He was introduced as, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29), and “Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us” (I Cor. 5:7).

Our eternal salvation cannot be bought with money, or with good works, or with church membership or rituals either. In fact, it was paid for already at Calvary. Now, it’s a free gift of God, received by faith in our Saviour and what He did for us on the cross (Jn. 3:16). The purchase price was neither silver nor gold, but what the Apostle Peter calls “the precious [esteemed, as of great price] blood of Christ.”

Notice the things that Gray says have been dealt with through faith in the shed blood of Christ. The repeated emphasis is on our redemption. The blood of Christ paid the debt we owed and purchased us out of the slave market of sin. It also solved the problem of our guilt (CH-2), and removed the barrier to our access to God (CH-23), and provided an eternal future in heaven for us (CH-4).

CH-2) Nor silver nor gold hath obtained my redemption,
The guilt on my conscience too heavy had grown;
The blood of the cross is my only foundation,
The death of my Saviour could only atone.

CH-3) Nor silver nor gold hath obtained my redemption,
The holy commandment forbade me draw near;
The blood of the cross is my only foundation,
The death of my Saviour removeth my fear.

And what of the problem of planned obsolescence mentioned earlier? Will there ever come a time when the sacrifice of Christ is no longer sufficient, and we must look for some other Saviour? No, never! The Bible is quite clear about that. “This Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God” (Heb. 10:12). “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

CH-4) Nor silver nor gold hath obtained my redemption,
The way into heaven could not thus be bought;
The blood of the cross is my only foundation,
The death of my Saviour redemption hath wrought.

Questions:
1) What are some of the things people are mistakenly counting on to make them worthy of heaven?

2) What other hymns do you know and sing that speak of our Redeemer or His redemption?

Links:

25 May 2015

More Like the Master

Robert Cottrill Q5. Reflections: May15

Also see 30+ Ideas for Promoting Hymn Singing in your church.

Words: Charles Hutchinson Gabriel (b. Aug. 18, 1856; d. Sept. 15, 1932)
Music: Charles Hutchinson Gabriel

Links:
Wordwise Hymns
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

Note: Another gospel song writer, George Stebbins, called Gabriel “the most outstanding and brilliant Christian musician of his time.” A man with a genial and kindly personality, Gabriel had many friends among the writers of sacred song. This gospel song was first published in 1906, and has been included in many hymn books since. There are, however, a couple of lines that need some careful study.

CH-1) More like the Master I would ever be,
More of His meekness, more humility;
More zeal to labour, more courage to be true,
More consecration for work He bids me do.

Take Thou my heart, I would be Thine alone;
Take Thou my heart, and make it all Thine own.
Purge me from sin, O Lord, I now implore,
Wash me and keep me Thine forevermore.

For some reason Living Hymns alters the text to “More like my Saviour I would ever be”–in the title and first line of CH-1, and the last line of CH-4. That is fine in itself, but seems unnecessary. The Lord Jesus is called “Master” in the gospels, by His disciples (cf. Lk. 5:5; 9:49), and by others (Lk. 17:13). There is even a statement by the Lord that was perhaps the inspiration for the song: “It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master” (Matt. 10:25).

One other change is made by the editors of Living Hymns. In line three of CH-2, the author prays for “More earnest effort to bring His kingdom in.” This thought perhaps is based on Second Peter 3:12 which says we should be “looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God”–the day of God refering to the consummation of all things, the ushering in of eternity.

This is the only Bible text that seems to suggest we can hurry up God’s program by being godly (vs. 11), and I’m not sure that’s so. An alternate translation of “hastening” seems preferable. It can mean earnestly desiring, or eagerly hoping for. “Eagerly looking forward to” (Weymouth New Testament); “Looking for and truly desiring” (Bible in Basic English). Living Hymns substitutes the line: “More earnest effort to lead some soul to Him,” which certainly has a stronger biblical footing.

The one line I personally question is one that no editor I’ve seen has picked up on. Line two of CH-2 speaks of “more strength to carry crosses I must bear.” But aside from the physical impossibility of carrying a bunch of crosses–the kind we see in the Gospels, the plural word is not biblical–it’s nowhere even used in the Bible. This seems to be treating our various trials and irritating circumstances, such as arthritis, or a cranky boss, as “crosses” we are to carry. But that’s not what the Lord meant.

