Photo Credit: Pascal deBrunner on Unsplash

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

Lyrics by Charles Wesley; Music by John Zundel

If you’re generally not familiar with many of the old hymns you may not know that Charles Wesley, brother of the famous preacher John Wesley, is one of the greatest hymn writers of all time.  

I’m especially struck this week by how alike the paraphrases and reflections are to each other!  The spirit of this hymn is so uplifting and inspiring that it’s difficult to stand outside of the hymn and merely comment on it–you either live in it, knowing His love from the inside out, or you don’t get the hymn at all.

So, while there are other, more polished versions of this hymn available, I especially enjoy this one because of its quick-paced tempo.  There seems to be something about old hymns that makes many singers want to slow everything down, but when you consider what we are singing about here, nothing but a faster pace will do!  Words and phrases like these: excelling, unbounded, liberty, always blessing, praise Thee without ceasing–these know nothing of a dirge-like pace!  Give it a listen:

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (Hymn 161) – Hymnology (Official Video)  (Please note that a few of the words slightly different from what you’ll read below!)

Verse 1:

Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of Heav’n to Earth come down,
Fix in us thy humble dwelling,
All thy faithful mercies crown;
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
Pure, unbounded love thou art;
Visit us with thy salvation,
Enter ev’ry trembling heart.

Paraphrase:

God is love, and He surpasses all other loves.  You are the Joy of Heaven–come down to us and make Your home in us, and be the perfect completion of faithful love in us.  Jesus, you always show compassion and pure, limitless love.  In sending this love into our fearful and weary hearts, make us know Your great salvation.

Reflection:

When once we get even a glimpse of the love of God for us, we realize that there is no other joy but Him, that all our joys spring from Him.  And what could be more fulfilling (what a weak word!) than to have this God of love make His home in us?  He is perfect, faithful love and in Christ we live in His compassion as He lives to suffer with us, and comfort us, and soothe our fears, and plants in us the knowledge of His salvation!

Verse 2:

Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit
Into ev’ry troubled breast;
Let us all in thee inherit,
Let us find thy promised rest;
Take away our love of sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith as its beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.

Paraphrase:

O breathe Your loving Spirit into every troubled heart.  Let us find in You our true inheritance: the rest You’ve always promised us.  Take away not only our sin, but our bent to sin, our love of sinning.  Be for us our all in all.  May we find You as fresh and alive at the end of our life as we found You when we first came to faith.  Set us free from all that has bound us and held us and kept us from You.

Reflection:

We know so much trouble and grief and restlessness!  The one longing of our heart is to cast it all off, to breathe in rest and life and peace–His very own loving Holy Spirit!  Where else can real rest and life and peace be found?  And yet we still find ourselves our own worst enemy–prone to sin, captive to sin, even in love with sin, if we dare to be honest with ourselves.  Who can save us from ourselves?  Only You, Jesus.  Set us free!  Usher us into liberty, break our chains–do for us what we are powerless to do for ourselves!  Restore our faith, renew our faith, strengthen our faith so that we may see You with new eyes!

Verse 3:

Come, Almighty to deliver;
Let us all thy grace [life] receive;
Suddenly return, and never,
Never more thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve thee as thy hosts above,
Pray, and praise thee without ceasing,
Glory in thy perfect love.

Paraphrase:

Come, Mighty God and set us free.  Let us bask in the endless flow of Your grace.  Come soon, come, and never leave us alone again–make us as You’ve promised the house, the Temple, in which You live.  The one desire of our hearts is to always bless You, always serve You as the angels above, always pray to You and speak with You, and praise You forever and ever without end, and glow as we stand in the light of Your measureless love.

Reflection:

Take the hammer of Your grace to our captived souls!  Break us with Your gentleness.  You’ve promised to live in us, so Come, Come, Lord Jesus take up residence in our hearts.  Make our hearts You own temple, and let praise and blessing and honor flow forever from our lips as freely and abundantly as the angels who even now gaze upon You with their own eyes!  Wash over us and free us to praise you more and more, never ceasing.

Verse 4:

Finish, then, thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in thee;
Changed from glory into glory
Till in Heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise!

Paraphrase:

Bring to completion the new work You’ve made us to be in Christ.  Let us be as pure and spotless as if we had never sinned.  As we gaze upon Your great salvation–Christ Himself–with our very own eyes, may we find ourselves perfectly restored by the sight of Him.  Finding ourselves made glorious in You, we gain glory upon glory until that Day when we dwell in heaven with You, and cast our crowns before You, lost in wonder, love, and praise!

