The Lord Is Holy
A hymn on the holiness of God from the series of hymns titled "The Lord Is"
Posts for the ‘Songs’ Category
Trustingly, Trustingly
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.
The Lord Is One
A hymn on the unity of God from the series of hymns titled "The Lord Is"
The Lord Is
This is the main page for our series of hymns on God's attributes. The idea for this series was born out of a sense of need. While there are many good hymns that touch on various character traits of God, their purpose is not to explore one particular attribute in detail, or to probe that attribute's connection to the gospel or the Christian life. We set out to write these hymns because we believe they can be useful to both ourselves, our immediately families, our church families, and possibly even the global church. Our hope is that whether they be used in private worship, family worship, or public worship, these hymns will point singers to the unfathomable depths of the character of God and help move us to an appropriate response with our lips and our lives.
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O Word of God Incarnate
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.
You Are My Righteousness
This is a song about how we need Jesus to be more than simply a payment voucher to cover the debt we owe to God because of our rebellion. Even if our record were wiped clean of offenses, we wouldn't have any goodness, credit, or merit with which we might be made acceptable to God. The Christian life is a battle to remain on the way of grace, a battle where we are continually stumbling off the path into one of two ditches. First, we tend to wallow in what looks like contrition, but is actually unbelief that God would forgive us simply because of what Jesus has done. We think that by our tears we can somehow prove that we are sorry enough for God to forgive us. We can also fall away from grace by acting as if we don't need it - because we've got our lives under control and are, essentially, pleasing God by being faithful. We can overlook certain sins and feel proud that we're not flagrantly committing others. The song is a cry for help, a cry that God would give us faith to believe that Jesus is our only hope to be made acceptable before God. By His death He bore the penalty for our failure, and by His perfect life, the credit for which He gives us by faith, His success becomes ours.
Jesus, Lover of My Soul
This classic hymn by Charles Wesley describes the intimacy that Jesus offers us in our relationship with Him. Christianity is not simply a religion, that is, is not a set of moral or ethical codes to follow. Nor is it simply a set of beliefs that one must adopt. At its core, it is about having a personal and intimate relationship with a savior, namely Jesus. It is turning away from all of the things we hold most dear, whether they are sinful behaviors or our most treasured possessions, and embracing to Jesus as our true and ultimate treasure. Wesley found Jesus to be his great "lover," his shelter in the time of difficulty, his support and comfort, his healer, encourager, and his only source of grace. As we sing such hymns to Jesus, may we grow to love Him more and more with our hearts, minds, souls, and strength.
The River
God uses the raw power and life-sustaining abilities of rivers for several key metaphors throughout the Bible. Even from the very beginning of the Bible, in the account of creation, we see God setting Adam and Even in a garden that is fed and surrounded by four rivers. When man sinned and was banished from the garden, his access to these rivers and the precious tree of life fed by them was cut off. Psalm 36:8 compares experiencing the joys of a restored relationship with God to drinking our fill from a river – one with an inexhaustible supply. A river is also used as a picture for the extent and pollution of our sin. When God turned the Nile River to blood, fish and vegetation died because the water would no longer support life. This is a picture of what sin does – it pollutes, corrupts, and brings death. But even though sin flows from all of our hearts like a mighty river, the river of grace that God poured out in Jesus' blood is able to overwhelm it. The promise at the end of the book of revelation stands as a strong encouragement for all those who put their hope in Jesus: " Then [the angel] showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him."
There Is an Hour
This hymn, originally titled "The Solemn Hour" in Spurgeon's "Our Own Hymn-Book" paints a powerful picture of what we can expect to experience when we die. Unless the Lord Jesus returns, all of us will face death, the great enemy and equalizer. Not only will death bring the loss of all the earthly possessions and joys we once knew, but Scripture teaches that we face something far worse, a final judgment. Hebrews 9:27 makes it clear: "it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment." But this hymn points us to the Biblical truth that those who have run to Jesus as their redeemer need no longer fear, for Jesus has conquered death (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). Jesus is the priceless treasure that we now taste in part, but then when finally freed from sin, will know in full. And when we stand and gaze upon the eternity set before us, on the paths of eternal life or eternal death, Jesus will come to meet us, His bride, and lead us to "blissful life" with Him forever.
Your Will Be Done
(This song was published in 1999 but for some reason didn't make it onto our new site last year)
The will of God is revealed in Scripture in two ways. First, God gives us various commands by which we know His will for our lives; this is called His prescriptive will or His will of precept. Second, God has a master plan behind all things that come to pass, and no one or nothing can thwart this "sovereign will." This is sometimes called God's will of decree. At the nature of all sin is an inclination to rebel against God's commands and to distrust His purposes in the circumstances of our lives. This song is a cry that God would grant us submissive hearts that are ready to give up our most cherished possessions if God were to ask for them. In verse four the hymn-writer asks God to blend our wills with His and remove what makes it hard to say "Thy will be done." The chorus turns our attention to the time when "Thy kingdom come" will be completely fulfilled and we will be fully yielded to God's authority and majesty as we praise His loving purposes for eternity. This is a prayer we need every day!
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Reformed Praise presents Martin Luther's setting of Psalm 130 in a fresh, reflective, piano-driven setting suitable for a wide range of worship music styles.