How does Scripture use the term? “Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself [i.e. say “No” to self will and a self-centred life], and take up his cross [singular], and follow Me’” (Matt. 16:24). The cross is a symbol of complete identification with Christ, and absolute surrender to the will of God, even unto death. I’d suggest the alteration of the line to: “More strength to carry the cross I’m called to bear.”

CH-2) More like the Master is my daily prayer;
More strength to carry crosses I must bear;
More earnest effort to bring His kingdom in;
More of His Spirit, the wanderer to win.

Apart from these issues, the hymn is an ardent prayer that the likeness of Christ be reproduced in us by the Holy Spirit. With that we can fully concur.

When God the Son came to earth as Man, through the miracle of the virgin birth, He was able to show us, in the most perfect way what the image of God in man was meant to be, certainly in terms of a holy character. “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9), and He “committed no sin” (I Pet. 2:22). He “was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).

If we are to have God’s image restored in us, it must begin with what the Bible calls a “new birth,” a spiritual birth (Jn. 1:12-13; 3:3). Through Christ and His sacrifice we are cleansed of our sins and receive the gift of eternal life (Jn. 3:16; Eph. 1:7). It’s then, as Christians, we are called to “walk [conduct ourselves] in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4; I Pet. 1:15).

Through our study of God’s Word, we learn what this means. We are to be “be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind, that [we] may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2). As we walk in faith and obedience toward God, He produces, more and more, the spiritual fruit of Christian character in us (Gal. 5:22-23).

CH-3) More like the Master I would live and grow;
More of His love to others I would show;
More self denial, like His in Galilee,
More like the Master I long to ever be.

Questions:
1) Is this a hymn you would use in your church? (Why? Or why not?)

2) What is the greatest hindrance to growing Christlikeness in believers today?

Links:
Wordwise Hymns
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

22 May 2015

Lord of All Being, Throned Afar

Robert Cottrill Q5. Reflections: May15

Also see 30+ Ideas for Promoting Hymn Singing in your church.

Words: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (b. Aug. 29, 1809; d. Oct. 7, 1894)
Music: Louvan, by Virgil Corydon Taylor (b. Apr. 2, 1817; d. Jan. 30, 1891)

Links:
Wordwise Hymns
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

Note: Holmes was an American medical doctor, and professor of anatomy and physiology at Harvard. His son (also named Oliver Wendell Holmes) became a supreme court justice. The father was a Unitarian, but not narrowly so. He greatly loved the evangelical hymns of the church. He summed up his faith by saying he “believed more than some and less than others.”

The present hymn’s ecumenical spirit should not distract us from the profound vision it presents of Almighty God. The author called it a hymn “to the Source of the light we all need to lead us, and the warmth which alone can make us all brothers.” The hymn was published in 1848.

B igness is sometimes difficult to grasp, perhaps because it’s so relative. To an ant, we must appear to be very big. But to an elephant, not so much so. To a small child, a dollar may seem a considerable amount. But to adults grappling with a mortgage, and trying to comprehend a national debt of billions (or trillions!), it’s insignificant.

Considered one way, planet earth is big, but not in comparison to the vastness of space. One source says current scientific theory estimates that the universe is about 92 billion light years across–a light year being the distance light can travel in that time, flashing through space at 186,000 miles per second.

It’s difficult to get our minds around that! And when we turn to spiritual things, we are faced with even more mind-boggling truths. In the Bible, the Lord asks rhetorically, “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” (Jer. 23:24). That’s mighty big! In truth, “heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him” (II Chron. 2:6). And being God, He’s not partly here, and partly on Mars or Venus, or some place else, but is completely present everywhere at once.

The amazing thing is that this infinitely great God has stooped to show compassion on us, small, pitifully weak creatures that we are. Not only that, but He desires to communicate with us and fellowship with us. And when sin got in the way of that, He sent His Son to take sin’s punishment in our place (I Cor. 15:3), so we might be fitted for an eternal and intimate relationship with Him. Holmes has given us at least a glimmering of this paradox–of the bigness and remoteness of God, contrasted with His nearness and accessibility.

