Menu

Amazing Grace

Words: John Newton (July 24, 1725; d. Dec. 21, 1807)
Music: New Britain, by an unknown composer

Note: John Newton’s original version of the hymn, as printed in Olney Hymns, in 1779, contained six stanzas ((1) through (6)). (7) does not appear to have been from Newton’s pen, it was added much later, and the author is unknown. However, it does make a fitting conclusion to this wonderful song.

The tune has had five different names over the years, including New Britain, McIntosh, St. Mary’s, Gallaher, and (later) Amazing Grace. Its earliest publication seems to have been in an 1829 book called Columbian Harmony, but the tune was first wedded to Newton’s text in Southern Harmony, published in 1835. In 1900, Edwin Excell (1851-1921) arranged the tune as we know it today.

(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)

What can be said of this great hymn that hasn’t been said before–many times over? Much of it is autobiographical, reflecting the author’s own experience. After a narrow escape from a terrible storm at sea, John Newton began to think of his past life. He had not only rejected Christ and the gospel, but had blasphemed the Lord’s name over and over, with terrible oaths. The depths of his depravity horrified him. Was there any hope for such a vile sinner? He says:

“I began to pray. I could not utter the prayer of faith. I could not draw near to a reconciled God and call Him Father. My prayer was like the cry of the ravens, which yet the Lord does not disdain to hear. I now began to think of Jesus whom I had so often offended. I recollected the particulars of His life and death, a death for sins not His own, but for those who, in their distress, should put their trust in Him….In perusing the New Testament, I was struck with several passages, particularly the prodigal [i.e. Christ’s parable of the prodigal son, Lk. 15:11-32]–a case that had never been so clearly exemplified as by myself. And then the goodness of the father in receiving, nay, in running to meet such a son, and this intended only to illustrate the Lord’s goodness to returning sinners, this gained upon [impressed] me.”

John Newton

The grace of God, and “the God of all grace” (I Pet. 5:10), is the central theme of this hymn. “Grace” is a word found some 137 in our English Bibles, from “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen. 6:8), to “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Rev. 22:21). It represents the unearned and unmerited favour and blessing of God. And it is “amazing” for that very reason. Not only is it undeserved. But those who receive were fully deserving of just the opposite, wrath and divine judgment.

As Newton pondered the wreckage of his past life, he saw in his wretchedness a man whom God treated with grace that he in no way merited and had no hope of earning. God’s free gift overwhelmed him, and did so for the rest of his life. He would readily say with Paul, “I commend you to God and to the word of His grace” (Acts 20:32). The devout passion of his hymn reveals this. The words he chose strike an emotional chord, as well as delivering important truth. There we find amazing, sweet, and precious grace, poured out upon a wretch, who is lost, and blind.

There are more than a dozen personal references in the hymn (I, me, my), bringing this centuries old hymn closer in form to the modern gospel song, with its focus on experience. However, there is nothing shallow here. It would be rare for a superficial contemporary offering to put words such as wretch, lost and blind in the singer’s mouth. Nor would it be willing to grapple with the paradox of grace teaching our hearts to fear (2).

(1) Amazing grace (How sweet the sound!)
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.

(2) ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

Stanzas (4), (5) and (6) are lesser known, since they are not included in many modern hymnals. But they are worthy of note. “His Word my hope secures,” and “the earth shall soon dissolve like snow” are especially notable lines.

(4) The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

(6) The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

Questions:

  1. In what way does grace awaken fear, before it relieves it”
  2. What are some of the riches of God’s grace (Eph. 1:7; 2:7) that He gives to us in salvation?

Links:

Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Words: Charles Wesley (b. Dec. 18, 1707; d. Mar. 29, 1788)
Music: Martyn, by Simeon Butler Marsh (b. June 1, 1798; d. July 14, 1875)

Note: There are a number of inspiring stories as to how this hymn came to be written. (The Cyber Hymnal (see link below) has an interesting one.) I know of at least three that are possible, but the fact is we simply can’t be sure which, if any, is correct.

