****GOD OF OUR FATHERS

For seven years, I tried to make sure that the songs we sang in our church were doctrinally sound, God-centered, and appropriate in the context of my pastor’s sermons. So, I avoided using songs for special secular holidays, because most of them were inappropriate for Christian worship services.

It is easy to become distracted and focus attention on someone else or something other than God, especially around national holidays. I have seen churches waste far too much of their time with patriotic music and productions designed to rally allegiance to our country. 

On one Memorial Day Sunday, I selected this hymn because it is a reverential prayer that focuses on God.

The first stanza is not about the greatness of our forefathers or even our nation; Our Lord is the subject, and it is about His power, majesty, and greatness as He has revealed Himself in creation. He is worthy of our praise!

The second stanza reminds us that our freedoms and blessings have come by His leading and guiding. The greatness of our nation is a result of godly men who established it on God’s Word and His Laws. He is worthy of our obedience!

The third stanza refers to our conflicts, sacrifices, and wars. Our nation is not great because of our military power. It is great because our God is a mighty warrior with a strong arm. Nations rise, and nations fall, but it is God who raises them up and He takes them down. He is worthy of our loyal allegiance.

The Lord commands us, "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you."  (Ex. 20:2

And I think it is appropriate to honor our Christian forefathers who struggled, sacrificed, and even died to protect the blessings and freedoms that God has provided. 

And the way to honor them is to love the God they loved. To Honor His law the way they did. To struggle against those who would defy Him. To stand firm on His Word and teach it to our children.

America cannot remain free without the God of the Bible. Alexis de Tocqueville, wrote, “I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and ample rivers, and it was not there; in the fertile fields, and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness, did I understand the secret of her genius and power.  America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”

I would summarize it like this; America is great because she serves a great God, and if America ever ceases to serve Him, America will cease to be great.

The fourth stanza reminds us that we still need God’s mercy and grace in our time. Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”  

And Psalm 33:12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”  

Our nation has enjoyed much prosperity and freedom because our forefathers honored the Lord. But He will not continue to bless a nation that disobeys and dishonors Him. He is Worthy of our love and trust!    

 

****GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH

William Williams intended to become a doctor until he heard the gospel.  When God saved him, he dedicated his life to Christian ministry.

 He became a deacon in the Church of England in the early 1700s.  But because he was committed to the doctrines of early Calvinistic Methodism, the church refused his ordination. 

So, encouraged by George Whitfield, he devoted himself to traveling throughout Wales, as an itinerant evangelist, preaching the gospel and establishing local fellowships of Methodists.  

Williams, who was known as the "Sweet Singer of Wales," wrote nearly 900 hymns. He wrote his first hymn, "GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH" in 1745.  It has been translated into seventy-five languages.  It is so loved in Wales that it is considered an unofficial national anthem.

The name, ‘Jehovah’ is an attempted English transliteration of the Hebrew name that God revealed to Moses.  That name is now more accurately transliterated as ‘Yahweh.’  Today, some modern hymnals use the title “Redeemer” instead, and I think it is probably fitting for the context. 

In Exodus 15, Moses and the Israelites sang; “You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation.”

The imagery in this hymn is based on the accounts in Exodus where God redeemed His people from slavery and then guided and provided for them all throughout their wandering years.

After leaving Egypt, the Israelites wandered as “pilgrims through this strange, barren land.”

The fact that millions of people could remain lost for 40 years is a miracle.  The Sinai Peninsula between Egypt and the promised land of Canaan is roughly the size of W. Virginia.

As a Cub Scout, at the age of eight, I knew that the sun rose in the east and set in the west and I could locate the North Star in the night sky.  So, by fixing their eyes on the Sun and setting a straight course, they should have been able to cross that wilderness in less than a month.   But that was not God’s plan.

The first stanza speaks of “Bread from heaven.”  During their wandering, God fed them with ‘manna’, which fell from heaven each day.  (I am convinced that the manna was pizza.  you can read about that HERE.)

In the second stanza, the hymn refers to the “crystal fountain, whence the healing stream doth flow” reminding us that God provided life-giving water from the Rock, which is a type of Christ.  And He led His people with a pillar of “fire” by night and a “cloud” by day.

Stanza three speaks of the “verge of Jordan,” the river that Israel had to cross to enter Canaan which was associated with death and destruction.  But God was their protector and “Strong Deliverer.”  Ultimately, the Promised Land was in view.

In the same way that God guided and protected His people then, Christ will bring us through this world and lead us safely to His new creation.  He is our Redeemer, our Provider, our Guide, our Protector, and our Deliverer so we can sing with assurance, “Songs of Praises, Songs of Praises I will ever give to Thee.”  

****JESUS IS ALL THE WORLD TO ME

Money is not inherently bad, and God certainly blesses some with wealth. But the Proverb warns us that the LOVE of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

And Mark tells us, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”  (Mark 10:25)

One day while Jesus was speaking to a crowd, He warned them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

Then He told the story: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.  And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’  So, he said, ‘I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 

But God said to him, ‘You fool!  This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ (Luke 12:13-21)

That was a parable, but a similar situation occurred in real life.

“As (Jesus) was (walking), (a man) came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?’

Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honour your father and your mother.’

He answered and said, ‘Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.’

Then Jesus, said to him, “One thing you lack: Go (and) sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”

But (the man) was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions” (Mk. 10:17-22).

