Posted January 11th, 2012
A friend of mine sent me this text, saying her church had just sung this hymn and though the music was not very engaging, the words were extremely powerful and would I write a new melody? I read through the text and saw what she was talking about. What a faith-filled hymn! Written by Samuel Rodigast in 1676 to comfort a sick friend, he lays out what it means to deal with the problem of pain from the perspective of faith. Our God is sovereign and full of love, and though he takes us through adversity, his plans are right and true. His promise is that he will not leave us in the circumstance through which he is taking us. Samuel's response is to trust that God will hold him and to be content through the pain. May we all be blessed with such a response that can only come as a result of the Spirit working in us. I pray this song would help our people through whatever trial God is taking them, knowing that some sweet day, we will all be free from the pain of this world.
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Posted April 12th, 2011
With Good Friday just 10 days away, I had to post what has become one of my favorite hymns on the weight of the cross. "Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted" was penned by Thomas Kelly in 1804, and it can be found in the Trinity Hymnal. We have used it at Grace Community Church in many of our Good Friday services. The original tune (or at least the one in the Trinity Hymnal) is very strong and can be arranged in a modern sound very easily. I will let the words speak for themselves.
Lyrics
Stricken, smitten, and afflicted, see him dying on the tree.
‘Tis the Christ by man rejected; yes, my soul, ‘tis he, ‘tis he.
‘Tis the long-expected Prophet, David’s son, yet David’s Lord -
By His Son, God now has spoken; ‘tis the true and faithful word.
Tell me, ye who hear him groaning, was there ever grief like this?
Friends through fear his cause disowning, foes insulting his distress;
Many hands were raised to wound him, none would interpose to save.
But the deepest stroke that pierced him was the stroke that justice gave.
Ye who think of sin but lightly nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature...
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Posted March 24th, 2011
It is assumed that William Enfield, a British presbyterian minister, wrote the original text of this updated hymn (he was the editor of a 1772 volume in which it appeared without source). The words, an echo of Philippians 2:1-11, give us well-crafted language depicting the angst of Christ in the garden leading to the cross and describing the perfect virtues He displays in the midst of this most intense hour of His life. The final stanza focuses on the importance of following Christ to the cross in order to share in the joy and glory of denying ourselves and living out our salvation.
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Posted November 8th, 2010
This text, written by Horatius Bonar in the 19th century, is a simple prayer by a humble person. It shows clearly that the writer understands his relationship with his Maker and Savior, and that he walks daily with him, praying for help as he goes. This is the kind of text I want to have repeating in my head as I go about my everyday life, so I hope that this new melody serves to keep these words running through the minds of those who sing it.
On a side note, I decided to use the rough, messed-up-the-lyrics recording of this tune as opposed to the more polished guitar/vocal I did because it captures the heart of the song much better. Please forgive the stumbles.
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Posted November 2nd, 2010
This powerful prayer penned by William How in 1867 brings themes to congregational worship that need to be sung. He emphasizes the Trinity, the Holy Scriptures, and the Church in this theologically-packed text. He appeals to the power and majesty of Christ (the Word of God incarnate) and more thoroughly, the inspired written Word of God to transform His people into the light of the world and the bearers of truth to the nations. Because it is written as a prayer, it allows the gathered congregation to pray passionately together for God to make this transformation happen in their midst.
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Posted July 30th, 2009
This text by Eric Schumacher is a beautiful mixing of the fiery descriptions and words of God in Job and the need that seeing such wrath stirs within the human soul to “flee to Christ.” We would all be “knocked off our high horse” if God were ever to appear to us the way He did to Job in the final five chapters of the book. What a frightening and humbling experience that would be! Our only sane response would be to fall before the feet of the Holy One. It is this very realization of our mortal and sinful selves that shows us the need that we have for the Holy God to make provision for us (no other could possibly do so!). God the Son is the only one who can “make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy” (Jude 24).
This text can also be set to a traditional tune.
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Posted August 24th, 2006
This text is very heaven-focused. Not from the standpoint that it attempts a description of heaven, but more that it expresses the longing in each believer's heart for the day when our burdens will be lifted and we will be fully free to praise! The verses each give a different look at how heaven will be a relief to the believer - spanning the freedom from flesh to the rest we will have from trials. The final two lines leave us with a simple, but beautiful vision of the glorious transition we will experience one day. As believers, we are wise to keep our eternal destination ahead of us as a reminder that this world is not our home, and that our longing and expectation for home can bring us hope in any circumstance.
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Posted August 19th, 2006
Christ deserves praise from every creature and every aspect of creation. This popular Isaac Watts text paints beautiful pictures of the effect Christ's reign has on all He has made and their response to Him. As a church, we need to speak of the greatness of Christ in ways that spark our imagination. To sing about the "early blessings" that infants cry out to Him gives us a shifted perspective on the cry of a newborn. Watts obviously looked for ways that God is praised in the every day life he saw around him, and as worshippers of the living and omnipresent God, we are encouraged by this hymn to see and hear His praise happening all around us.
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