“My Jesus Fair” is a new hymn written by Pastor Chris Anderson. I had read the words on his site some time back, and I don’t remember what my reaction was — positive, I’m sure — but this morning a young man sang it as a solo at our church, and, my, what a blessing. The first verse says:

My Jesus, fair, was pierced by thorns,
By thorns grown from the fall.
Thus He who gave the curse was torn
To end that curse for all.

Though of course I knew that Jesus took the penalty for our sin on Himself, it just struck me in a new way to think that the very thorns that grew as a result of sin coming into the world pierced the One who gave that curse “to end that curse for all.”

Then the refrain says:

O love divine, O matchless grace-
That God should die for men!
With joyful grief I lift my praise,
Abhorring all my sin,
Adoring only Him.

I love the poetry and rhythm as well as the truth of it, especially the last two lines. The whole hymn is filled the paradoxical juxtapositions: joyful grief (I have often wrestled between those two emotions in thinking about salvation: joy at what He did for me, grief that it cost Him so much); in subsequent verses, He meekly took abuse and forgave men acting most unmeekly; though kind, He was cruelly torn; though pure, crushed by judgment for sin.

You can find the full text of the hymn here and hear a sound clip here. I was thinking as I listened this morning that this sounded like something the Petit or Galkin Evangelistic teams would do, and I was delighted to discover that the Galkins have it on their latest CD, Christ Only, Always (and I was reminded that was something on my Christmas list I didn’t receive, but I hope to remedy that this week!)

Thank you, Pastor Anderson, for this beautiful and thoughtful hymn that turns our hearts and focus again to Him.