William Thompson was also a man of great success and wealth.  He was born in 1847 and he first began writing music at the age of 16.  When a publisher offered to purchase some of his songs for about $6.00 each, he rejected the offer and started his own music company.  He sold millions of copies of his popular secular songs.  He became so wealthy that people referred to him as the “Millionaire Songwriter.”

But one day he met the evangelist, D. L. Moody, whom God used to turn his heart and change his life.  Dr. Moody challenged him and said; “William, your songs are good, but why not write some songs that will bless people’s hearts and lives and bring them to Christ?”

That’s when William realized that his business and success overshadowed his devotion to his God.  That’s the day he committed his work to his Savior and he began to write hymns to the glory of God.  And, about that day, William said, “From that day on I have written ONLY SACRED SONGS, and it’s a decision I have never regretted.”  

Some of his acquaintances believed that William Thompson wrote this song, JESUS IS ALL THE WORLD TO ME, as a personal testimony to his love for his Savior. 

****TAKE THE WORLD BUT GIVE ME JESUS

She was a popular, in demand, speaker, with a great sense of humor. 

She was a concert singer, and an accomplished organist and harpist. 

She was the first woman ever, to speak before the Senate, and she was a personal friend to several presidents.

She spent several days a week in Christian mission work in New York’s Bowery district.

Yet, in spite of all the notoriety, Fanny Crosby lived a very difficult life in a New York City tenement building. 

When she was six weeks old, she was completely blinded for life, by a quack doctor.  Her father died when she was a toddler and her mother was left to find meager work as a maid, to provide for their basic needs.  So, she was raised by her grandmother.

Although she didn’t start writing until she was in her mid-40s, she wrote nearly 9000 hymns; approximately one every other day until she died at age 95.

One day when Fanny Crosby was talking to one of her neighbors, he began complaining about his poverty.  “If I had wealth I would be able to do just what I wish to do, and I would be able to make an (impact) in the world.”

(Take a moment to think about that.  That would be like complaining about the inconvenience of a hangnail to a quadruple amputee.)  It probably wasn’t a good idea for him to whine like that to Fanny Crosby.  She replied, “Well, YOU can TAKE THE WORLD, BUT GIVE ME JESUS.” 

That conversation inspired her and, within a few hours, she had written the song. 

Every stanza starts with that same phrase.  It reminds us of Paul’s words, “…I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” (Phil. 3:8)

In the last verse, she employed a signature theme that appears in many of her hymns, “… in His cross my trust shall be, till with clearer, brighter vision, face to face my Lord I see!”

Fanny once told her mother, "if I had a choice, I would choose to remain blind ... for when I die; the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my blessed Saviour."

****JESUS CALLS US

Miss Cecil Humphreys was just 21 years old when she published her first book entitled "Verses for Holy Seasons." It was a children’s book that contained a hymn or poem for each Sunday of the year.

In her Sunday School classes, her students were often confused about the meaning of some of the statements in the Apostle’s Creed. So, she began to write easy-to-memorize verses in the children’s terminology. Many of those verses were developed into hymns, some of which are familiar to us.

For example, the first phrase of the Apostle’s Creed is, "I believe in God the Father Almighty." The song she wrote to explain that phrase was, All Things Bright and Beautiful. For "Born of the Virgin Mary" she wrote, Once in Royal David's City. And to explain the meaning of the death of Jesus who was crucified and buried, she wrote, There is a Green Hill far Away.

In 1848, she married the Rev. Mr. William Alexander and in that same year, she published her second book titled, "Hymns for Little Children," which included the songs that were inspired by the Creed. 

In total, she wrote over four hundred hymns and poems but, of all her works, JESUS CALLS US is the most often sung and best-loved.  

It has been said that prayer is like having a direct telephone line to God.  We can call Him anytime.  But have you ever thought about the fact that the phone line goes in two directions? Do you realize that JESUS CALLS US? 

In our prayers, we tend to call out to God as if we think He should serve us or that He should do what we ask of Him. We expect Him to fix our messed-up situations, patch up our bad relationships, bail us out of financial difficulties, or heal our diseases. And sometimes maybe that is His will, but usually, that’s not the case. Our place is not to make demands or impose our wills on Him but rather to yield to His will for us.

JESUS CALLS US to serve Him regardless of our circumstances.  Paul’s words, in his letter to the Church at Philippi, are helpful.  “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:11-13)

I think our best example, though, is Christ, Himself, when He was tempted in the wilderness. He was weak, hungry, lonely, and despised. Satan tempted Him with great promises of wealth, political power, and physical comfort.

Yet Jesus didn’t grasp for those things. He loved and trusted His Father more than His own life. And just as He had instructed His disciples when He taught them to pray, “Thy will be done,” He obediently did what He was sent to do. It was His Father’s will that He should suffer and die for our sins.

And that’s the way God works in our lives too; He doesn’t normally just make us comfortable or give us lots of stuff. He molds us in the presses and tests us in the fires because He wants to make us Holy.

The hymn starts with a note of encouragement; when our lives are full of hardship and turmoil, JESUS CALLS US, not to remove our difficulties but to follow Him in and through them.

Our God is a jealous god and He wants first place. If people or hobbies or wealth or other vain idols dominate or control our lives, JESUS CALLS US to “dump the junk” and love Him more.

Whether we are happy or sad, whether life is easy or tough, whatever conditions or circumstances we are in, JESUS CALLS US to love Him more than anyone or anything else.

The final verse begins with a subtle reminder; the very fact that JESUS CALLS US is evidence of His love and mercy toward us. The hymn concludes with a prayer, that, by His Spirit, we may hear Him, and that He would soften our hearts to serve Him and love Him best of all.