Reflection:

Lord, as St. Paul said, You began a good work in us–don’t quit!  Keep at it, don’t stop until Your perfect work is completed in us!  Make us pure and spotless, holy and clean in every thought, every desire, every dream, every plan, every action, every imaginative word that springs into our minds–make it all rise from the springs of living water that flow from the pool of divine love You’ve poured into us by the cleansing work of Jesus on the cross.  We lost our glory right alongside Adam and Eve–now restore it to us, glory upon glory, not for our own sake, but for Yours alone!  Let the angels themselves behold what we were and what we have become and then rejoice in endless praise to the One who restores, redeems, heals, conquers, and reigns victorious, now and forever!

Now listen again, friends, and join the angels in praise and worship–give God the glory due His name!

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (Hymn 161) – Hymnology (Official Video)

Photo Credit: Carlos N. Cuatzo Meza on Unsplash

O Worship the King

Lyrics by Robert Grant; Music by William Gardiner, arr. by Johann Haydn

This hymn is familiar to many of us, but it’s typical of the kind of hymn I want to use in these reflections–it needs translation!  If you merely read the lyrics it can be difficult to understand in several places.  My goal, then, is the same here as with every hymn I’ve written about: to make clear the profound depths of meaning to be discovered in these great songs of worship and praise.  I’ll follow the same format I’ve used with the last two or three of these:  The Verse itself, then my Paraphrase of the verse, and I’ll finish with a short reflection on each.

Please know that as you listen to the song at the following link, there is a gap of 10-12 seconds before you hear anything at all!  What beauty and truth fill this song!

O Worship the King

Verse 1:

O worship the King all-glorious above,
O gratefully sing his power and his love:
our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days,
pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.

Paraphrase:

O come, worship the King of glory who dwells in the heavens!  Sing songs of thanksgiving for His power and His love, for He alone is our protector and defender, He is the One who reigns from before all time began, He is the One who lives in splendor and is clothed with praise!

Reflection:

God is the source and fountain of all glory.  Glory radiates from His very being!  In fact, anyone who sees this King for who He is can’t help but break into songs of thanksgiving.  But just as the sun radiates light, so our King radiates glory.  The sun’s heat and light are produced by the nuclear fusion happening at its core.  But God’s glory is the radiance of the fusion of His power and love.  He alone has existed from before all time.  He is the source of all majesty and authority.  All things emanate from His power and His love.  His power and love are inseparable–power without love is tyranny, while love without power is mere sentimentality.  Psalm 62 says, “One thing God has spoken, two things have I learnt: ‘Power belongs to God’ and ‘True love, O Lord, is thine…'” (NEB).  This King’s very palace is the residence of majesty and splendor, and He Himself is clothed with praise–think of it: the praises of all people, of all creation, resound through the years and gather around Him like a lavish royal robe!

Verse 2:

O tell of his might and sing of his grace,
whose robe is the light, whose canopy space.
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
and dark is his path on the wings of the storm.

Paraphrase:

Shout our your praise of His power and strength!  Sing of His immeasurable grace!  He lives in the starry universe and His robe is light itself.  He will ride the chariot of His wrath over dark thunderclouds, and His coming will be as swift and dark as a rising storm.

Reflection:

As in the first verse, we see God clothed and in a dwelling-place.  In the first, He was “pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise,” while here His canopy (or tent) is space itself and His robe is light–like a fiery star blazing in the heavens!  Everywhere we look we see rivers of glory, light, grace, and power flowing from His throne.  Yet His blazing glory is also His wrath, by which we need to understand not uncontrollable anger, but a righteousness and a holiness that are so unapproachable as to destroy everything that is not righteous and holy.  This is why Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension are so critical for we who follow Christ, for our own righteousness is nowhere near sufficient to save us.  Jesus’ righteousness alone has made a way for us into the presence of this holy God, and this righteousness is ours only by grace through faith.  Yet even in Christ “it is a fearful thing to come into the presence of the living God” (Heb. 10:31), for “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29).  Still, perfect love casts out fear (1 Jn. 4:8) and saves us from the impending storm.  Make no mistake, He is coming, and when He comes nothing but faith in Christ’s love, sacrifice, resurrection, and ascension will save us from destruction.  As Isaiah says, “If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all” (Isaiah 7:9).    One day He will ride the “deep thunderclouds” on His dark path to bring judgment against all that stands against Him and His purposes.  And friends, we don’t want to be found in that place! 

Verse 3:

Your bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
it streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
and sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

Paraphrase:

Who can even tell the story of your endless love?  Your love is alive, living and breathing!  It is radiant with light!  It rushes down from the hills like a flowing stream all the long way to the valley below.  It descends like the dew and the rain, purifying and refreshing everything on which it falls.