Martyn is a simple tune for this hymn. More dramatic and powerful by far is Aberystwyth, by Welsh composer Joseph Parry (1841-1903). Aberystwyth is a city in the north of Wales, where Mr. Parry was a professor of music. A great tune befitting a great hymn. (And, if you use Parry’s majestic tune, be careful not to sing it too quickly.)

Wesley called his song, “In Time of Prayer and Temptation.” It now takes its title from the opening line. And it’s a true hymn, in the technical sense–a song addressed to God and extolling Him. Over the years, editors tinkered with his phrasing, thinking they knew better. But it later years publishers returned to the original, realizing that later emendations did not improve Wesley’s masterpiece.

(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)

The phrase, “O Lord, Thou lover of souls,” from an apocryphal book, Wisdom of Solomon 11:26, may have suggested the first line. Others think a line from Thomas a Kempis’s Imitation of Christ may have been the inspiration, where the Lord is called a “zealous Lover of faithful souls.” But there is ample inspired Scripture as well to assure us of the Saviour’s love. “The Son of God…loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20; cf. Rom. 8:37; Eph. 5:2, 25). It is love that sent Him to the cross to die in our place (Jn. 10:11; 15:13). And that love is ongoing, expressed in the tender care of the Shepherd for His sheep, day by day.

(1) Jesus, Lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.

This magnificent hymn justly holds a place among a handful of the greatest hymns in the English language. Edwin Long, in his Illustrated History of Hymns and Their Authors, devotes twenty pages to his opinion about the song’s origin, and to many stories of how it has been a blessing over the years. Whatever the story behind it, it depicts an individual with fervent faith who seeks the Lord in a desperate situation. The third stanza (3) is rarely used, but its “Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall” is a graphic picture of urgent need.

(3) Wilt Thou not regard my call? Wilt Thou not accept my prayer?
Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall—Lo! on Thee I cast my care;
Reach me out Thy gracious hand! While I of Thy strength receive,
Hoping against hope I stand, dying, and behold, I live.

The sufficiency of the Lord Jesus to meet the author’s needs is confessed. He is “all I want,” and “more than all in Thee I find” (4). Yet see how Wesley recognizes the element of grace in all of the Lord’s provision. We are unworthy of all that He has done and is doing for us. He is just and holy, “I am all unrighteousness; He is full of grace and truth, while “false and full of sin I am.”

(4) Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find;
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Thy name, I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am; Thou art full of truth and grace.

The emotional power of “Leave, ah! leave me not alone” is unquestionable. “My helpless soul,” and “my defenceless head” likewise depict the petitioner’s crisis situation. T. L Cuyler wrote: “The one central, all-prevailing idea of this matchless hymn is the soul’s yearning for its Saviour. The figures of speech vary, but not the thought.”

(2) Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone, still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed, all my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenceless head with the shadow of Thy wing.

Questions:

  1. What particular expressions of need in the hymn do you identify with?
  2. What descriptions of the Lord in the hymn are a special blessing and encouragement to you?

Links:

In the Cross of Christ I Glory

Words: John Bowring (b. Oct. 17, 1792; d. Nov. 23, 1872)
Music: Rathbun, by Ithamar Conkey (b. May 5, 1815; May 30, 1867)

Note: Sir John Bowring was a remarkably gifted man. Before he was sixteen, he’d mastered French, Spanish, Italian, Portugeuse, German and Dutch, going on to add many more languages over the years. He served the British government in China, and was an advocate of prison reform. Though nominally a Unitarian, he is considered a devoted evangelical believer. His tombstone contains, as his testimony, the opening line of this hymn: “In the cross of Christ I glory.”

