When I Survey The Wondrous Cross

Posted on by
1

Isaac Watts wrote “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” in preparation for a communion service in 1707. Originally, the hymn was named “Crucifixion to the World by the Cross of Christ,” following the practice of the day to summarise a hymn’s theme in the title. It was first published in 1707 in Watt’s collection Hymns and Spiritual Songs. This hymn is considered one of the finest hymns ever written. It’s the first known hymn to be written in the first person, introducing expressing personal religious devotion rather than limiting itself to only doctrine1.

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 through 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.

1songsandhymns.org/hymns/detail/when-i-survey-the-wondrous-cross

Yet Not I, But Christ Through Me

Posted on by
Reply

Richard Thompson and Jonny Robinson are writers within the worship group CityAlight. On writing modern hymns, and today’s song, they write: “We began this writing project inspired by an idea… The idea was joy. More specifically we had in mind Christian joy which we believed to be something quite distinct, and we wanted that notion to inspire, underwrite, and unify the songs written for this project. The songs resulting from this meditation are six simple songs for the church centered upon those remarkable realities of the Christian faith that are occasions for deep and lasting joy. Our hymn “Yet Not I but Through Christ in Me” took us 12 weeks to write. We dove deep into the idea of what it meant to have Christ dwell in us…This is an exploration of one of the greatest mysteries of the Christian faith1. Enjoyy!

What gift of grace is Jesus my redeemer
There is no more for heaven now to give
He is my joy, my righteousness, and freedom
My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace

Refrain
To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus
For my life is wholly bound to His
Oh how strange and divine, I can sing, “All is mine”
Yet not I, but through Christ in me

The night is dark but I am not forsaken
For by my side, the Saviour He will stay
I labour on in weakness and rejoicing
For in my need, His power is displayed

Refrain

No fate I dread, I know I am forgiven
The future sure, the price it has been paid
For Jesus bled and suffered for my pardon
And He was raised to overthrow the grave

Refrain

With every breath I long to follow Jesus
For He has said that He will bring me home
And day by day I know He will renew me
Until I stand with joy before the throne

Refrain

1challies.com/interviews/get-to-know-cityalight-and-their-new-album/

How Vast the Benefits Divine

Posted on by
Reply

Augustus Montague Toplady, was born at Farnham, Surrey, November 4, 1740. His father was an officer in the British army and his mother was a woman of remarkable piety. While on a visit in Ireland in his sixteenth year he was awakened and converted at a service held in a barn in Codymain. In 1758, through the influence of sermons preached by Dr. Manton on the seventeenth chapter of John, he became an extreme Calvinist in his theology, which brought him later into conflict with Mr. Wesley and the Methodists. He was ordained to the ministry in the Church of England in 1762, and in 1768 he became vicar of Broadhembury, a small living in Devonshire, which he held until his death. When his health worsened and he was on the brink of death, he told his physician “why, that is a good sign that my death is fast approaching; and, blessed be God, I can add that my heart beats stronger and stronger every day for glory.”  He died of consumption August 11, 1778. His volume of Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Worship was published in 1776. which included four hundred and nineteen hymns, such as the well known “Rock of Ages”1.

How vast the benefits divine,
Which we in Christ possess!
We are redeemed from guilt and shame,
And called to holiness.
But not for works which we have done,
Or shall hereafter do;
Hath God decreed on sinful me
Salvation to bestow.

The glory, Lord, from first to last,
Is due to Thee alone;
Aught to ourselves we dare not take,
Or rob Thee of Thy crown.
Our glorious Surety undertook
To satisfy for man,
And grace was given us in Him
Before the world began.

This is Thy will, that in Thy love
We ever should abide;
That earth and hell should not prevail
To turn Thy Word aside.
Not one of all the chosen race
But shall to Heav’n attain,
Partake on earth the purposed grace
And then with Jesus reign.

