Lent, Day 12: It Is Well With My Soul

This is an appropriate follow-up to yesterday's post, actually.  If you don't know the story behind this beautiful hymn, grab a tissue and read about it. I'm totally serious about grabbing a tissue. Don't say I didn't warn you.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well with my soul,
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control:
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul!

Horatio Spafford

Whate'er My God Ordains Is Right

It's a rare song that contains both well-crafted poetry and beautifully-presented truth.  These lyrics are worthy of your full attention, friends, and I encourage you to read them carefully and rejoice in God whose mysterious will works out for our good!

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
His holy will abideth;
I will be still whate’er He doth;
And follow where He guideth;
He is my God; though dark my road,
He holds me that I shall not fall:
Wherefore to Him I leave it all.
 
Whate’er my God ordains is right:
He never will deceive me;
He leads me by the proper path:
I know He will not leave me.
I take, content, what He hath sent;
His hand can turn my griefs away,
And patiently I wait His day.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
His loving thought attends me;
No poison can be in the cup
That my Physician sends me.
My God is true; each morn anew
I’ll trust His grace unending,
My life to Him commending.
 
Whate’er my God ordains is right:
He is my Friend and Father;
He suffers naught to do me harm,
Though many storms may gather,
Now I may know both joy and woe,
Some day I shall see clearly
That He hath loved me dearly.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Though now this cup, in drinking,
May bitter seem to my faint heart,
I take it, all unshrinking.
My God is true; each morn anew
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrow shall depart.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet I am not forsaken.
My Father’s care is round me there;
He holds me that I shall not fall:
And so to Him I leave it all.

-- Samuel Rodigast, 1676

The Son of God Goes Forth To War

I just recently was introduced to this song at Community Presbyterian Church's Reformation Day feast.  I had to quit singing because I was choking back tears.  The subject of martyrdom is SERIOUSLY under-sung in our churches, people.  This one deserves a more regular spot in our rotation.

Get yer Kleenex out before you read this.  Just sayin.

The Son of God goes forth to war,
A kingly crown to gain;
His blood-red banner streams afar!
Who follows in His train?
Who best can drink His cup of woe,
Triumphant over pain,
Who patient bears his cross below --
He follows in His train.

The martyr first, whose eagle eye
Could pierce beyond the grave;
Who saw his Master in the sky
And called on Him to save.
Like Him, with pardon on His tongue,
In midst of mortal pain,
He prayed for them that did the wrong!
Who follows in His train?

A glorious band, the chosen few
On whom the Spirit came,
Twelve valiant saints, their hope they knew,
And mocked the cross and flame.
They met the tyrant's brandished steel,
The lion's gory mane;
They bowed their necks the death to feel:
Who follows in their train?

A noble army, men and boys,
The matron and the maid,
Around the Savior's throne rejoice
In robes of light arrayed.
They climbed the steep ascent of heav'n,
Through peril, toil and pain;
O God, to us may grace be giv'n
To follow in their train!

-- Reginald Heber, 1812

From "The Valley of Vision"

Jehovah God,

Thou Creator, Upholder, Proprietor of all things,
I cannot escape from thy presence or control,
     nor do I desire to do so.
My privilege is to be under the agency
     of omnipotence, righteousness, wisdom, patience, mercy, grace.
Thou art love with more than parental affection;
I admire thy heart, adore thy wisdom,
     stand in awe of thy power, abase myself before thy purity.
It is the discovery of thy goodness alone that can banish my fear,
     allure me into thy presence,
     help me to bewail and confess my sins.

When I review my past guilt
     and am conscious of my present unworthiness,
          I tremble to come to thee,
          I whose foundation is in the dust,
          I who have condemned thy goodness,
               defied thy power,
               trampled upon thy love,
               rendered myself unworthy of eternal death.

But my recovery cannot spring from any cause in me;
     I can destroy but cannot save myself.

Yet thou hast laid help on One that is mighty,
      for there is mercy with thee,
      and exceeding riches in thy kindness through Jesus.