(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)

The hymn was inspired by the words of Paul in Galatians 6:14, “God forbid that I should boast [or glory] except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” There is a story, mentioned by the Cyber Hymnal (see link below), that Bowring wrote this hymn after seeing a ruined cathedral on the shore of China, at Macao, an old Portugeuse trading post. Only the front wall of the church remained, topped by a cross. However, the hymn was published in 1825, and the author didn’t get to China until 1849. Either he heard this story from someone else, or it was another church that John Bowring saw.

Even so, the cross “towering o’er the wrecks of time” is a powerful image. It proclaims that when the works of men are gone the power of the cross will remain. I’m reminded of Shelley’s poem about an ancient ruler named Ozymandias. The boastful  inscription at the base contrasted sharply with the fallen, shattered image, which bore testimony to the fleeting nature of human glory and fame.

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Powerful men and women have come and gone from the stage of human history, nations have risen and disappeared, but the cross, and what God accomplished through it, will endure forever. Our worship of the Lord Jesus Christ in the heavenly city will recall His death for lost sinners. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain” (Rev. 5:12).

Rather than focusing particularly on the eternal saving value of the cross, Bowring’s hymn shows how it dominates all of our lives. For the believer, the cross remains of central significance. From the cross, and because of the cross, flow all the abundant blessings of God’s grace. It is “sublime,” to use the author’s final word in the opening stanza. He means the cross impresses us with its grandeur and power, and inspires a sense of awe.

(1) In the cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o’er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.

Whether in difficult times, or sunny days, the cross has its effect. In trying times, when hopes are shaken and fears trouble us, the cross remains a constant source of peace and joy. And in brighter days, it simply “adds more lustre to the day.”

(2) When the woes of life o’ertake me,
Hopes deceive, and fears annoy,
Never shall the cross forsake me,
Lo! it glows with peace and joy.

(3) When the sun of bliss is beaming
Light and love upon my way,
From the cross the radiance streaming
Adds more lustre to the day.

The cross is the supreme evidence of the love of God (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 5:8). In the words of the Apostle John:

“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I Jn. 4:9-10).

Questions:

  1. What does the cross mean in your life today?
  2. Did you ever ask someone who was wearing a cross what it means to them? (What happened when you did?)

Links:

Look and Live

Words: William Augustine Ogden (b. Oct. 10, 1841; d. Oct. 14, 1897)
Music: William Augustine Ogden

Note: It is sometimes supposed that because our gospel songs are often simple in their teaching, and make use of a repeated refrain to emphasize the main theme, that they must have been written by those who have little understanding of music. Of course this is occasionally the case. However, many of the prominent gospel song writers of the nineteenth century were gifted and well-trained musicians.

William Ogden is a case in point. He studied under a number of excellent musicians, including Dr. Lowell Mason and B. F. Baker–the latter being president of the old Boston Music School. Under Mr. Baker, one of the most prominent teachers of his day, he studied voice, counterpoint, fugue, and complex harmony. Ogden taught music classes in the United States and Canada, and eventually became Superintendent of Music in the public schools of Toledo, Ohio. He wrote and published many songs, and a couple of cantatas, as well as two comic operas.

The gospel songs written by Ogden and others were generally kept simple for a reason. Without photo copiers and video projectors and other modern aids, they needed to teach their songs quickly, so people could go home singing the truths being taught. This purpose precisely suited the work of the Sunday School. Indeed the common term for gospel songs in that era was “Sunday School songs.” Mr. Ogden published the present song in 1887, in Triumphant Songs for Sunday Schools and Gospel Meetings.

(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)

Simple though it is, this song presents several important truths, and there is a logical flow to the message stanza by stanza.

(1). There’s “a message from the Lord…recorded in His Word”–which means it’s an authentic and important message. The Bible is God’s inspired infallible Word. Something like 3,800 times, the writers specifically tell us they’re delivering a message from the Lord. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (II Tim. 3:16). “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (II Pet. 1:21).

Refrain. “Look and live!” The promise is drawn from an incident in the book of Numbers. On one occasion, when the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, their camp was infested with poisonous snakes. The Lord told Moses to erect a bronze replica of the snake, and promised that all who looked upon it would live (Num. 21:8). The Lord Jesus applied that to Himself and to having faith in His Calvary work (Jn. 3:14-15).