You won’t find many doctrinal specifics here, but the hymn gives us a sense of the immensity of God, and His transcendent glory. In a series of poetic metaphors, the author stretches our thinking to behold, at least in terms finite beings can grasp, something of the infinite.

CH-1) Lord of all being, throned afar,
Thy glory flames from sun and star;
Centre and soul of every sphere,
Yet to each loving heart how near!

CH-2) Sun of our life, Thy quickening ray,
Sheds on our path the glow of day;
Star of our hope, Thy softened light
Cheers the long watches of the night.

CH-3) Our midnight is Thy smile withdrawn;
Our noontide is Thy gracious dawn;
Our rainbow arch, Thy mercy’s sign;
All, save the clouds of sin, are Thine.

Finally, Holmes envisions the sublimation of self-will, and any attempt to feed our own pride, as we “ask no lustre of our own,” but simply offer ourselves as “living altars” aflame for God (cf. Rom. 12:1).

CH-4) Lord of all life, below, above,
Whose light is truth, whose warmth is love,
Before Thy ever blazing throne
We ask no luster of our own.

CH-5) Grant us Thy truth to make us free,
And kindling hearts that burn for Thee,
Till all Thy living altars claim
One holy light, one heavenly flame.

Questions:
1) What feelings do you have of God and yourself, when you read the stirring words of Holmes’s hymn?

2) What would you answer sometime who asked: Why would an infinite God give attention to weak and finite creatures such as we are?

Links:
Wordwise Hymns
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

20 May 2015

Jesus, Priceless Treasure

Robert Cottrill Q5. Reflections: May15

Also see 30+ Ideas for Promoting Hymn Singing in your church.

Words: Johann Franck (b. June 1, 1618; d. June 18, 1677); English translation by Catherine Winkworth (b. Sept. 13, 1827; d. July 1, 1878)
Music: Jesu, Meine Freude, found in Praxis Pietatis Melica, 1653; harmony by Johann Sebastian Bach (b. Mar. 21, 1685; d. July 28, 1750)

Links:
Wordwise Hymns
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

Note: Johann Franck was a lawyer in Germany. After his father died, when he was only two years old, Franck was adopted by an uncle who served as a judge. In that environment, his interest in the law blossomed. During his lifetime, the Thirty Years War raged in Europe. From university, Franck returned to his home town of Guben, at his widowed mother’s request. Their town was a hot spot in the war, and frequently ravaged by Saxon and Swedish troops. There he pursued his legal profession. Franck also wrote a number of hymns, including this one, written in 1653. (What I’ve designated as the fourth stanza is different from that in the Cyber Hymnal.)

CH-1) Jesus, priceless treasure, Source of purest pleasure,
Truest friend to me.
Ah, how long in anguish shall my spirit languish,
Yearning, Lord, for Thee?
Thou art mine, O Lamb divine!
I will suffer naught to hide Thee, naught I ask beside Thee.

From time to time we hear of a piece of art selling for a million dollars or more. The works of the masters–Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt van Rijn and others–are great treasures. But there are other things that are valued beyond price. Personal things, though perhaps these may seem mundane to some. That family photo album, lost in a house fire, that stolen memento of lovers’ meeting. Priceless.

In the Word of God, there are quite a number of things that are spoken of as being of special worth. In Proverbs 31:8-31, the author describes “a virtuous wife” (a woman of noble character) and says “her worth is far above rubies” (vs. 10). Job declares the same thing concerning godly wisdom (Job 28:10), and says its foundation is “the fear [reverence] of the Lord” (vs. 28).

The Lord Jesus tells His listeners that one’s eternal soul is of more value that all the world’s wealth. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mk. 8:36).

The Apostle Peter has a word that he uses a number of times that relates to our theme. It’s the word “precious.” It identifies something that is (or should be) held in high honour and esteem. That is how he rates the promises of God (II Pet. 1:4). Since He is a God of truth, and cannot lie, and since He has all the power necessary to fulfil His Word, His promises to us are of incredible worth. Also our faith as “more precious than gold” (I Pet. 1:7; II Pet. 1:1). In sovereign grace, God has given us the power to trust in Him and be saved. That’s precious indeed!