May I always feel my need of him.
Let thy restored joy be my strength;
May it keep me from lusting after the world,
     bear up heart and mind in loss of comforts,
     enliven me in the valley of death,
     work in me the image of the heavenly,
     and give me to enjoy the first fruits of spirituality,
     such as the angels and departed saints know.

There is A Fountain

There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved, to sin no more.

E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.

One of my favorite hymns -- this one almost always makes me cry. Little known fact: girls will undoubtedly remember in the movie version of Sense and Sensibility the scene where Marianne is brutally critiquing poor Edward Ferrars's reading of a poem. We catch the lines: "No voice divine the storm allayed/ no light propitious shone..." The author of that poem, William Cowper, is also the author of "There is a Fountain."

Cowper battled depression his whole life. I love the fact that, in the midst of his struggles, he wrote such a beautiful hymn that expresses not just his personal hope but the hope of "all the ransomed church of God."

Happy Birthday

Katherine Elizabeth Grace Roberts
Born 7:42 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time
July 9, 2008
Sterling Regional MedCenter
Sterling, CO

8 lbs, 2 oz.
21"

...even though for a time it may appear very small, as though it were snuffed out...

We believe and confess one universal church— a holy congregation and gathering of true Christian believers, awaiting their entire salvation in Jesus Christ, being washed by his blood and sanctified and sealed by the Holy Spirit. This church has existed from the beginning of the world and will last until the end, as appears from the fact that Christ is eternal King who cannot be without subjects. And this holy church is preserved by God against the rage of the whole world, even though for a time it may appear very small, as though it were snuffed out. For example, during the very dangerous time of Ahab the Lord preserved for himself seven thousand men who did not bend their knees to Baal. And so this holy church is not confined, bound, or limited to a certain place or certain persons. But it is spread and dispersed throughout the entire world, though still joined and united in heart and will, in one and the same Spirit, by the power of faith.

—from Belgic Confession, Art. 27

Why Why Why

...do I have the greatest friends in the universe?

Listen, let him who boasts boast in the Lord, and I'm fixin' to -- the Lord is so gracious, so generous, so merciful, to give me friends like my friends. I just don't deserve them. He provided everything I need in Christ! He wasn't obligated to provide me with a loving family. He reached down into darkness and saved me from the death I deserved for my sin. He didn't have to bless me beyond measure with people who love me despite my flaws.

Sometimes my heart just wants to explode. I was praying with one of my friends tonight and started to cry thinking about the joy we look forward to -- the joy of being in unbroken fellowship with our brothers and sisters, working together in the presence of God when our Savior returns to make all things new. Imagine! Relationships unmarred by sin! Love perfectly reflecting the Father's love for his bride! Oh Lord, speed that day!

Theme: Crybaby / A Rantgent

There's a theme developing here: I am more sentimental than I would care to admit. Or, as I like to phrase it to make myself sound better, "tender-hearted." Anyway, semantics aside, I was flipping through the Baptist Hymnal. Wait.

Tangent/rant: who put that puppy together? There are some flat-out theologically bankrupt songs in the Baptist Hymnal. "Let Jesus Come Into Your Heart"? If there's a tempest your voice cannot still... Yeah, because salvation's really mostly about taking care of the issues you can't handle on your own. And that's not the only stinker, even in that section. God bless Ralph Carmichael, but "The Savior is Waiting"? Receive him, and all of your darkness shall end... blech. I want to know when this fixation on "receiving Jesus" and "asking Jesus into your heart" started. Mom or dad, any ideas why folks started using that particular phrasing and it stuck? And you know how people criticize "modern" worship music as being too me-focused? Or trite? How about "Here am I" or "I want to be a Christian" or "I want Jesus to Walk With Me" or, get this, a hymn called "Thanks-living"?

Anyway, rant/tangent (rantgent?) over. I was flipping through the Hymnal and plunking around on my keyboard when I came across these lyrics which brought tears to my eyes (the songs can't be all bad, statistically):

Unless Your grace had called me
And taught my opening mind,
The world would have enthralled me,
To heavenly glories blind.
My heart knows none above You;
For Your rich grace I thirst!
I know that, if I love You,
You must have loved me first.