(2). It’s “a message full of love.” The offer of forgiveness and of eternal salvation to lost mankind demonstrates God’s great love for us. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son [gave Him to die on a cross], that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16). “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Now, “the love of Christ compels us,” as His ambassadors, to share the message of the gospel with others (II Cor. 5:14, 20).

(3). “Life is offered unto you.” The Bible teaches us that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), and “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Spiritually speaking, each of us comes into this world stillborn, “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son….These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (I Jn. 5:11, 13).

(4). “I will tell you how I came.” Personal testimony is of little worth without God’s Word behind it. But when the two are put together the effect can be powerful indeed. Three times, in the book of Acts, we are told of Paul’s conversion. Once in narrative form, by the author, Luke (Acts 9:1-16), and twice on occasions when Paul bore witness to what the Lord had done for him, once before a hostile mob (Acts 22:1-16), and then before Agrippa (Acts 26:1-23). Twenty times in the book of Acts we read of the “witness” of the apostles (cf. Acts 1:8; cf. I Pet. 3:15).

(1) I’ve a message from the Lord, Hallelujah!
The message unto you I’ll give;
’Tis recorded in His Word, Hallelujah!
It is only that you “look and live.”

Look and live, my brother, live,
Look to Jesus now and live;
’Tis recorded in His Word, Hallelujah!
It is only that you look and live.

Questions:

  1. Clearly, we can’t look at Christ now in a physical way, as the disciples did. What does it mean to “look,” as the word is used in the song?
  2. What are some of the qualities of the “life” God offers us through faith in Christ?

Links:

A Child of the King

Words: Harriet Eugenia Peck Buell (b. Nov. 2, 1834; d. Feb. 6, 1910)
Music: John Bunnell Sumner (b. March 25, 1838; d. May 10, 1918)

Note: The Cyber Hymnal link below tells how John Sumner came to select Mrs. Buell’s poem to create a new gospel song. It also has a wonderful and touching account of how the song was used of God to bring a man to the Saviour.

(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)

Like another more recent gospel song, Ira Stanphill’s Mansion Over the Hilltop, published in 1949, Harriet Buell’s 1877 song deals with the material grandeur of heaven, and the riches that await us there. But unlike the former, which is almost unrelentingly materialistic, Harriet Buell’s also brings in the spiritual dimension of our salvation.

It is true that the Lord is preparing “many mansions” (or dwelling places) for the saints in the heavenly city (Jn. 14:2). (Incidentally, I wondered at Mrs. Buell’s second line in (4), “They’re building a palace for me over there.” Since Christ says, “I [singular] go to prepare a place for you,” it might have been better to write “He’s building a palace…”)

But what of the kingship of the Almighty. That God rules as King over all is a truth attested to in many Scriptures. For example:

“The LORD is King forever and ever” (Ps. 10:16).
“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen” (I Tim. 1:17).
“Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!” (Rev. 15:3).

And if God rules as King over the saints, being children of God (I Jn. 3:1) is to be children of the King. It follows, then, that we are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17), with all the wealth and privileges pertaining to that.

But how did that come to be? As the song says (3) we each began as “a sinner by choice and an alien by birth.” We were “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1), and destined for a lost eternity. But God the Son became Man, to suffer and die, taking upon Himself the just punishment for our sin ((2); cf. II Cor. 8:9).

Now, through faith in Him (Jn. 3:16), we can be cleansed and forgiven, and exalted to sonship in His forever family. And even though, in this life, we may struggle to make ends meet, we can look forward to enjoying the wealth of all heaven. Though we do not have all the riches God has promised in hand as yet, they’re already ours, reserved for us there (I Pet. 1:3-5).

(3) I once was an outcast stranger on earth,
A sinner by choice, an alien by birth,
But I’ve been adopted, my name’s written down,
An heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown.