1hymnary.org/person/Toplady_Augustus

‘Tis So Sweet

Posted on by
Reply

Louisa Stead was born in Dover, England in 1850. As a teenager, Stead felt called to be a missionary. She went to America at age 21, and lived for a time in Cincinnati, Ohio. Attending a camp meeting in Urbana, Ohio, she felt the missionary calling even more strongly. Unfortunately, she was not able to go to China as she had intended, due to her frail health. She married a Mr. Stead in 1875 and moved to New York, where the couple had a daughter, Lily. When Lily was four years of age, the family decided one day to enjoy the sunny beach at Long Island Sound, New York. While eating their picnic lunch, they suddenly heard cries of help and spotted a drowning boy in the sea. Mr. Stead charged into the water. As often happens, however, the struggling boy pulled his rescuer under water with him, and both drowned before the terrified eyes of Louisa and her daughter. Out of her ‘why?’ struggle with God, during the ensuing days, glowed the meaningful words of the hymn1.

‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
and to take him at his word;
just to rest upon his promise,
and to know, “Thus saith the Lord.”

Refrain
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him!
How I’ve proved him o’er and o’er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust him more!

O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
just to trust his cleansing blood;
and in simple faith to plunge me
neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Refrain

Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
just from sin and self to cease;
just from Jesus simply taking
life and rest, and joy and peace.

Refrain

1enjoyingthejourney.org/hymn-history-tis-so-sweet-to-trust-in-jesus/

O Father, You Are Sovereign

Posted on by
2

Edith Margaret Clarkson (1915–2008) was a Canadian schoolteacher, always known as Margaret, whose first published hymn was written in 1946, and most of whose texts were collected in A Singing Heart. A Presbyterian by upbringing and conviction, she treasured the catechisms and confessions of that tradition. Like the apostle who believed in One ‘who works all things according to the counsel of his will’ (Eph 1:11), Margaret never let her trust in that sovereign God become an excuse for fatalism, laziness or apathy. Margaret never wrote lightly of the ‘powers of death and darkness’, even ‘the Lord of pain’, suffering her own plagues of continual arthritis and migraine since childhood. These severely limited her mobility in later years.She did not find singleness easy, and devoted one of her many books to the subject. She valued the opportunity, not always available in Canada, of meeting fellow hymnwriters and comparing their joys and frustrations with her own. She longed to share with others her passion for global mission, often expressed in song1.

O Father, you are sovereign
in all the worlds you made;
your mighty Word was spoken
and light of life obeyed.
Your voice commands the seasons
and bounds the ocean’s shore,
sets stars within their courses
and stills the tempest’s roar.

O Father, you are sovereign
in all affairs of man;
no powers of death or darkness
can thwart your perfect plan.
All chance and change transcending,
supreme in time and space,
you hold your trusting children
secure in your embrace.

O Father, you are sovereign,
the Lord of human pain,
transmuting early sorrows
to gold of heav’nly gain.
All evil over ruling, as
none but Conq’ror could,
your love pursues its purpose-
our souls’ eternal good.

O Father, you are sovereign,
We see you dimly now,
but soon before you triumph
earth’s every knee shall bow.
With this glad hope before us
our faith springs up a-new:
our sovereign Lord and Saviour,
we trust and worship you.

1hymnsocietygbi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/0713-O-father-you-are-sovereign-Idle.pdf

There Is A Fountain

Posted on by
Reply

This hymn is another addition given to us by William Cowper who struggled with poor mental health. When Rev. John Newton was curate of the market town of Olney, he invited Cowper and the family he was staying with, who recently suffered a tragedy, to move under his care. Newton’s pastoral influence was vital in encouraging Cowper to apply his talents toward writing hymns. He wrote most of his best hymns in this period before relapsing into a deep depression in 1773. “There is a fountain filled with blood” was included in the infamous collection “Olney Hymns” (1779), a collection of hymns written by Newton and Cowper1.

There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains:
Lose all their guilty stains,
Lose all their guilty stains;
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:
Wash all my sins away,
Wash all my sins away;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its pow’r,
Till all the ransomed Church of God
Be saved, to sin no more:
Be saved, to sin no more,
Be saved, to sin no more;
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:
And shall be till I die,
And shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.

When this poor lisping, stamm’ring tongue
Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save:
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save,
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save;
Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save.

