I Look to Jesus

Augustus Toplady, theological champion of the so-called Particular Baptists of the 18th century, wrote many hymns so full of theology they seem to be exploding with truth. The hymn "From Whence This Fear and Unbelief" is no different, and it is strange that this hymn is not as well known or celebrated as his "Rock of Ages" or "A Debtor to Mercy Alone." In this hymn, Toplady sets out to not only defend the doctrine of particular redemption, but to show that it is a holy occasion for praise. In perhaps the most powerful verse, he declares (lyrics have been modernized), "If pardon You have now secured and freely in my place endured the whole of wrath divine, God cannot payment twice demand, first at my bleeding Surety’s hand, and then again at mine." If Jesus' death paid for the sins of every person irrespective of whether they come to put their faith in Him as their Savior, it would be unjust of God to punish unbelievers for their sins since they would have already been punished at the cross. Either God must save everyone, or Jesus' died for a particular people, as Jesus says in John 10:14-1: "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep." And again, in Matthew 28:20: "the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

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My Sin

Though this song is named "My Sin," it could really be named "My Savior" since the song is really about all the ways that Jesus saves us from our sin. Sin is man's most deadly enemy - a sickness far beyond any bacteria or virus we've ever encountered. Sin has run its course through every part of man - body, mind, heart, and soul. And sin is not like a normal sickness - just something we catch from others or the environment. We were both born natures already infected with sin, and are complicit and morally responsible for what our sin natures cause us to do. Sin is such an important biblical concept that the Lord gives us many metaphors to help us understand it and its effects. This song explores three of those metaphors, and how the Father and Son relate to us in those metaphors. As you read, listen, or sing this song, think not simply about how powerful your sin is, but more importantly, all that your Savior Jesus is to you and that he is able to save you from every aspect of sin's terrible force in your life.

Sin as…	Man	God	Jesus
Debt	Debtor	Creditor	Surety
Enmity	Enemy	Violated One	Mediator
Crime	Criminal	Judge	Substitute

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Whate’er My God Ordains Is Right

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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How Blest Is He Who Does Not Walk

This is a versification of Psalm 1 that fits the tune SOLID ROCK (written for the hymn "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less"). Setting the Psalms to hymn meters (therefore tunes) is one way to make them accessible for congregational singing.

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He Alone Is God

The Hebrew word hallelujah (or alleluia) which means literally "praise the Lord," has been used as an exclamation of praise not only by the ancient Hebrews, but in the early Church, throughout the history of the Church, and even today. Following the pattern of the Psalms, it has become integrally wed to music throughout all the cultures of the world. This song uses the word "alleluia" as a triumphant exclamation of praise for who God is and what He has done. The verses direct us to God's eternal character - dwelling in holy splendor as a spirit ("beyond our gaze"), the God of love, and reigning over all creation. We are reminded of the Son's worthiness to receive our "alleluias" as well - we will forever marvel at the grace He showed in giving Himself up to death to save undeserving sinners. In this song we also look forward to the day when our feeble alleluias will join with a vast number of believers and angelic creatures in the new world, praising God with what are sure to be earth-shattering roars.

This song is loosely based on the hymn "The God of Abraham Praise" by Thomas Olivers (1725-1799)

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The Love of Calvary

One of the most difficult attributes about God to understand and accept is His amazing love towards humanity. In a Christian culture that has been saturated with verses like John 3:16 ("for God so loved the world...") this may seem ridiculous; you may ask something like "what's so hard about believing God loves me - after all, I've heard it all my life!" When we consider the holy and righteous character of God juxtaposed against our unclean and rebellious character, His love shouldn't make sense. There's no reason why our heavenly Father should love creatures who He made to know and worship Him, yet worship anything but Him in their pride and rebellion. Yet He has proved the depths of this perplexing love in sending His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to rescue us from our sins. In love, God sent Jesus to cleanse sinful people from their sins by His atoning blood, and progressively transform them to be like him in holiness and righteousness. Based upon the prayer "Love Lustres at Calvary," from The Valley of Vision, this song continues the apostolic tradition of expressing endless wonder in the boundless and perplexing love revealed in the Cross of Christ (Gal. 6:14). The cry of every true believer's heart is to not only apprehend the love of God more clearly, but to rest in it and be conformed to it in his or her personal character and daily life more fully.

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Praise the Lord Who Reigns Above

This hymn exhorts us to obey the countless commands in Scripture, especially in the Psalms, to praise the Lord. After reminding us of the reasons we have to praise Him - His holiness, love, greatness, noble deeds, and matchless power, it joins with Psalm 150 in calling for praise from instruments and all the creatures of the world. May God's praise continue to rise from His people as they join the witness of all creation in proclaiming God's honor and worth.

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I Know

Jessie Pounds wrote this hymn for Easter following the pattern of Job 19:25 where Job asserts the promise that though he will die, he knows that he will see his Redeemer with his own eyes. "I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another." (Job 19:25-27). What a wonderful promise! The Lord will resurrect our bodies, reconstitute and repair them, and we will live for all eternity seeing our Redeemer with our own eyes. May the Lord give us faith to know that Jesus lives and will stand on the earth once again.

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I Have a Dad

In his classic book Knowing God, theologian J.I. Packer makes the following assertion about the fatherhood of God.

If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. “Father” is the Christian name for God… Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better than our grasp of adoption.

In one of the Jesus' most moving parables, the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32; this could also be called the Parable of the Lost Sons), we see salvation portrayed as the restoration of a family, the reuniting of a wayward son with his loving Father. This song draws its inspiration from this parable and attempts to help us remember what kind of father we have in the Lord - a Father who patiently endured our waywardness, even though it cost Him the life of His own precious Son. The word "Dad" is used instead of Father intentionally. When Jesus prayed, He used the Aramaic word "Abba" which translated literally would mean either Papa or Daddy, and His use of this term to address God would have been controversial at the time. The word is meant to show us the intimacy that we can have with our creator - He need no longer be simply the God of the universe, He can become our Daddy through the redeeming work of His Son.

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Because of One the World Was Cursed

The doctrine of imputation is one of the most precious truths in all of Scripture yet it is often neglected or misunderstood. One pastor who understood the doctrine and wrote about it in poems and hymns is Augustus Toplady, one of the greatest English hymn writers. Scattered lines from throughout some of his poems have been edited and assembled, and new lines have been added to form one complete hymn which teaches what imputation is and demonstrates how it should move us to worship. The gospel has sometimes been called the "Great Exchange" because through faith in Jesus, God the Father takes our sin and its punishment and gives it to Jesus, and takes Jesus' perfect record of obedience (His righteousness) and gives it to us. Not only do we stand before God forgiven, but also clean and acceptable before Him because we have the very righteousness of Jesus. This truth gives us confidence, boldness, and joy as we approach God in worship now and in eternity.

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