I’m a child of the King,
A child of the King:
With Jesus my Saviour,
I’m a child of the King.

(4) A tent or a cottage, why should I care?
They’re building a palace for me over there;
Though exiled from home, yet still may I sing:
All glory to God, I’m a child of the King.

Questions:

  1. What is the difference between how the world often measures wealth, and how God measures it?
  2. What to you is the greatest blessing or benefit to being “a child of the King”?

Links:

Satisfied

Words: Clara Tear Williams (b. Sept. 22, 1858; d. July 1, 1937)
Music: Satisfied, by Ralph Erskine Hudson (b. July 12, 1843; d. June 14, 1901)

Note: About twenty years before her marriage in 1895, young Clara Tear was asked by Ralph Hudson to provide a song for a new book he was publishing. She wrote the text of Satisfied that very evening, and he added the tune the next day.

(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)

The original version of the refrain said, “Hallelujah! I have found it– / What my soul so long has craved.” The changes made by the time the song was published in the Wesleyan Methodist Hymnal in 1910 make the application to Christ more direct and specific (though “it” and “what” ties in nicely with the theme of satisfaction).

The Cyber Hymnal uses an updated version of the opening lines: “All my life I had a longing / For a drink from some clear spring,” which I suppose is fine. Though the word “pant” is biblical (Ps. 42:1), and “draught” (the British-Canadian spelling of draft) is a common enough term. It refers to a portion of liquid to be drunk.

When he began singing in his late teens, this song was one of the first George Bevely Shea sang as a solo. He sang it in his father’s church in Ottawa. He knew Mrs. Williams personally, and says of her:

She had a regal and dignified bearing and yet she had the kindness and gentleness of Christ in her face. I enjoyed the soft, musical tones of her voice. Through her sweetness and graciousness to everyone, she became another wonderful proof to me of the reality of the Christian walk. Hers was a beautiful life exhibited not only to the whole community, but expressed also in the pages of hymnody.

George Bevely Shea (Crusade Hymn Stories, p. 75)

“‘My people shall be satisfied [abundantly filled and fulfilled] with My goodness,’ says the LORD” (Jer. 31:14). Often in the Old Testament this has to do with physical satisfaction because of having plenty of food to eat in Israel. But we can also make a spiritual application of the words. In the Lord Jesus Christ, we find a soul satisfaction that can be found nowhere else.

(1) All my life long I had panted
For a draught from some clear spring,
That I hoped would quench the burning
Of the thirst I felt within.

Hallelujah! I have found Him
Whom my soul so long has craved!
Jesus satisfies my longings,
Through His blood I now am saved.

(3) Poor I was, and sought for riches,
Something that would satisfy,
But the dust I gathered round me
Only mocked my soul’s sad cry.

Christ declared that He came to give us abundant life (Jn. 10:10). We know that heaven will be like that (cf. Eph. 2:7), but there is an abundance for this life as well (cf. Phil. 4:19). He is the bread that feeds us spiritually, and from Him flows the spiritual refreshment we need.

“Jesus said to them, ‘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). “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (Jn. 4:14).

(4) Well of water, ever springing,
Bread of life so rich and free,
Untold wealth that never faileth,
My Redeemer is to me.

Questions:

  1. What are the characteristics of a Christian who is enjoying the abundant life Jesus promised?
  2. Why is it that so many Christians seem to lack the abundance of spirit that is found in Christ?

Links:

Leave It There

Words: Charles Albert Tindley (b. July 7, 1851; d. July 26, 1933)
Music: Charles Albert Tindley

Note: This song was written in 1916. The incident that inspired it is described in the Wordwise link below (which includes a unique recording of it), along with an extended biography of Pastor Tindley.

(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)

Whatever concerns us is of interest to the Lord. Whatever troubles us we can take to Him in prayer. The Lord has promised when we do that He will give us peace.

“Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

(Phil. 4:6, Amplified)

This is a wonderful promise! Here is another: “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you (I Pet. 5:6-7). And yet another: “Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved” (Ps. 55:22).