Reflection:

God’s boundless love is just that–boundless!  It is “bountiful,” luxurious, abundant, and overflowing.  It is truly beyond words to describe!  It’s so abundant it’s alive, breathing and shining in the light!  It rolls and flows and streams and purifies just like the dew and the rain water the earth.

Verse 4:

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
in you do we trust, nor find you to fail.
Your mercies, how tender, how firm to the end,
our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!

Paraphrase:

We are fragile, formed from the dust of the earth, and just as weak as we are fragile.  Your mercies, though, O God–how gentle, how loving and consistent right to the end!  How wonderful that You are not only our Maker, but our Defender, and also our Redeemer, and on top of it all–our Friend!

Reflection:

To quote another beautiful hymn “How marvelous, how wonderful!”  Here we are, nothing but dust of the earth, yet alive and breathing by virtue of God’s breath in us.  Us! Mere dust!  Weak, frail, incapable of even standing on our own two feet if left to ourselves!  If He left us for even a moment our breath would depart and we would be no more.  And yet … He is so gentle with us, so steadfast in His love and faithfulness–always trustworthy, always dependable!  What a wonder to be able to call this great God our Maker–formed by His loving care.  And our Defender–the One who stands by us and for us always and everywhere!  And our Redeemer–He who gave us Jesus to transform us from weak and frail to glorious and radiant, and who even gives us a new identity: child of God!  And, dare we say it?  Our Friend!  Our companion, our guide, the One who understands us, who hears us, who comforts us, who strengthens us, who encourages and affirms us!  

How can we know these things and not fall into glorious worship and shouts of praise!  Listen again–
O Worship the King

Photo by Maxim Tolchinskiy on Unsplash

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Lyrics by Robert Robinson; Music by John Wyeth

Welcome back!  I hope this Lenten season is fostering a deeper and deeper intimacy with Christ as you prepare for Easter–Resurrection Sunday!

My reflection today is on a wonderful old hymn called “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” and it fits my purpose with this whole project really well because some of the lyrics here are especially difficult to understand.  Let’s get started so I can unpack some of those for you–I hope the truths nestled within this great hymn nurture your faith like spring rain!  

I’ll provide the lyrics (verse by verse) then offer a paraphrase, and lastly a brief reflection on each.   Here’s a video link to today’s hymn:  Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing | Christmas Lyric Video | Reawaken Hymns

Verse 1:

Come Thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of God’s unchanging love.

Paraphrase:

Come, O Lord, You who are the Fountain of every blessing, and tune my heart like a musical instrument that I may sing of Your grace!  From this Fountain never-ending streams of mercy flow and call forth from me loud songs of praise!  Would You teach me, please, some silvery, sweet-sounding lyrics sung by Holy Spirit-inspired words of praise!  O praise the mount of Your crucifixion–my eyes are fixed upon it, this mount displaying Your unending, unchanging love!

Reflection:

What a wonderful image!  Every blessing we have, however rich and abundant, is a mere drop from God Himself, the Author, Source, and Fountain of never-ending blessings!  How can we become fit to sing His praise?  Where will we find the words?  Our whole life should be a song of praise to the One who made us, bought us, and saved us.  Lord, You alone can teach us to sing such songs, and every time I look upon Your cross I’m inspired again to praise You and live for You!

Verse 2:

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

Paraphrase

Here I build my altar of remembrance–I could only have come this far with Your help.  And with Your favor, I hope to arrive safely at my heavenly home.  Jesus, You sought me out when I was a stranger wandering from Your fold like a lost sheep!  Your precious blood stood between me and danger, separating us and saving my life. 

Reflection

Like most of us, I only knew an “Ebenezer” as Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.  And it sounds funny to sing it in worship, but what an awesome word it is!  The word itself means “stone of help.”  In 1 Samuel 7 after Israel was saved by God from the Philistines, Samuel set up this stone, this Ebenezer as a reminder of God’s faithful love, as a reminder that He alone was strong enough to rescue them from every danger.  We all wander, and left to ourselves we’ll never find our way, but when we come upon our Ebenezer–the blood of Jesus–we can be sure one day we’ll arrive safely at our eternal home.

Verse 3:

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood-washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

Paraphrase

A glorious day is coming when I will see Your lovely face and be set free from sinning.  I will stand before You that day, singing of your mighty grace and clothed in pure linen washed by Your cleansing blood.  Come soon, O Lord, don’t wait, don’t linger!  You bought me for Yourself, take me away with You!  Send Your angels to carry me to the never-ending daylight in Your Kingdom! 