Peter uses his word again with reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is precious in His person: “to you who believe He is precious” (I Pet. 2:7). Then there is the incredible value of His provision for lost sinners: we are redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ” (I Pet. 1:18-19). Since the sacrifice of Christ has the power to cleanse from sin all who believe on Him (Jn. 3:16; I Jn. 2:2), it fully qualifies as that which is beyond price.

CH-2) In Thine arms I rest me; foes who would molest me
Cannot reach me here.
Though the earth be shaking, every heart be quaking,
Jesus calms my fear.
Lightnings flash and thunders crash;
Yet, though sin and hell assail me, Jesus will not fail me.

4) Hence, all earthly treasure! Jesus is my pleasure;
Jesus is my choice.
Hence, all empty glory! What to me thy story
Told with tempting voice?
Pain or loss or shame or cross
Shall not from my Saviour move me, since He chose to love me.

CH-5) Hence, all thought of sadness, for the Lord of gladness,
Jesus, enters in.
Those who love the Father, though the storms may gather,
Still have peace within;
Yea, whatever we here must bear,
Still in Thee lies purest pleasure, Jesus, priceless treasure!

Questions:
1) What are some of the things you value most in life?

2) What evidence is there in your daily conduct that you prize Christ, and your relationship with Him, above all else?

Links:
Wordwise Hymns
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

18 May 2015

Hushed Was the Evening Hymn

Robert Cottrill Q5. Reflections: May15

Also see 30+ Ideas for Promoting Hymn Singing in your church.

Words: James Drummond Burns (b. Feb. 18, 1823; d. Nov. 27, 1864)
Music: Samuel, by Arthur Seymour Sullivan (b. May 13, 1842; d. Nov. 22, 1900)

Links:
Wordwise Hymns
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

Note: This beautiful hymn was published in 1857. James Burns was a Scottish pastor. He struggled with ill health, and died when only forty-one years of age. Burns wrote a number of hymns but there is only one in common use today. It deserves to have a much wider use than it has presently.

As we get older, many of us experience a deterioration in our sense of hearing. But even at its very best, human hearing is far down the scale when compared to that of the animals. Not only is the ability to hear astonishing in some creatures, but so is their skill in interpreting and using the data their senses gather.

In less than a hundredth of a second, an owl can not only hear a mouse creeping on the forest floor, but can determine its speed and direction. The mouse stands little chance! Elephants can hear sound frequencies twenty times lower than we can. And scientists have discovered a species of moth that can hear frequencies fifteen times higher than human beings can.

Both bats and dolphins use a system of sonar to find their way in virtual darkness. They emit a series or chirps or clicks, and when the sound bounces back to them, they quickly gather information from it. They almost instantly know an object’s size and makeup, and its direction of movement, if any. With this animal radar, given by our Creator, a dolphin can distinguish something the size of a coin seventy metres away.

The matter of how well we hear, and what we’ll do about it has a spiritual application. A number of times we read of the Lord Jesus issuing a challenge, after a time of teaching, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (e.g. Matt. 13:9). He wasn’t referring to the problem of physical deafness. The Amplified Bible helps us by expanding the meaning: “He who has ears to hear, let him be listening, and let him consider and perceive and comprehend.”

When God speaks to us, perhaps through our reading of the Bible, or through the pastor’s Sunday sermon, we need to employ our minds to analyze the information, and evaluate it in our hearts, applying a valid spiritual value system to the communication. A study of God’s Word requires answers to several basic questions: What does it say? What does it mean (in its historical context)? And what does it mean to me, today?

In Hushed Was the Evening Hymn. Burns makes a devotional application of something that happened to the prophet Samuel as a boy.

The boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see, and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the LORD where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, that the LORD called Samuel. And he answered, ‘Here I am!’ So he ran to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, for you called me.’ And he said, ‘I did not call; lie down again.’ And he went and lay down. Then the LORD called yet again, ‘Samuel!’ So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, ‘Here I am, for you called me.’ He answered, ‘I did not call, my son; lie down again.’ (Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor was the word of the LORD yet revealed to him.) And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. Then he arose and went to Eli, and said, ‘Here I am, for you did call me.’ Then Eli perceived that the LORD had called the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, ‘Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, “Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears”’” (I Sam. 3:1-9).