But, human nature being what it is, we sometimes take our burdens to the Lord, and then drag them away with us again, when we depart from the place of prayer. It’s not long afterwards that we begin fretting all over again. That makes the title of Dr. Tindley’s song, and the phrase repeated twenty times in the text of the song (including the four refrains) so important. “Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there!”

Charles Tindley takes four common concerns that many of us have, and emphasizes the power of God to help us with them.

Material Shortages (1). Many struggle with a lack of funds. Perhaps a job lay-off is involved, or the inability to find work. Or it could be that senior years have brought a radically reduced income. The Lord Jesus encourages us to take a lesson from nature. The Lord looks after the birds of the air, so surely He will care for His blood-bought children (Matt. 6:25-26).

(1) If the world from you withhold of its silver and its gold,
And you have to get along with meagre fare,
Just remember, in His Word, how He feeds the little bird;
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

Leave it there, leave it there,
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
If you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out.
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

Health Struggles (2). God can certainly bring healing, within His will (I Jn. 5:14). But even when chronic illness and physical weakness continue, we can be assured that the Lord will give daily grace to do what pleases Him (Ps. 71:16; II Cor. 12:7-10).

Conflicts with Others (3). People can be hurtful to us, physically or emotionally, by what they say and what they do. This can be a result of carelessness, or of actual hostility. The Bible deals particularly with the latter when the opposition comes as a result of our witness for Christ. God’s Word assures us persecution is to be expected, but that the Lord is at work in and through it for His glory, and for our ultimate blessing (Jn. 15:18-21; I Pet. 1:3-7).

The Advancing Years (4). In my pastoral ministry I’ve visited many seniors who are lonely and all but forgotten. In some cases, family members and friends–and perhaps even their church–have failed them. And maybe they have lived to such a great age that family and friends (people they knew and loved) have long since died. It can be a grievous burden. But there is One who will never leave or forsake: the Lord Jesus Christ (Ps. 27:10; Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5-6).

(4) When your youthful days are gone and old age is stealing on,
And your body bends beneath the weight of care;
He will never leave you then, He’ll go with you to the end.
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

Questions:

  1. Which of these problems is most pressing in your own life today? What will you do about it?
  2. Whom do you know that is suffering in one of these ways? How can you be God’s instrument this week to be of help?

Links:

Wonderful Grace of Jesus

Words: Haldor Lillenas (b. Nov. 19, 1885; d. Aug. 18, 1959)
Music: Haldor Lillenas

Note: In the early years of his pastoral ministry, Mr. Lillenas and his wife struggled to make ends meet. Though both musical, they had no instrument in their home to play–until Haldor bought a decrepit old reed organ for five dollars. This inspiring gospel song, along with many others, was composed on it. Wonderful Grace of Jesus was published in 1922 and the author sold the rights to for four or five dollars. He would later have to pay many times that for the privilege of using it in one of his own song books!

(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)

This hymn quickly became extremely popular, and it has been used by both choirs and congregations with great effect. The stirring melody tends to gallop along, and Pastor Lillenas felt that many sang it too quickly. He commented, “A song should be [sung] in such a fashion that the words can be comfortably pronounced without undue haste.” (Amen to that! For more about the pace of our singing see Tempo of Congregational Hymns.)

The word “grace” is found about 120 times in the New Testament. It represents God’s unearned, undeserved favour and blessing. Grace is closely linked to the Greek word for “gift,” indicating that it’s not something that can be earned by human effort or merit (Rom. 4:4-5). Grace cannot be earned, but grace can be rejected (II Cor. 6:1-2).

It can also be abused. Jude speaks of those who “turn the grace of God into lewdness” (Jude 1:4), likely meaning they were teaching that, since salvation is by grace, we can live as we please! But the Word of God says just the opposite–that grace should inspire holiness (Tit. 2:11-12).