Reflection

When I sing these lyrics I think of 1 John 3:2-3 which reminds us that one day “when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”  To see Jesus’ face is the only way to know lasting freedom and perfect joy.  To wear that perfect, clean, pure linen; to know the cleansing of His blood; to sing the praise of His grace!  Come, Lord Jesus, come soon, and take us home where darkness, night, and sin reign no more–only perfect, endless day!

Verse 4:

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Paraphrase

Day by day forever I am indebted to your grace!  Let the chains of Your grace bind my wandering heart to You forever!  Lord, I know how prone to wander I am, how prone to walk away from You–the God I love so dearly!  So here is my heart, O Lord, take it!  Keep it for that day when I dwell in Your courts forever!

Reflection

This verse paints a great picture of what I call “the etiquette of grace.”  This phrase helps me understand the link between God’s free, abundant, unmerited grace, this great gift of salvation on the one hand, and my freely offered, my weak and inadequate, but deep, heartfelt, loving adoration of Him on the other–a freewill offering of praise and thanksgiving for such boundless, undeserved grace.  He is a Fountain of grace and love!  What image could better describe it?  My humble offering has nothing at all to do with earning favor or salvation or blessing–it only serves to make my whole life, all of my thoughts, words, ideals, dreams, purposes and relationships one endless “Thank You, thank You, forever and always, thank You!”

Now listen again, and sing God’s praise!

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing | Christmas Lyric Video | Reawaken Hymns

The King of Love My Shepherd Is

Lyrics by Henry W. Baker and Music by John B. Dykes

The King of Love My Shepherd Is (feat. Skye Peterson)  There are multiple versions of this hymn available, but I like this one in particular because of its simplicity.  I’ve been out of town lately and was unable to get anything written, so thanks for your patience! I plan to write a few back to back in the days ahead, so stay tuned!

This wonderful hymn is one of my favorites (I’ve shared my wife’s and my mother-in-law’s lately, so now it’s my turn!).  It’s mostly the 23rd Psalm put to music, so if it’s difficult for you to follow the lyrics very closely, you may find it helpful to have the psalm nearby.

One reason the beauty and deep meaning of many hymns is so hard to grasp is simply syntax–word order.  The lines are meant to match a rhythm (called meter, as in poetry–another reason many people don’t often care much for hymns) and so get turned around from the way we would normally speak. 

I’m arranging this reflection a little differently–I’ll give you the verse from the hymn, then paraphrase it, then provide the relevant verse(s) from Psalm 23, and lastly offer a short reflection.   

I’m a little hesitant to do it this way because it’s a sort of analysis or “dissection”–and in order to dissect an animal you have to kill it.  The last thing I want to do is kill these hymns–my one desire is to give them life, not rob them of it!  All the more reason to be sure to listen to the hymn first, and then listen to it again when you come to the end. So, let’s get on with it!

Verse 1:

The King of love my shepherd is,
whose goodness faileth never.
I nothing lack if I am his,
and he is mine forever.

Paraphrase:  

My shepherd is the king of love, and His goodness never fails. If I belong to Him, I lack nothing, and He will be mine forever.

Psalm 23:

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.

Reflection:

The very nature of our Good Shepherd is love and goodness.  In fact, He is not only Shepherd but King! He is the King of love, and His goodness never fails.  He can always, always be trusted.  If we belong to Him, we will lack (“want”) nothing at all, for He is our everything.

Verse 2:

Where streams of living water flow,
my ransomed soul he leadeth;
and where the verdant pastures grow,
with food celestial feedeth.

Paraphrase:

He gently leads my ransomed soul to streams flowing with living water, and there He feeds me rich, heavenly food in fields of lush, fertile grass.

Psalm 23:

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul;

Reflection:

My soul has been “ransomed,” that is, I while once I was a slave to sin and death, I have been ransomed–my debt has been completely and entirely paid. Because of this, while I am free from death’s captivity, I am still no longer my own, but have been purchased by the One who paid my debt on the cross–Jesus! To know Him is to know true flourishing, to drink deeply of living water that is found only in His Spirit.  In Him our souls are restored, and there in His presence we find stillness, food for our souls, and waters of rest.  

Verse 3:

Perverse and foolish, oft I strayed,
but yet in love he sought me;
and on his shoulder gently laid,
and home, rejoicing, brought me.

Paraphrase:

I often strayed through stubborn and petty foolishness, but all the same He sought me out, and having found me, He gently laid me over His shoulder, He carried me home rejoicing.