Samuel did as he was bidden, and was given a message from the Lord. That was only the beginning. He went on to become an influential prophet, and the greatest of Israel’s judges, in that era. God spoke to him, and through him to the people, many times. And he not only heard with his ears, but understood with his mind, and grasped the import and passion of his message with a servant’s heart.

By means of a fine hymn, Pastor Burns calls upon each of us, likewise, to respond appropriately to the Word of God. It’s worth checking the Cyber Hymnal link to read the entire hymn. For the sake of space, I’ve omitted a couple of stanzas here.

CH-1) Hushed was the evening hymn, the temple courts were dark;
The lamp was burning dim before the sacred ark;
When suddenly a voice divine rang through the silence of the shrine.

CH-3) O give me Samuel’s ear, the open ear, O Lord,
Alive and quick to hear each whisper of Thy Word,
Like him to answer at Thy call, and to obey Thee first of all.

CH-4) O give me Samuel’s heart, a lowly heart, that waits
Where in Thy house Thou art, or watches at Thy gates;
By day and night, a heart that still moves at the breathing of Thy will.

Questions:
1) What will characterize a believer’s life if he/she has an ear like Samuel’s?

2) What difference will it make to have a heart like Samuel’s?

Links:
Wordwise Hymns
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

15 May 2015

He’s a Friend of Mine

Robert Cottrill Q5. Reflections: May15

Also see 30+ Ideas for Promoting Hymn Singing in your church.

Words: John Henry Sammis (b. July 6, 1846; d. June 12, 1919)
Music: Daniel Brink Towner (b. Apr. 5, 1850; d. Oct. 3, 1919)

Links:
Wordwise Hymns
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

Note: There is sometimes confusion over this hymn because the title in various hymn books is either He’s a Friend of Mine, or Jesus Is a Friend of Mine. There is a different song, published by Avis Christiansen in 1921, called Jesus Is a Friend of Mine, but the present one is by John Sammis. He was an American business man, and later a Presbyterian pastor and Bible teacher. This faithful servant of God also wrote a number of hymns. For example, he gave us the text of the gospel song Trust and Obey. A less common offering from Pastor Sammis is his 1910 song, He’s a Friend of Mine.

I’ve told the following story before on this blog, but it fits the theme so beautifully I’ll repeat it.

Art Rogers was a pro ball player in his younger years. Tough, profane, and hot tempered in those days, he was the complete opposite of what he’d become when I knew him. Now, decades later, with his thinning white hair, and slower step, Art was the epitome of gentleness and kindness to all.

What had brought about this dramatic transformation? God had intervened in his life in a powerful way. Art had responded to the gospel, and put his faith in Christ. Daily he radiated the joy of the Lord in his ready smile.

We worked together in an advertising firm, creating commercial displays for stores, conventions and so on. One day, the two of us were asked to go to an exhibition site, where we were to help with the setting up of a display for the Ontario Provincial Police. A couple of electricians, strangers to us, had also been called in to take care of the wiring. As the others worked, it seemed to me that almost every sentence was punctuated with some kind of vulgarity. And time and again one or the other would take the Lord’s name in vain.

Art and I continued to work away on our part of the job. But then, almost casually it seemed, Art said to the other men with a smile, “I see you know a Friend of mine.” The comment was met with puzzlement. They could not recall any person they’d mentioned by name. But Art explained, “It sounds like you know Jesus. You sure talk about him a lot.” And he preceded to give his testimony as to how the Lord had saved him.

That happened about fifty years ago, but I’ve never forgotten it. What a powerful witness! There was no sense of outraged spiritual superiority, no preachiness. He spoke in kindness, with personal warmth, but there was no mistaking his purpose.

Does it bother you when others treat the name of the Saviour with disrespect? Does it grieve you when television programs seem so ready to allow vulgar language, and the denigration of the Lord’s name. It should, if you belong to Him. Jesus said to His followers, “I have called you friends” (Jn. 15:15), and Peter observes, “To you who believe, He is precious” (I Pet. 2:7).