In grace, God has blessed us, even when we deserved just the opposite. And though His grace was evident in the Old Testament too, it was the coming of Christ that brought an avalanche of grace upon the earth. He was “full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14). “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (vs. 16-17).

It was infinite grace that caused God the Son to lay aside the glories of heaven and come to earth as Man to die for our sins. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (II Cor. 8:9; cf. Heb. 2:9). When we put our faith in Christ as Saviour, we are “justified [pronounced righteous] freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24; cf. Eph. 2:8-9).

We are to continue to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever” (II Pet. 3:18). And our experience of God’s grace does not end when we depart this mortal life. It’s His plan “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7).

So, “be careful that none of you fails to respond to the grace of God” (Heb. 12:15, Philips paraphrase)

(2) Wonderful grace of Jesus,
Reaching to all the lost,
By it I have been pardoned,
Saved to the uttermost,
Chains have been torn asunder,
Giving me liberty;
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;
Wonderful grace, all sufficient for me, for even me.
Broader than the scope of my transgressions,
Greater far than all my sin and shame,
O magnify the precious name of Jesus.
Praise His name!

Questions:

  1. What do you love most about the grace of God?
  2. What do you find most difficult to appreciate or understand about God’s grace?

Links:

When Morning Gilds the Skies

Words: Edward Caswall (b. July 15, 1814; d. Jan. 2, 1878)
Music: Laudes Domini, by Joseph Barnby (b. Aug. 12, 1838; d. Jan. 28, 1896)

Note: The original is an anonymous German hymn from the eighteenth century. Edward Caswell is usually given as the “translator,” though he freely paraphrased so much that the English version could also be considered a new hymn. Further, Caswell added some stanzas of his own, bringing the total to twenty-eight! Robert Bridges also produced a version of the hymn, and in some books his work is mixed with that of Caswell.

Sometimes the hymn is called May Jesus Christ Be Praised, a phrase repeated no less than thirty times (with a slight variation a couple of times) in the fifteen stanzas given by the Cyber Hymnal. The Latin name for Joseph Barnby’s tune, Laudes Domini, fits the theme, as it means “Praises of the Lord.”

Needless to say, with so many stanzas to choose from, different hymnal editors have chosen various ones to include. Commonly I’ve seen, (1), (5), (14) and (15) used, with the third line of (10), “The powers of darkness fear, when this sweet chant they here,” replacing the original line, “Let earth, and sea and sky from depth to height reply,” in (14).

Not all of Caswell’s work in the song is of high quality, or would be meaningful to many congregations today. (4) gives us these quaint lines (with Caswell’s original being “in the choir”):

My tongue shall never tire of chanting with the choir,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
This song of sacred joy, it never seems to cloy,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)

These things being said, the stanzas most often used provide a joyful morning hymn of praise. In truth, as hymn book editor C. S. Robinson commented in one book:

The compiler of this and other hymn books, little and large, would like to say, once for all, that the aim of his entire work could not better be indicated than it is in the single line, ‘May Jesus Christ be praised!’

C. S. Robinson

That is a major duty of the saints, for time and eternity, to praise the Lord. When Jacob’s wife Leah gave birth the Judah, she exclaimed, “Now I will praise the Lord” (Gen. 29:35). When the Lord delivered Israel from bondage, and brought the nation through the Red Sea, by His great power, we read that the nation sang a song to His glory: “The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him” (Exod. 15:2).

When the Lord delivered David, he says, “He has put a new song in my mouth–praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the LORD” (Ps. 40:3). And as king of Israel David did a great deal to organize the praise of God in the temple. “He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the LORD God of Israel” (I Chron. 16:4).

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, we read of “a multitude of the heavenly host praising God” (Lk. 2:13). And the Scriptures say that “we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:13).

This “canticle” (or song) of praise continues into eternity: “Then a voice came from the throne, saying, ‘Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!’” (Rev. 19:5).