Psalm 23:

This verse has no direct connection to the Psalm, but it does have roots in the Parable of the Lost Sheep in Luke 15 and Matthew 18.  We see the great love of the Good Shepherd who willingly leaves the 99 sheep who are safe at home to seek the one (that is, you) who is lost.

Reflection:

We are, every single one of us, lost and foolish, often wandering from the good.  Sheep may be cute, but they are the very picture of ignorance and stubbornness, preferring dirty water that’s right in front of them to clean water, perhaps just over the ridge, that they cannot see.  Preferring to go their own way, oblivious to both wonders and dangers right in front of them. In spite of our cluelessness, Jesus seeks us out in love and gentleness and compassion, and carries us home–no lectures, no chiding, no finger-wagging.  If this weren’t all, it would still be far more than we deserve.

Verse 4:

In death’s dark vale I fear no ill,
with thee, dear Lord, beside me;
thy rod and staff my comfort still,
thy cross before to guide me.

Paraphrase:

Even if I find myself in the dark valley of death, no harm can reach me as long as You, dear Lord, stay by my side. Your rod and staff will always be a comfort to me, and I will keep Your cross always in my sight in order that it may guide me.

Psalm 23:

[This last part of 23:3 is not addressed in the lyrics:  He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.]

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Reflection:

Nothing can happen to us, not even death, that can separate us from the love of God (Rom. 8:31-39).  People are often confused by the “rod and staff” mentioned in the psalm, but they are in fact beautiful pictures of God’s character and His love for us.  The rod is a sort of weapon, not one to wield against stubborn cantankerous sheep but rather to ward off predators and enemies–the rod protects the sheep. The staff is a means of directing and guiding the sheep in the way they should go.  In all things, and at all times, the cross of Christ is our protection, our guidance, and our salvation. We should go through each and every day carrying the cross of Christ before the eyes of our minds and hearts.

Verse 5:

And so through all the length of days,
thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise
within thy house forever.

Paraphrase:

So for as long as I live I will remember that Your goodness never fails. Within Your house, Good Shepherd, I will sing Your praise forever.

Psalm 23:

[As in the last verse, this part of Psalm 23 isn’t addressed directly: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.]

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.

Reflection:

Even though the last verse of Psalm 23 isn’t mentioned directly in the lyrics, the sheer abundance of grace and mercy most certainly is! Even if the lyrics speak of the marvelous goodness of the Shepherd, the grace, the mercy of God most definitely anoint us, wash over us, and the cup of our blessings can’t help but overflow! In the seeking, protection, and guiding of His foolish and stubborn sheep, His mercy is evident to all who know themselves to be every bit as foolish and stubborn!  It is also one thing to be comforted by the presence of our Good Shepherd and quite another to live, to dwell, to abide in His presence forever, knowing there is no enemy who can ever come between us!

Now, please listen again and breathe life back into the hymn by not allowing it to remain pinned to the table of our poor reflections!

The King of Love My Shepherd Is (feat. Skye Peterson)

Image from Blackaby Ministries International

And Can It Be

Lyrics by Charles Wesley; music by Thomas Campbell

And Can It Be – Stuart Townend [with lyrics] Again, I’ll put the link here and at the end. These reflections are most meaningful when you listen both before and after reading!

This is my wife’s favorite hymn.  When I listen to the music and read the lyrics I learn so much about the love of Christ and the freedom purchased by Him for us.  And on top of it all, I learn something new about my wife, who knows and lives these truths to the depth of her soul.  That these words speak to her so deeply and intimately says wonderful things about her devotion and gratitude to the One who makes us free.  My prayer is that you, too, would know the love, grace, and freedom of Christ, and that knowing Him you would be led into great praise!

1 And can it be that I should gain
An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me?

Refrain:
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me!

How can it be that my Savior Jesus’ blood covers me?  How can it be that He died for me, me who caused His pain?  Is it really possible that my life, my sins, my failings caused Him pain, grief and sorrow?  That my misdirected desires and disordered loves hounded Him all the way to the Cross?  What kind of amazing love is this, that You, my God would die for me?

2 He left His Father’s throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race;
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me. [Refrain]

Jesus left His Father’s throne and emptied Himself of everything–everything, that is, except His great love.  His limitless grace made available to one such as me!  So vast, so free that grace!  But we are, all of us, in the same pitiful state–we all share Adam’s helplessness.  Our one and only hope is the mercy of God that refused to treat us as our boundless sin deserves.  That mercy, like His grace, is immense!  It is free!  And it found its way to my very own heart!  How can it be that such wonderful love managed to find me?