What have you done about others profaning of the Lord’s name? Have you used it as an opportunity for a gracious word? Or written to a television network to voice your concern? I’ve done both, from time to time. If Jesus is our Friend, we should stick up for Him!

CH-1) Why should I charge my soul with care?
The wealth of every mine
Belongs to Christ, God’s Son and heir,
And He’s a friend of mine.

Yes, He’s a friend of mine,
And He with me doth all things share;
Since all is Christ’s, and Christ is mine,
Why should I have a care?
For Jesus is a friend of mine.

CH-3) He daily spreads a glorious feast,
And at His table dine
The whole creation, man and beast,
And He’s a friend of mine.

What a privilege to be able to call the Lord Jesus our Friend! Think of what it’ll be like when He returns to summon those who love Him into His presence forever. There are wonderful things about the heavenly kingdom that we are told in the Word of God. There are many more we’ll learn about when the time comes. John Sammis calls attention on that great day in his last stanza.

CH-4) And when He comes in bright array,
And leads the conqu’ring line,
It will be glory then to say,
That He’s a friend of mine.

Questions:
1) What does it mean to have Jesus as our Friend?

2) What can you do to graciously speak to others about honouring the Lord’s name?

Links:
Wordwise Hymns
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

13 May 2015

Come, for All Things Are Ready

Robert Cottrill Q5. Reflections: May15

Also see 30+ Ideas for Promoting Hymn Singing in your church.

Words: Eliza Edmunds Hewitt (b. June 28, 1851; d. Apr. 24, 1920)
Music: William James Kirkpatrick (b. Feb. 27, 1838; d. Sept. 20, 1921)

Links:
Wordwise Hymns (Eliza Hewitt)
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

Note: The hymn was published in 1900, under the name L. H. Edmunds. Lidie H. Edmunds was a pen name of Eliza Hewitt. Miss Hewitt was a school teacher in the city of Philadelphia for about half a century, and she worked in her church’s Sunday School for the same period.

It may lack the pompous dignity of a butler pronouncing through his nose, “Dinner is served,” but a cheerful call from the kitchen, “Come and get it!” works just as well. Both are an announcement that preparations are complete; it’s time to gather around the table for a meal.

Mealtimes should be a time for conversation and sharing, a time for listening and learning. But in the last half century that intimate family time has slowly been eroded–at least in North America. The coming of television in the early 1950’s, and the invention of the prepackaged “TV dinner” around the same time, has often replaced family interaction with passive watching of whatever’s on the tube.

Add to that such things as work responsibilities, and recreational options outside the home, both of which have multiplied, causing individual members of the family to set their own schedules. Meals when the whole family gets together have become more and more rare.

Surveys have shown that one of the biggest factors in the current popularity of the television cop show Blue Bloods, is that each episode shows the family gathered around the table for a meal. It’s interesting that many fans say that’s their favourite part of the program. There we see family members expressing concern for one another. And we see a kinship around spiritual values. (How many shows do you know where a family is often seen asking God’s blessing on a meal?) Their family time is dynamic, and plays a part in molding attitudes and changing behaviour.

In the Bible, banquets and feasting are used many times as a metaphor for enjoying the blessings of God. We see it in the beloved Psalm 23.

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul” (Ps. 23:1-3).

Later, the Lord Jesus identifies Himself as the spiritual food we need, saying, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (Jn. 6:35). And “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink’” (Jn. 7:37).

What we call the Communion Service, or the Lord’s Supper, is a symbolic representation of the death of Christ on the cross, pointing backward to Calvary, and onward to His promised return. “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes? (I Cor. 11:26). In eternity, the saints will feast with Him. “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb [meaning Christ]!” (Rev. 19:9).

Christ’s parable of The Great Supper, pictures for us the gospel invitation. The master told his servant, to “say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready’” (Lk. 14:17). In 1900, this gospel song appeared, based on that theme. The reference in CH-2 to “the cup of salvation” comes from Psalms.

“What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits toward me? I will take up [lift up, in praise and thanksgiving] the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD” (Ps. 116:12-13).

