Posts for the ‘Updated Hymns’ Category
Posted August 27th, 2010
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.
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Posted August 27th, 2010
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."
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Posted July 13th, 2010
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.
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Posted February 19th, 2010
(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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Posted January 7th, 2010
This joyful song reminds us of the beauty and power of Jesus' name. Scripture tells us that "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12) and that "at the name of Jesus every knee will [one day] bow." It is not simply the sounds or letters of His name that thrill Christians – it is what that name stands for, what it represents and reminds us of about our precious Savior. As we sing this song we remember the love Jesus showed us in dying for our sins, the sympathy He has towards His own, and the comfort He freely shows to all who seek it. In a fitting conclusion, we are reminded of promise that one day all who treasure Jesus' name will gather together and sing "worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" (Revelation 5:12) May we treasure and share the precious name of Jesus more and more in our public worship and in every day life.
Song Upated on July 16th, 2010: the chorus has been changed slightly. If you downloaded the song before this date or are not sure where you version came from, please check to make sure you have the correct sheet music or MP3 file.
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Posted October 23rd, 2009
Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life." (John 14:6) He is the only source of true and abiding life- both eternal life with God and a joyful and peaceful life now. This song reminds us not only of the overflowing offer of life given to all in the gospel, but of the ironic way that life was purchased - through the death of the life-giver. As the writer reminds us, forgiveness and peace with God (resulting in eternal life) is not gained by our efforts - our tears or prayers - but only by Jesus' atoning blood. Then what must a person do to receive the merits of His blood? The song answers with several verbs: believe, trust, and receive. Simply believe that Jesus' blood is the only payment that will suffice to cover the debt of your sin, and that Jesus' righteous life is the only life acceptable enough to allow you to stand before a holy God. This belief must move past agreement to actual trust. You must think and live in light of this truth, trusting that your acceptability before God is only based on Jesus' work, and you will experience what this song offers: life rich, eternal, and free!
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Posted September 25th, 2009
This is a song about the exceeding beauty of Jesus. Though we cannot see Jesus, we know Him to be beautiful both by our knowledge of His character and works in Scripture, and by our experiential knowledge of Him. As we say today, He is a “beautiful person.” Why is He beautiful? Stennett reminds us in this hymn text that Jesus’ beauty was most clearly demonstrated to us at the cross. By referring to His brow Stennett juxtaposes both the images of a majestic coronation and the picture of the crown of thorns being placed upon Jesus’ head in jest. While on the cross Jesus’ lips overflowed with grace as He prayed for the very ones who crucified Him. Jesus demonstrated grace and love far beyond anything we can know or experience “among the sons of men.” And Philippians 2 shows us that Jesus’ humiliation and suffering serve to further glorify His great beauty: “although [Jesus] existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.” As the last verse encourages us, let us not only enjoy “regarding the wonders of His grace” but tell others of His beauty that they might love Him and join our songs of praise.
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Posted August 29th, 2009
Jesus called God’s command to “love the LORD [our] God with all [our] heart and with all [our] soul and with all [our] might” (Deuteronomy 6:5) the “greatest commandment” since all of the aspects of the law, including our duties to God and fellow man, stand or fall on the depth of our love to them. The depth of the love that God requires and deserves is staggering. The Pentateuch records the elaborate duties that God gave to His people that were to be an expression of their love for Him. And those rituals are indicative of an even more pervasive, all-of-life, kind of spiritual service that God requires of us. Horatius Bonar understood this love and desired to give all of himself, including His heart, to God. But he also realized that our hearts are naturally deceitful and desperately sick (Jeremiah 17:9) and incapable of loving God on our own. We naturally orient our lives around, find security and satisfaction in, and spend our time thinking about the things of this world. We were made to be satisfied in the only truly satisfying object of our love – God Himself. This song is plea, both with our hearts to leave the empty things of this world, and with God who alone has the power to draw out our affections to drink from His “fountain of delights.” (Psalm 36:8)
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Posted July 1st, 2009
Paul exhorts Christians to remember our former way of life and the mercy that God has shown us in Ephesians 2:12-13: "Remember that you were [once] separate from Christ, ... having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." It is a healthy Christian discipline to meditate on the manner of our conversion and the kind of life that God saved us from. This will cultivate gratitude and humility as we remember that our sins were so vile as to demand Jesus’ suffering and death as payment. There is perhaps no one better at remembering God's amazing mercy than John Newton. The famous hymn-writer was saved from imminent death, according to his own testimony, fourteen times, yet through most of those deliverances remained unmoved at God's patience and mercy. Having learned the Christian faith as a boy, he lived a dark life throughout his teen years, pursuing his own pleasures and excluding God from his thoughts. But even while he lived "secure in sin, sporting on destruction's brink," God touched John's heart by the power of the Holy Spirit and awakened Him to His spiritual poverty and brokenness before the Lord. When he realized that Jesus' death could cover even the blackest of his sins, "joy and wonder, love and shame" filled his heart as he embraced the forgiveness Jesus offers. May we see our own conversion in the picture that John Newton has drawn for us and also be filled with joy and wonder at the amazing mercy and grace God has shown us.
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Posted May 8th, 2009
The prophet Job, speaking of his hope in a future Redeemer who would save his body and soul from death, said “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth.” (Job 19:25). The bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead is absolutely vital to the Christian faith. Paul addresses this when he says “if Christ has not been raised ... your faith is vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:14) It is vital not only because we look to Jesus’ resurrection as the guarantee that He has the power to raise us from the dead, but also because of His present ministry to us. This song reminds us of many facets of Jesus’ ministry, that is, what He is doing now with His resurrected life for us. Jesus lives to comfort, bless, and love us, plead for us, be our companion and friend, to prepare a place for us to be with Him, and ultimately to one day save us from our own death. How can we respond to such a gracious and glorious ministry towards us? “He lives, and while He lives I'll sing, ‘Jesus, my Prophet, Priest, and King!’”
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