3 Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth and followed Thee. [Refrain]

Even when I had no idea, my spirit was held captive for as long as I can remember–imprisoned, inescapable, bound as if in chains.  But even then, You saw me and you sent life-giving light to break my chains and set my heart free!  I rose and followed You, joy of my heart!  I will follow You anywhere!  I only know freedom and love because You broke my chains and set me free!

4 No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own. [Refrain]

You have made me free, and I shall never be doomed or lost again!  You are all I have and all I want!  I, who once was dead, am alive in You, my Lord and King!  You have cast off my filthy rags and clothed me in light and righteousness found nowhere but in You!  Now, free and bold and righteous in Your very own goodness and light, the living Christ has made me so bold as to approach Your very throne!  I dare to do so only because the crown I claim, the crown of life and righteousness, is mine through Christ alone!  Hallelujah!

And Can It Be – Stuart Townend [with lyrics]

Image by Vu Anh on Unsplash

O The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

lyrics by Samuel Trevor Francis; music by Thomas J. Williams

O The Deep, Deep Love (Hymn 159)  (As always, you might want to listen to the hymn both before and after the reflection! I love the image above–although I believe it’s hills in mist, it looks very much like ocean waves beneath a starry sky.)

Just consider for a moment the cavernous passion and depth of this opening line!  Very much like the ocean itself, whose depths are virtually unknowable, the “deep, deep love of Jesus” cannot be sufficiently grasped or understood.  Our best efforts to “get” it or “secure” it are the merest swimming and diving–they may seem like great depths to us, but the first few feet of the ocean’s surface are swallowed up in mile after mile of fathomless, unknowing depth.  Left to ourselves we do no more than play on the surface of Jesus’ love.

Consider here what we sing!  The passion in this line!  The “O” can arise from nowhere else than the heart of one resting in the fathomless depths of Jesus’ love! And “deep” is not just deep, but “deep, deep.”  The repetition following the majestic “O” tells us that we are indeed out of our depth here.  Let’s see what the hymn itself reveals to us! 

O, the deep, deep love of Jesus—
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free—
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me
Is the current of His love—
Leading onward, leading homeward
To His glorious rest above.

It’s not enough to declare the love of Jesus “deep, deep.”  It is vast, unmeasured, boundless, free.  Vast, yes.  Unmeasured, yes.  Boundless, sure, I get it.  But free?  The love of Jesus is free because it is freely offered.  It is free because it costs us nothing, while costing Him everything.  It is free because it is uncontrollable, entirely beyond our own ability to navigate or steer.

This great love rolls like the waves of a mighty ocean, but think of those billows, those amazing, foamy crests and the frightening, seemingly bottomless valleys–and notice that this vast, measureless, boundless, free ocean rolls in all its fullness over me!  To venture out into this ocean is to know one’s smallness, to know how easily one could be swept away, swallowed up in it.  The “free” love of Jesus is truly love because it reveals how utterly powerless we are in its hold, and free because it promises to swallow us whole, to overwhelm us and never let us go.

Underneath and all around me, the current of His love sweeps me along.  It is no vast, impersonal love that takes such firm hold of me, but a love that leads me on, that, in fact, leads me homeward, heavenward.  And what do I find, tossed onto those marvelous shores?  Rest.  Glorious rest.

O, the deep, deep love of Jesus—
Spread His praise from shore to shore!
Praise His mercy, praise His goodness;
Praise His love forevermore.
How He watcheth o’er His loved ones,
Died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth,
Watcheth o’er them from His throne.

Caught up in the relentless grasp of this loving Jesus, how can I help but sing, shout, spread His praise?  Where shall I sing and shout?  From shore to shore, everywhere!  To be caught in the grip of this love is not to feel trapped or squeezed, constrained or confined. No!  His praise builds and rolls and swells just like the billowing ocean waves!  Praise His mercy!  Praise His goodness!  Praise His love forevermore!  Let it roll!  Let it swell all the more!

Left to ourselves in such an ocean of love, we might fall prey to fear:  How can we survive?  Won’t we be lost and swallowed up alive?  Won’t we lose ourselves? What if we’re swept so far from shore we can never find our way back?  Do not be afraid!  He watches over all those whom He loves!  He died on the cross, the wondrous cross, not just so that we don’t have to, but so that we might be called His very own!  Our whole identity has changed–we are no longer our own, but His!  And He prays for us before His own Father’s throne–indeed, He watches over us from His very own throne!