CH-1) Come, for all things are ready! ’Tis a banquet of love;
Here’s a free invitation from the Master above:
It is written in crimson, drawn from Calvary’s flood,
From the wonderful fountain of the soul cleansing blood.

Oh, what fullness in Jesus!
Oh, what gladness to know,
Though our sins be as scarlet,
He’ll make them as snow.

CH-2) Come, for all things are ready! Heaven’s bounty is spread;
Take the cup of salvation, take the life giving bread:
Come, though poor and unworthy, come, though sinful and weak;
’Tis the hungry and thirsty whom the Master doth seek.

Questions:
1) What is there about a banquet that makes it an appropriate symbol of God’s salvation?

2) What other hymns do you know that use the banquet symbol?

Links:
Wordwise Hymns (Eliza Hewitt)
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

11 May 2015

God Sees the Little Sparrow Fall

Robert Cottrill Q5. Reflections: May15

Also see 30+ Ideas for Promoting Hymn Singing in your church.

Words: Maria Straub (b. ___, 1838; d. ___, 1898)
Music: Providence, by Solomon W. Straub (b. ___, 1842; d. Sept. 2, 1899)

Links:
Wordwise Hymns
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

Note: The two Straubs were brother and sister, born in Indiana. Maria seems best known for her temperance songs. Solomon wrote mainly tunes, and the publishing company the Straub’s founded, S. W. Straub and Company, put out a monthly musical periodical called The Song Friend, as well as other music.

An example of Miss Straub’s temperance songs is Fight the Battle at the Polls. We may smile indulgently at the quaintness of this sentiment, but in a day before women even had a vote, it took great courage to stand against the male-dominated liquor industry. In the nineteenth century, preaching moderation or outright abstinence, the temperance movement had some success in lessening the destructive effects of alcohol abuse on the lives of individuals and families.

Sparrows. They are the commonest of birds, around both winter and summer. Species of these small, brown and gray creatures are found in many countries of the world. They’re primarily seed-eaters, and it’s not unusual for my wife and I to see dozens of them fluttering around our feeder in the yard.

Because they’re so familiar and seemingly ordinary, sparrows have become a symbol of that which is of relatively little value. In Bible times, they were the food of the poor. (Not much meat on a sparrow!) You could buy two sparrows for a small copper coin called an assarion (Matt. 10:29), perhaps like a nickel in modern terms. And if you bought a dime’s worth, the seller would throw in an extra one (Lk. 12:6).

The Lord Jesus used this common commodity to assure His hearers of His heavenly Father’s care. Sparrows may be insignificant on earth, but “not one of them is forgotten before God” (Lk. 12:6).

“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin?,” Jesus asked. “And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows (Matt. 10:29-31).

Shakespeare was fully aware of these passages and their meaning, as he shows in his plays. He has Hamlet comment, “There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow.” And a character in As You Like It says, “He that doth the ravens feed, yea providentially caters for the sparrow, be comfort to my age.”

The providence of God (literally, His before-seeing) marks the ability of the Almighty to foresee what lies ahead, and work sovereignly through all events and circumstances to fulfil His purpose, meeting the needs of human beings, and of all His creation. It’s with that confidence that Christians can say, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

In 1878, Maria Straub wrote this lovely children’s hymn about the tender care of God. She wrote over two hundred hymns, but only this one remains in common use. Taking her theme from the words of the Lord Jesus, the author reasons from the lesser to the greater–called, in logic, an a fortiori argument. If it is true that our Creator cares for little insignificant sparrows, it can surely be argued with even greater certainty that He will care for human beings, His special creation, made “a little lower than the angels, and…crowned…with glory and honour” (Ps. 8:5).

That is a lesson we can learn from the lowly sparrow, couched in simple terms so that a child can understand it. We all surely need its assurance.

CH-1) God sees the little sparrow fall,
It meets His tender view;
If God so loves the little birds,
I know He loves me, too.

He loves me, too, He loves me, too,
I know He loves me, too;
Because He loves the little things,
I know He loves me, too.

In her second stanza, Staub borrows a thought from the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 6:28-33), “Consider the lilies of the field” (vs. 28).

