Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:5-7.
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. Colossians 3:10.
Complete in Thee! no work of mine
May take, dear Lord, the place of Thine;
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And I am now complete in Thee.
Refrain:
Yea, justified! O blessed thought!
And sanctified! Salvation wrought!
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And glorified, I too, shall be!
Complete in Thee! no more shall sin,
Thy grace hath conquered, reign within;
Thy voice shall bid the tempter flee,
And I shall stand complete in Thee.
Complete in Thee— each want supplied,
And no good thing to me denied;
Since Thou my portion, Lord, wilt be,
I ask no more, complete in Thee.
Dear Saviour! when before Thy bar
All tribes and tongues assembled are,
Among Thy chosen will I be,
At Thy right hand, complete in Thee.
— Aaron R. Wolfe, 1821-1902
Refrain, James M. Gray, 1851-1935
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
Psalm 139:2
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:15-16
No one understands like Jesus.
He’s a friend beyond compare;
Meet Him at the throne of mercy;
He is waiting for you there.
No one understands like Jesus;
Ev’ry woe He sees and feels;
Tenderly He whispers comfort,
And the broken heart He heals.
No one understands like Jesus
When the foes of life assail;
You should never be discouraged;
Jesus cares and will not fail!
No one understands like Jesus
When you falter on the way;
Tho’ you fail Him, sadly fail Him,
He will pardon you today.
CHORUS:
No one understands like Jesus
When the days are dark and grim;
No one is so near, so dear as Jesus–
Cast your ev’ry care on Him!
Words and music by John W. Peterson. The story behind the hymn here.
Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand,
The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noontide heat, and the burden of the day.
Upon that cross of Jesus mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of One Who suffered there for me;
And from my stricken heart with tears two wonders I confess;
The wonders of redeeming love and my unworthiness.
I take, O cross, thy shadow for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face;
Content to let the world go by to know no gain or loss,
My sinful self my only shame, my glory all the cross.
I was listening to the Depths of Mercy CD from Soundforth this morning and was blessed especially by this song:
Trust in God, My Soul
Words by Frances Havergal and David Burke
Oh, Lord, I trust Your grace; it is enough, enough for me.
In every trial I shall trace its all-sufficiency.
And, Lord, I trust Your strength; in You alone I shall be strong:
My failing flesh will learn at length a daily triumph song.
Oh, trust in God, my soul, and look into His face.
Oh, trust in God, my soul; His holy will embrace.
Then I shall stand complete and whole, a trophy of His grace
As I trust God.
Oh, Lord, I trust Your Word; it gives me hope and light to see.
The path ahead, though now obscured, will open wide for me.
Oh, Lord, I trust Your love; I feel its warm and changeless glow;
My life or death shall only prove its everlasting flow.
Oh, trust in God, my soul, and look into His face.
Oh, trust in God, my soul; His holy will embrace.
Then I shall stand complete and whole, a trophy of His grace
As I trust God.
If you’re anything like me, there are songs that you love because of their lyrics; writers you admire because their songs have depth, meaning, or just a sheer playfulness that has nothing to do with the tunes.
So, today’s question?
What songs … either specific songs, or songs in general by a specific group or writer … have words that you love?
Why?
And … do the tunes that go with the fantastic lyrics live up to them?
I’ve been thinking about this question for hours and figure I’d better go ahead with this post before the day is over.
I love music. Many different types of music, from musicals to Irish, Scottish, and British folk music as well as early American folk music to the “crooner” songs like “Just the Way You Look Tonight” and “I’ll Be Seeing You.” to silly songs to hymns.
But I’m blanking out on specific meaningful lyrics in songs other than hymns. They will probably be coming to mind the next week or so!
But here are a few:
One that always speaks straight to my heart is ValJean’s prayer that Marius’s life be spared, for Cosette’s sake, and his taken if need be from Les Miserables, especially this section:
God on high, hear my prayer.
In my need, you have always been there.
He is young; he’s afraid.
Let him rest, heaven blessed.
Bring him home.
Bring him home.
Bring him home.
He’s like the son I might have known
If God had granted me a son.
The summers die, one by one,
How soon they fly on and on,
And I am old and will be gone…
Yes the music does enhance this. In fact, here is Colm Wilkinson singing it from the 10th anniversary concert:
One of my favorite Irish folk songs is this one:
Believe me if all those
Endearing young charms
Which I gaze on so fondly today
Were to change by tomorrow
And fleet in my arms,
Like fairy gifts fading away
Though would’st still be adored
As this moment thou art
Let thy loveliness fade as it will
And around the dear ruin
Each wish of my heart
Would entwine itself
Verdantly still.
Hymns, though, have the richest and most heart-touching lyrics. I have one blog category designated Hymns and Spiritual Songs with about 60 entries. Here are just a few:
O teach me what it meaneth,
That cross uplifted high,
With One, the Man of Sorrows,
Condemned to bleed and die!
O teach me what it cost Thee
To make a sinner whole;
And teach me, Savior, teach me
The value of a soul!
Jesus, I am resting, resting,
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee,
And Thy beauty fills my soul,
For by Thy transforming power,
Thou hast made me whole.
Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,
I behold Thee as Thou art,
And Thy love, so pure, so changeless,
Satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings,
Meets, supplies its every need,
Compasseth me round with blessings:
Thine is love indeed!
When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.
I could not do without Thee
O Savior of the lost,
Whose precious blood redeemed me
At such tremendous cost.
Thy righteousness, thy pardon
Thy precious blood, must be
My only hope and comfort,
My glory and my plea.
I could not do without Thee,
I cannot stand alone,
I have no strength or goodness,
No wisdom of my own;
But Thou, beloved Savior,
Art all in all to me,
And weakness will be power
If leaning hard on Thee.
I could go on and on..and on. But I’ll stop there.
“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.
I mentioned a few weeks back that George and Gerry Stouffer were at our church’s missions conference, and for a couple of the meetings some of their sons came to sing with them. I was so blessed by the music — wonderfully done, beautiful harmonies, but most of all a heart of service and blessing underneath it all. I bought their CDs and have been thoroughly enjoying them.
This particular song has been speaking to my heart in a special way. I think I have heard it before. It’s based on Luke 5:1-11. I don’t think I would ever have made that application from the passage — that if you obey the Lord’s sending you out into the “deep waters” of life, He’ll bless you in ways you never expected, but that certainly is true.
Their fishing nets were empty when they first saw the Lord.
All night they had been fishing in the waters by the shore.
The Lord said “Go to deep waters, cast your nets once more.”
And because they obeyed, they would never be the same.
Go to deep waters, deep waters, where only faith will let you go.
Go out to deep waters, deep waters, harvests of faith will overflow.
They cast their nets and almost before they could begin
Their nets were overflowing and they had to pull them in.
And though this was their greatest catch their fishing days would end.
For they abandoned all when they heard the master’s call.
Go to deep waters, deep waters, where only faith will let you go.
Go out to deep waters, deep waters, harvests of faith will overflow.
Go.
~ Pepper Choplin
You can hear a 90-second clip of it here. (Updated 9/3/18: Some of the links I had here were no longer active, so I deleted them. I did find a different group, Project 10 Men, singing it on YouTube here).
(Source of painting unknown. I saw it in two places with no comment as to it’s name or the name of the painter. If you know either, please let me know.)
Jim set this up with the tripod and timer. In the first one, the camera missed him. In the second one, I’m blocking Jeremy. We should photoshop them together!
One of the many benefits of blogging I’ve reaped is a renewed interest in homemaking. I’ve wanted to be a stay-at-home-mom all my married life, and I am thankful the Lord has enabled that since my first pregnancy. But sometimes, especially when the kids were small, it was almost more than I could do just to keep up, much less get creative. Now that they’re older and a little more independent, I feel I am branching out creatively again, and I am so enjoying it. All that to say I just loved using little fall cookie cutters I found last year to embellish the pie with.
Sometimes I think, living with all males, that little touches don’t matter and won’t even be noticed, but everyone commented on both this and the table set a little more nicely than usual. I’ve started using tablecloths on holidays, and it’s funny (but good!) that they notice and think it’s special.
Playing Scrabble, Grandma’s favorite.
All in all a good day. We dozed a little in the afternoon and watched Kung Fu Panda in the evening with our leftovers.
The 12 lb. turkey ended up being just right: enough leftovers for everyone to have sandwiches or to heat up some turkey with leftover stuffing and mashed potatoes a time or two, and we had Turkey Bone Soup with the last of it tonight.
We were going to get our Christmas tree Saturday, but it rained off and on all day. We figured it would be too wet and muddy (the place we always go is out in a field), especially for Grandma, and then the tree would be too wet to decorate. I’m hoping Jason and his girlfriend don’t have to work too far into the afternoon next Saturday so we can get it then.
I’m enjoying the time off, lazing around mostly between dishes and laundry. The next couple of weeks are going to be really busy, so I am kind of soaking up the relaxation now. I did get a bit of preliminary work done this afternoon when we decided not to get the tree, so that helps a little.
This song by Rebecca J. Weston has been on my heart today:
Father, we thank Thee for the night,
And for the pleasant morning light;
For rest and food and loving care,
And all that makes the world so fair.
Help us to do the things we should,
To be to others kind and good;
In all we do, in work or play,
To love Thee better day by day.
Thanks to God for my Redeemer,
Thanks for all Thou dost provide!
Thanks for times now but a memory,
Thanks for Jesus by my side!
Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime,
Thanks for dark and stormy fall!
Thanks for tears by now forgotten,
Thanks for peace within my soul!
Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered,
Thanks for what Thou dost deny!
Thanks for storms that I have weathered,
Thanks for all Thou dost supply!
Thanks for pain, and thanks for pleasure,
Thanks for comfort in despair!
Thanks for grace that none can measure,
Thanks for love beyond compare!
Thanks for roses by the wayside,
Thanks for thorns their stems contain!
Thanks for home and thanks for fireside,
Thanks for hope, that sweet refrain!
Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow,
Thanks for heav’nly peace with Thee!
Thanks for hope in the tomorrow,
Thanks through all eternity!
Stray Thoughts 