Praise God

The Lord brought to my mind these words this morning:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

I was thanking Him for my three little pooches, my remote car starter (yes, I thank Him for that a lot!), safety in the rain on the road to the groomer and just because...

I couldn't remember the second line correctly so I checked it out when I got home and discovered that those words are the last stanza in a much longer hymn written by Puritan, Thomas Ken (1637-1711). In typical Puritan fashion it has 11 verses (when sung, I bet that all 11 were sung, not just 1, 3, 5...heh).

The Lord has a sense of humor. If I had known the first verse of the hymn, I might have been singing something else...heh

Awake, my soul, and with the sun
Thy daily stage of duty run;
Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise,
To pay thy morning sacrifice.

You can check out the other verses here. The tune is unfamiliar to me, but it refreshes my mind since I am over-familiar with the tune with which I usually sing it.

looking to the future

Just to make you work a bit ~~ a Rod.

And ~~ Praise.

Praise to the Lord

Praise Him

Morning by morning - another "jewel"

"If you would reach to something higher than ordinary groveling experience, look to the Rock that is higher than you, and gaze with the eye of faith through the window of consistent prayer. When you open the window on your side, it will not be bolted on the other". Spurgeon

Eye of faith through the window of consistent prayer - I like that. And I certainly would reach to something higher than ordinary groveling experience.

John 10:10b - "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."

The Rock that is Higher I

Udate 12:17PM by lynmeryl

light

Isaiah 9

1d "In Galilee of the Gentiles.

2 The people who walked in darkness

Have seen a great light;

Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,

Upon them a light has shined."


John 8

12 Then Jesus spoke to them saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

Carry the Light

Send the Light

Haydn in hymnal

While enjoying a new CD of the Haydn string quartets last evening, we were stopped in our tracks when the 2nd movement of the String Quartet in C Major, Op. 76 began the lovely melodies of a very familiar hymn, Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken. Upon checking it out in our Baptist Hymnal (c: 1991), we found that these words were written by John Newton, 1725-1807 and the music by Franz Joseph Haydn, 1732-1809.



And then we found that this same tune by Haydn is used in 2 other hymns, still in the BH, one entitled We Are Called to Be God's People (words by Thomas A. Jackson, 1931-) and the second Word of God, Across the Ages (words by Ferdinand Q. Blanchard, 1876-1968).



I tried to find Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken in the cyberhymnal, but it is not listed. The words are just beautiful and when I think of the man who wrote those words, I am humbled and so thankful for the Power of the Holy Spirit in sinners....saved by Grace.



more, later.

Update by lynmeryl @ 10:54AM

songs for Sunday

from a fellow Pennsylvanian, Philip Bliss, 1838 - 1876. Man of Sorrows or Hallelujah, What A Savior! And I Will Sing of My Redeemer and Jesus Loves Even Me.

are you washed

in the blood? Written by Elisha Albright Hoffman.

Augustus Montague Toplady

This English clergyman and writer, (1740-1778), is best known for his beloved and very familiar hymn, which was just one of many he wrote, but in his short lifetime he was known for his works of verse Poems on Sacred Subjects and best known for his polemical and dogmatic works. Toplady had been strongly influenced by the teachings of John Wesley but moved away from the Arminianism of the Methodists to the doctrines of Sovereign Grace of the Calvinist church and was licensed to preach in the Anglican Church, serving in the Anglican Church for the remainder of his life.
Two of his most influential and popular published works were The Church of England Vindicated from the Charge of Arminianism (1769); and The Historic Proof of the Doctrinal Calvinism of the Church of England (1774).
There was a constant and bitter controversy between the followers of Wesley who stressed man's free will and those who followed John Calvin's doctrine of election. In an article written for the The Gospel Magazine in 1776 Toplady wrote "he supported the doctrine of election by arguing that just as England could never pay her national debt, so man through his own efforts could never satify the eternal justice of a Holy God." (from Amazing Grace by Osbeck). Included with the article was a hymn which was the climax of his article which God has preserved over these 200 years to bless and encourage countless souls, including some precious Methodists I have known.
As you read through these words, you will find the Sovereign Grace that is the rock....
the Rock of Ages:

Rock of ages, cleft for me, left me hide myself in Thee;
let the water and the blood, from Thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure.

Could my tears forever flow, could my zeal no languor know,
these for sin could not atone -- Thou must save and Thou alone:
in my hand no price I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling.

While I draw this fleeting breath, when my eyes shall close in death,
when I rise to worlds unknown and behold Thee on Thy throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.
Augustus Toplady

"For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea....they all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them and that rock was Christ." (1 Cor. 10:1,3,4)

God's mysterious ways

God Moves in Mysterious Ways by William Cowper (1731-1800), a British poet.

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints fresh courage take,
The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smilling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

Some further verses in Esther to check out:

Esther 5:2, 6:1, 6:2, 6:4, 8:17, 9:2.