CH-2) He paints the lily of the field,
Perfumes each lily bell;
If He so loves the little flow’rs,
I know He loves me well.

CH-3) God made the little birds and flow’rs,
And all things large and small;
He’ll not forget His little ones,
I know He loves them all.

Questions:
1) What evidence do you see in nature of the wise and sufficient care of God?

2) What does it mean to you that God knows the number of hairs on your head (Matt. 10:30)?

Links:
Wordwise Hymns
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

8 May 2015

There’ll Be No Dark Valley

Robert Cottrill Q5. Reflections: May15

Also see 30+ Ideas for Promoting Hymn Singing in your church.

Words: William Orcutt Cushing (b. Dec. 31, 1823; d. Oct. 19, 1902)
Music: Ira David Sankey (b. Aug. 28, 1840; d. Aug. 13, 1908)

Links:
Wordwise Hymns
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

Note: Though this 1896 song’s text is credited to Cushing, in reality he provided only an idea of the theme to Ira Sankey, who wrote both words and music. (Sankey says only the first line was Cushing’s.) The song has the feel of a traditional Spiritual, using repetition effectively to emphasize the truth of Revelation 21:4. There is more information about the hymn on the Wordwise link.

CH-1) There’ll be no dark valley when Jesus comes,
There’ll be no dark valley when Jesus comes;
There’ll be no dark valley when Jesus comes
To gather His loved ones home.

To gather His loved ones home,
To gather His loved ones home;
There’ll be no dark valley when Jesus comes
To gather His loved ones home.

In the natural world, valleys can often be beautiful, and appealing. But as a metaphor they are sometimes used to represent life’s darker perils.

Coming to mind is Tennyson’s famous poem about the ill-fated Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War. “Into the valley of Death / Rode the six hundred.” The best known biblical instance, though with quite a different mood, is found in the familiar twenty-third Psalm, where David declares, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You [Lord] are with me” (vs. 4). What made the difference for David was the presence and loving care of God, his “Shepherd” (vs. 1).

Descending from the pleasant sunlit peaks of daily experience into the shadowy unknowns of the future can be a daunting thing. What will tomorrow hold, of loss and pain? How will we cope? The Lord doesn’t promise us a smooth and sunny path through all of life. But when we trust in Him, and acknowledge His presence, as David did, we can be assured of His sustaining power and daily provision. “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” the Lord says (Heb. 13:5). And in the struggles of time we must not forget the dawning of eternity. For the Christian, the afflictions of today ultimately will give way to unending blessing.

The prophet Ezekiel got a glimpse of future blessing in a God-given vision concerning the future of Israel. In his vision, Ezekiel found himself in a valley that was full of dry bones (Ezek. 37:1-2). Then the Lord asked him, “Son of man, can these bones live?” (vs. 3). The answer proved to be that they could, by the power of God (vs. 4-5). The meaning, explained to the prophet, was that his people, then in bondage in Babylon, would one day be revived and restored, and that forever (vs. 21-23).

For the Christian, there is the promise of resurrection glory, at the second coming of Christ. “I will come again,” said the Lord to His followers, “and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (Jn. 14:3). To which we can say with confidence, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11). “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4). In short, no more valleys!

CH-2) There’ll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes,
There’ll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes;
But a glorious morrow when Jesus comes
To gather His loved ones home.

CH-3) There’ll be no more weeping when Jesus comes,
There’ll be no more weeping when Jesus comes;
But a blessèd reaping when Jesus comes
To gather His loved ones home.

In my audio library I have a scratchy recording of the song, made about two years after it was written. The soloist is Mr. Sankey himself. In ill health, the ravages of time having greatly depleted the power and richness of his voice, he still sings with the firm assurance, “ There’ll be no dark valley when Jesus comes / To gather His loved ones home.”

CH-4) There’ll be songs of greeting when Jesus comes,
There’ll be songs of greeting when Jesus comes;
And a joyful meeting when Jesus comes
To gather His loved ones home.

Questions:
1) What dark valleys of soul or body are you facing at the present time?

2) Is there someone else going through a dark valley that you can encourage with this song?

Links:
Wordwise Hymns
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org