1hymnologyarchive.com/there-is-a-fountain

Be Still, My Soul

Posted on by
Reply

Today’s hymn is a suggestion from a subscriber. Little is known about the author of this hymn. Katharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel was born in 1697 and the date of her death is unknown. Some hymnologists suggest that she may have become a Lutheran nun. We know her as the author of “Stille, mein Wille; dein Jesus hilft siegen” published in a collection entitled Neue Sammlung geistlicher Lieder (A new collection of spiritual songs) in 1752, one of several of her texts included there. This text appears at the time of German pietism, similar in spirit in many regards to the Wesleyan revival in England of the same era. Philipp Jacob Spener (1635-1705) led the German pietistic movement. Though not a hymn writer himself, he inspired a revival in German hymnody characterized by faithfulness to Scripture, personal experience, and deep emotional expression. Katharina von Schlegel is thought to be the leading female hymn writer of this period. The hymn comes to us via a translation by Jane L. Borthwick (1813-1897), a member of the Free Church of Scotland1.

Be still, my soul;
The Lord is on your side;
Bear patiently the cross
Of grief or pain;
Leave to your God
To order and provide;
In ev’ry change
He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul;
Your best, your heav’nly friend
Through thorny ways
Leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul;
Your God will undertake
To guide the future
As he has the past;
Your hope, your confidence,
Let nothing shake;
All now mysterious
Shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul;
The waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled
Them while he lived below.

Be still, my soul;
When dearest friends depart
And all is darkened
In the vale of tears,
Then you will better
Know his love, his heart,
Who comes to soothe
Your sorrows and your fears.
Be still, my soul;
Your Jesus can repay
From his own fullness
All he takes away.

Be still, my soul;
The hour is hast’ning on,
When we shall be
Forever with the Lord,
When disappointment,
Grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot,
Love’s purest joys restored.
Be still my soul;
When change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed
We shall meet at last.

1umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-be-still-my-soul

Undivided

Posted on by
Reply

This song by Emu Music is based on both Psalm 86 and James 1. Depending on the version you read, Psalm 86:1 reads “Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” May these words be all of our prayer.

Give me an undivided heart,
That I might fear Your name;
Teach me to walk in righteous paths,
And follow in Your ways.
For You are gracious and forgiving,
Hear O Lord and answer me.

Give me an undivided mind,
That I might love Your word;
Help me to hunger for Your voice,
And know Your Spirit’s sword.
For You are good, Your truth unchanging;
Life is found in serving You.

Undivided
I want to live for You;
Single minded,
All that I say all that I do.
Sanctify me,
Take me and make me new;
That I might live for Christ my Lord.

Give me an undivided love,
For all that You desire;
Make me a living sacrifice,
Ignite in me Your fire.
For You, O Lord, are God eternal,
All my ways are known to You.

Undivided,
Counting my gains as loss;
Single minded,
Whatever the pain, whatever the cost.
Sanctify me,
Help me take up my cross;
And live for Him who died for me.

How Deep the Father’s Love For Us

Posted on by
Reply

Stuart Townend has been writing since he was 22 and includes much beloved songs such as “Christ Alone”, “The Power of the Cross” and “Speak O Lord”. Writing this hymn, he says “The danger now is that we are so focused on the experience our worship can become self-seeking and self-serving. When all of our songs are about how we feel and what we need, we’re missing the point. There is a wonderful, omnipotent God who deserves our highest praise, and how we feel about it is in many ways irrelevant! I want to encourage the expression of joy, passion, and adoration, but I want those things to be the by-product of focusing on God – I don’t want them to become the subject matter. I’m trying to write songs that refer to us as little as possible, and to Him as much as possible!1“

How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss –
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life –
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart –
His wounds have paid my ransom.

1https://www.stuarttownend.co.uk/song/how-deep-the-fathers-love-for-us/

We Will Feast In the House of Zion

Posted on by
Reply

This song written by Sandra McCracken features on her ‘Psalms‘ album. The song includes allusions to Psalm 126:1–3: “When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad.”, as well as Isaiah 25:6-9: “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Refrain
We will feast in the house of Zion,
We will sing with our hearts restored;
“He has done great things”, we will say together,
We will feast and weep no more.

We will not be burned by the fire,
He is the Lord our God.
We are not consumed by the flood,
Upheld, protected, gathered up.

Refrain

In the dark of night before the dawn,
My soul, be not afraid.
For the promised morning, oh how long?
Oh, God of Jacob, be my strength.

Refrain

Every vow we’ve broken and betrayed,
You are the faithful One.
And from the garden to the grave,
Bind us together, bring shalom.

Refrain