O, the deep, deep love of Jesus—
Love of ev’ry love the best—
’Tis an ocean vast of blessing;
’Tis a haven sweet of rest.
Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus—
’Tis a heav’n of heav’ns to me;
And it lifts me up to glory,
Lifts me up eternally.

The billows continue to roll!  O, the deep, deep love of Jesus!  Of all loves we ever have known or will know, His love is the best, the truest, the most faithful–it never fails.  And this love pours over us wave after wave of blessing, tossing us in the end onto shores of everlasting delight and rest–a haven, a protection from all worldly harm.  There is no other heaven that compares, no other heaven for us than that which we find in Jesus’ love.  One day there will be no more soaring aloft on the towering swells only to be cast down into the depths once again.  No, one day this heaven of love will bear me–and all whom it carries–aloft and into glory forever and ever!

O, to be found in the grasp of this love!  O, to be held by the strength of those arms! Amen!

O The Deep, Deep Love (Hymn 159)

Photo by Michael Fortsch on Unsplash

WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS

by Isaac Watts

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

In these reflections I intend to begin with a few general comments to introduce the hymn, and then simply put the lyrics in words most of us will more readily understand.  My goal isn’t as much commentary as it is reflection, meditation, and devotion.  You can listen to a wonderful version of it here.  I might suggest listening once before you read, and then once when you’re finished, but you decide!

To “survey the wondrous cross” is to “consider it carefully, to view it with more particular and deliberate attention than merely to look or see, to consider it comprehensively, that is, to consider it from every imaginable angle (paraphrased from Webster’s 1828 and 2nd Collegiate Dictionaries).  

This entire hymn is a survey of the wondrous cross, that is, the cross of Jesus which causes us to wonder (admiration mingled with unexpected and inexplicable beauty).  To behold the cross of Christ with anything less than wonder is not to behold it at all.  So let’s “translate” the hymn itself and plumb the depths of its wonders and beauty:

• When I survey the wondrous cross
  On which the Prince of glory died,
  My richest gain I count but loss,
  And pour contempt on all my pride.

When I take the measure, the full breadth, length, and width of what Christ accomplished at Calvary, I am filled with wonder, awe, and admiration.  On this very cross Jesus–the Prince of Glory–died.  Gave up His own perfect, sinless life.  When I gaze intently at this cross all of my own accomplishments fade into mist, into nothingness.  What’s more, all that I would boast of, all my puffing up and self-congratulation, my self-importance and achievements–all those things I used to raise myself up in my own eyes and set myself apart from others–now, gazing upon them in the pure light of the cross, I see them for the frail and paltry things they really are.  All that I am fondest of in this life–my gifts, virtues, possessions; my family, neighbors, friends–all of it falls by the wayside before the cross of Jesus, all of it would fail to fill a thimble at the bottom of that cross.  

• Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
  Save in the death of Christ my God!
  All the vain things that charm me most,
  I sacrifice them to His blood.

Lord, if I ever even begin to boast of anything, get in my way, obstruct me, prevent me from even entertaining such thoughts.  If I even begin to do so, let me instead boast in the death of Christ, for He is my God.  Let me take all those things I once boasted of, all those vain, useless, empty things that cast a spell over my thoughts leading to think more highly of myself than was right or good or true, all those thoughts that charmed me and made me drowsy in soul–all these things I cast down at the foot of that wondrous cross where Jesus’ precious blood pools on the ground.  Every one of those thoughts needs to be covered and cleansed so that the charm of sin may be broken and they can be seen for what they are.  I don’t run or hide or deny those thoughts, I name them and relinquish them, I hand them over, I lay them down at the foot of that cross and resolve to cherish them no longer.

• See from His head, His hands, His feet,
  Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
  Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
  Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

See–look, behold–in that very blood of Jesus is far more than blood, is sorrow and sadness–but sorrow and sadness over what?  Over sin, certainly, but also over hatred, envy, selfishness, pride; over disease, estrangement, conflict and resentment; over lack of faith, misdirected ambitions and hopes, and disordered love–the failure of all we were meant for and all that was intended for us–here, yes here in the blood of this cross, that sorrow meets great, fathomless, incomprehensible love.  Such sadness and love had never met before, but here at the cross they not only meet but overflow into one another!  Look, look!  Even the thorns of the crown of mockery cry out at the majesty, wonder, glory, and awe birthed from the mingling of this blood and sadness and love!

• Were the whole realm of nature mine,
  That were a present far too small;
  Love so amazing, so divine,
  Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Think of it!  We spend so much of our time and energy and money trying to buy land and property and even little vacations where we can spend time in far-flung places we can only dream of living in, let alone owning.  Just imagine that we owned it all!  All the mountains and seas, all the trees of the forest, the birds of the skies, the fish in the oceans; the sun, moon, and stars; the planets and nebulae, the whole vastness of space–but also all the things of earth: trees and leaves, reptiles and insects, boulders and pebbles, all the sand of the seashore … imagine–you own it all!  