(1) When morning gilds the skies my heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer, to Jesus I repair:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

(15) Be this, while life is mine, my canticle divine:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this th’ eternal song through all the ages long:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Questions:

  1. What are some of the occasions in the average day when the praise of God is especially appropriate?
  2. Psalm 22:3 speaks of God being “enthroned in the praises of Israel” (NKJV, ESV). Though this phrase is rendered a number of different ways by the translators, what might it mean as translated here?

Links:

Art Thou Weary, Art Thou Languid?

Words: John Mason Neale (b. Jan. 24, 1818; d. Aug. 6, 1886)
Music: Stephanos, by Henry William Baker (b. May 27, 1821; d. Feb. 12, 1877)

Note: This excellent seven stanza hymn of Mr. Neale’s was inspired by a Greek text of Stephen the Sabaite [SA-bay-ite] (A.D. 725-794), also known as Stephen of Mar Saba (a Greek Orthodox monastery overlooking the Kidron Valley, east of Bethlehem). He was placed in the monastery at the age of ten, and remained there until his death.

(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)

Neale was struck by Stephen’s phrase: “rest in Jesus,” and decided to expand upon it. The result is this beautiful song. (On the Cyber Hymnal page there is a touching story of how the message of the hymn, sung by “an angel in clogs,” cheered a sick and discouraged woman.) “Languid” means weak and lacking vitality. In some hymnals, editors have changed the opening line to “Are you weary, heavy laden.” The last line of the hymn has also been altered from the original: “Angels, martyrs, prophets, virgins” (see below).

Henry Baker’s tune uses the Greek form of Stephen for its name. In the New Testament, the Greek word stephanos refers to the garland placed on the head of a winner in the ancient Olympic Games (much as medals are awarded today). Usually translated “crowns,” these will also be given to believers by the Lord Jesus Christ, in recognition and reward for their victories in the Christian life. For example, Paul says, near the end of his life:

“Finally, there is laid up for me the crown [stephanos] of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (II Tim. 4:8; cf. I Cor. 9:25; Jas. 1:12; I Pet. 5:4; Rev. 2:10).

There seem to be three categories of these heavenly rewards: the saint’s crowns, the servant’s crowns, and the sufferer’s crowns. For a more complete discussion of this subject, see the Bible study The Church in Glory. In the book of Revelation, “elders” (rewarded saints) are seated before the throne of God, wearing their crowns. As an act of worship, and in recognition that all the glory belongs to God alone for whatever they accomplished, they will cast their crowns at His feet (Rev. 4:4, 10).

Even this connection to the hymn’s theme of our Christian pilgrimage is appropriate. We are “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb. 11:13). In fact, the hymn may call to mind John Bunyan’s classic allegory, The Pilgrim’s Progress. John Neale’s question-and-answer structure offers a kind of dialogue between a pilgrim (P) who is uncertain of the path ahead, and a guide (G) who points the way.

The guide begins by asking the pilgrim, “Art thou weary, art thou languid, art thou sore distressed? ‘Come to Me,’ saith One [meaning the Lord Jesus, Matt. 11:28], “and coming, be at rest.” Then, the conversation continues:

[P] “Hath He marks to lead me to Him, if He be my Guide?
[G] In His feet and hands are wound-prints, and His side.

[P] If I find Him, if I follow, what His guerdon [reward] here?
[G] Many a sorrow, many a labour, many a tear.

[P] Hath He diadem, as monarch, that His brow adorns?
[G] Yes, a crown in very surety, but of thorns.

[P] If I still hold closely to Him, what hath He at last?
[G] Sorrow vanquished, labour ended, Jordan passed.

[P] If I ask Him to receive me, will He say me nay?
[G] Not till earth and not till heaven pass away.

[P] Finding, following, keeping, struggling, is He sure to bless?
[G] Saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs, answer, “Yes!”

Questions:

  1. What is the most challenging or difficult thing about being a Christian pilgrim?
  2. What is the greatest blessing or aid given to the Christian pilgrim?

Links:

Load More