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This is a well known hymn about suffering, grief, and trials. The original author suffered the lost of several children at sea, and penned these beautiful words that put any complaining spirit in a right perspective. What a prayer of faith that says "Whatever my lot, you have taught me to say...", even in the face of one of the most painful experiences, the loss of a child. Would that we could have even a fraction of this peaceful trust!
God's word is clear about the condition of sinful humanity, of which we are all a member. We are described as being dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1), with a heart that is desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Joseph Hart experienced this desperate condition of his heart and gave us personal, cutting hymn that helps us cry to God for Him to change our stubborn hearts. We know that it is only God, by His Spirit, that can move our hearts to worship Him as He designed and commands.
One of the most precious songs to the Reformed Praise writers, this hymn, based on Psalm 130, was penned by Martin Luther himself. Luther was a Monk in the Roman church who diligently sought peace with God through his holy life. As he studied the Bible, he became confronted with the doctrine of justification and imputed righteousness and understood and accepted the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ alone, apart from the works of the Law.
This is a song of gratitude to God for all that He has done for us. God has restored our soul, removed our tears, showered us with His love, even given us His Spirit! How else can we feel but overwhelmed by all that God has given us. As we sing this song, let our prayer be that of the hymn author's - may my life show honor to the God to whom I owe everything.
Another song of love for the Lord Jesus, "For I am His" explains why He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). Because He drew us, suffered for us, and is so gentle and wise, our heart's desire is to give Him our lives. May we say with the song, "For I am His".
There are many contemporary worship songs that we could consider "love" songs to Jesus. While we should certainly pour out our hearts in love to our Savior, most of these songs communicate a mere sentimental love that hardly surpasses the "love" our culture sings about and advertises to every day. What a joy to find a love song that shows WHY we love Christ, and the fact that our love drives us to want to be like Him more and more. Songs like this will help our people to know and feel the love of Christ - both His love for us and our love for Him.
This song is based on Psalm 90, and reminds us that, while our lives are but temporary, God is the Rock of Ages. We desire to know this Lord of all our days, and to have our faith's endeavor crowned with glory when we see Him face to face in heaven. This song is a bit challenging for a congregation, but we have enjoyed much success with it at Calvary. We often have the guitar player only play some of the chords, as a piano player is able to handle the amount of chords better.
This beautiful hymn expresses our desire as believers to give all of who we are to gain all of who Christ is, dying to self and living for Christ. Whether it is our time, our body, love, voice, money, will, or heart - we offer ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) to worship the God who gave us these things to begin with.
The doctrine of election is one of the most precious to believers. The fact that God would choose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, not based on anything he would forsee we would do, but simply because of the kind intention of His will (Ephesians 1:5), is overwhelming. Even more amazing is the truth that God did this knowing full well that we would despise Him - His character and His word. He loved us while we shook our fist in His face and cursed Him by our thoughts, words, and deeds. The chorus lyrics are original and were written to compliment and summarize the two existing verses.
This is another well-known hymn proclaiming the fact that we stand on the solid rock of Jesus alone. Whether it is for our justification or for safety in time of danger, both spiritual and physical, we find that Christ holds us fast in His powerful, loving arms. The words have been altered slightly to make them more clear and avoid words and word forms that are archaic, plus another line was added to the chorus to fill it out. May we sense our continued dependency on Christ as we approach Him in worship!
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Reformed Praise is a music ministry dedicated to providing songs for corporate worship which are rich in theology, diverse in musical style, and centered on the gospel of grace, that our praise might be informed by Biblical truth.
Reformed Praise presents a modern hymn exploring and enjoying the gospel of Jesus' death for sinners and its timeless relevance to our lives.