Now imagine that having beheld the cross of Jesus with all its wonders and glories–this sacrifice, this love, this rich and holy blood that cleanses us from every sin and all our folly.  Now that we see this for what it truly is, we long with all our hearts to make Him an offering worthy of His sacrifice.  So we rush to take all we own, the entire universe, this world and everything in it and make it our offering of praise, worship, adoration, and thanksgiving … but alas!  All this is still a present far too small!  Love like this, so amazing, so divine—love like this we could only dream of till now. What sacrifice shall I make?  What sacrifice can I make? Not what I own.  Not what I possess.  Not what I have achieved or accomplished.  Not even what I have loved.  No.  What’s asked, even demanded, of me is nothing less than … all of me, my whole life, my soul, and everything we have come to own or acquire, everything we call our own.

Glorious are You, Lord Christ!  To You be honor and glory, now and forever!

I’m a little reluctant to embark on this project – this offering – of mine simply because we’re not supposed to “let our right hand know what our left hand is doing,” and a very large part of me wants to keep this just between me and Jesus.  But I love Truth and Beauty, and if Truth and Beauty aren’t shared they wither and lose, I think, a measure of their potency.  

Even though I wasn’t raised on these hymns I married a woman who was.  She will very often hear the opening of one and then finish singing it from memory (I love that!).  I’ve come to know many of them over the years, and I’ve learned to treasure them as a great gift to the Church.  Unfortunately, that gift today is not so much devalued as it is neglected or simply passed by like roadside wildflowers – and the best we can hope for is to catch something of a beautiful blur as we speed by.

So I want to share these hymn “translations” because I love Truth and Beauty and because one of my gifts is words.  I seldom come across something beautifully written that I don’t want to find a way to share with others, that I don’t want to make more accessible.  I hold onto many things more tightly than I should, but I find great joy in sharing truth, insight, and beauty whenever I stumble across them.

And that’s why I’m not going to keep all this a secret between just me and Jesus.  I want as many people as possible to see what I’ve seen, to hear what I’ve heard, and to know the joy of having these timeless seeds of Beauty and Truth planted in their souls – because you never know what sort of beautiful flowers may grow from those seeds!

As I said a moment ago, this project is an offering, a free, voluntary offering of thanksgiving inspired by a passage from Psalm 116:

What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the Lord.
I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people…. (vv. 12, 17-18)

When I read this psalm recently a desire rose up in me to make a “thanksgiving sacrifice” of my own.  I have known a measure of suffering over the years, but the Lord has always shown Himself faithful (though He doesn’t always show up when and how I’d like).  In the course of our life, God very often makes clear to us what we should do, how we should live, and whom we should love – there’s not much to figure out, He commands and we obey.  But Psalm 116 shows us that there is also a place in every believer’s life for doing something completely and utterly free and uncompelled by God’s command.  There is a place in each of us for freely, willingly, and joyfully saying Thank You to the One who has healed, redeemed, restored, and graciously bestowed upon us new and abundant life in Christ!  (And I want to encourage each of you to find a way to making your own freewill offering, whatever that may look like.)

So I offer these “translations” as my devotional Thank You.  Each and every one will be, in its own way, a celebration of our Father in heaven who loves us so greatly that He sent His Son that we might have life, and then sent His Holy Spirit that we might know His comfort in the midst of our “not-yet” life here under the sun.

As we get started, let me offer a few quick disclaimers.  First, these are hymns, so they’re meant to be sung!  I can’t sing my translations onto the page, but I promise to make them as beautiful as I can.  I have no desire to mow down these gardens of glory and praise into wooden planks of pious platitudes.  I want them to come alive for you so that they can then live in you!

Second, I’ll be giving you words apart from music, and reading lyrics is never as inspiring as entering into song (lyrics and music).  Because of this, the words alone may seem a little dry, like cut garden flowers placed in a vase on the kitchen table – they may offer a burst of color and fragrance to a part of the house that seldom knows them, but they are already doomed to die.  

So then lastly, because these words without their music are like trees without leaves, I plan to give you a link to a performance of each so that once you grasp the meaning of a hymn you can enter into it afresh in worship with great joy.

The first of my translations – “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” – will be posted tomorrow (Thursday).  I haven’t been able to shake it for a couple weeks now, and I think after tomorrow you’ll know why.