****SO SEND I YOU

Most of you are familiar with the missionary hymn, SO SEND I YOU.   But what you may not know is that the author wrote two different versions. 

(But first, I want to announce that you may obtain your own FREE copies of our hymnbook, from the table at the side entrance of our auditorium.)   

Now, for "The Rest of the Story." -

Margaret Clarkson always hoped that God would call her to serve on the mission field.  In her younger days, she spent seven years working in a mining camp in northern Ontario, Canada.  She was alone with no church or Christian friends.  

One day, while reading her bible, she read John 20:21, "Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so, send I you."

She believed that God must have wanted her in that place for a purpose.  And that’s when she began to write a poem that expresses the miseries and hardships of a missionary’s life.

The poem describes a calling that is unappreciated, underpaid, unloved, rebuked, scorned, scoffed, and burdensome; a life of suffering and loneliness.  She had sacrificed all her personal desires and ambitions to show God's love to hard-hearted people who reviled and hated her.

And that is the background for, and the subject of the hymn that has been called the finest missionary hymn of the 20th century.

Except for ..."The Rest of the Story!"

According to Margaret Clarkson, “...twenty-some years later, after more life-experience and contact with real missionaries, I realized that the poem was really very one-sided; it told only of the sorrows and privations of the missionary call and none of its triumphs. [So,] I wrote another song, in the same rhythm, that sets forth the glory and the hope of the missionary calling.  Above all, I wish to be a biblical writer, and the second hymn is the more biblical one.”

Her first hymn wasn't wrong; it was just self-centered.  It emphasized the failures and frustrations of someone who was striving to do God's work in her own strength.  

Unfortunately, the original hymn was already widely known and accepted before Margaret wrote the revised text that she much preferred.  Both versions are published, side by side, in our hymnbook on pages 310 and 311.  If you were to compare them, you would see how 20 years of serving God had changed her heart.  Now, with self out of the way, she was seeing God's work from a whole new perspective.

   

SO SEND I YOU (with its new subtitle, By Grace Made Strong), declares the great grace of a mighty God who is our strength, our peace, our comfort, and our joy.  He never promised an easy, comfortable life but He does promise that He is with us and will lead us through all our trials and tribulations.  And He uses weak and imperfect people to accomplish His work by His power and for His manifest glory. 

And with my apologies to Paul Harvey, 

now you know "The Rest of the Story."

****MY HEAVENLY FATHER WATCHES OVER ME

This is an abbreviated account of the full story that first appeared in Homer Rodeheaver’s book, Song Stories of the Sawdust Trail, published in 1917.

Bobbie Steele was the only child in a non-Christian family.  He never heard anything about God except when his mother needed a disciplinary threat.  She would tell him that if he wasn’t good, God would punish him.

(At this point, I want to be clear.  Whenever parents make those kinds of threats, they are teaching their children a heresy that says God saves good people and He punishes bad people.  The truth is, we are all sinners by birth, by actions, and by choice, and we all deserve His eternal punishment.  But the Good News is, ”God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8)

    

Bobbie loved his father. They worked together and they played together.  Whenever Bobbie was upset, his dad would comfort him by holding his big gold pocket watch up to his ear so he could hear the soothing sound of the ticking.

But all that ended abruptly, at an early age.  His father suffered a fatal injury at work and, as he was dying, he asked Bobbie, “You like my watch, don’t you, son?”

Bobbie answered, “You bet I do, Dad!”

Then his father gave the watch to him, laid his head back, and died.

Bob’s mother remarried an abusive man who mistreated him and took the watch for himself.   His mother was no help; she always sided with her husband and this time was no different; she let her husband have the watch.  That was when Bob grabbed it from him and ran away from home. 

He was able to find some work in the shipyards in Cleveland.  When a co-worker falsely accused him of theft, Bob whacked him on the head with a shovel.  Even though the man wasn’t seriously injured, Bob was sentenced to three years in prison for assault and battery.

After his release, he joined a gang of armed robbers and he began drinking.  He hooked up with a partner and they operated an illegal whiskey still.  When their operation was raided by revenue agents, his partner was shot dead, but Bob escaped.

During those years, he married a girl who knew nothing about his illegal activities.  When she gave birth to a daughter, Bob tried to stop drinking but it wasn’t long before he started again and this time the drinking was worse. He pawned his father’s gold watch to buy more liquor.  

Fed up with his drunkenness, his wife took their daughter and left him.

Bob was a no-good derelict.  He was hungry, sick, and without hope.   On one cold rainy night, he was huddled in a doorway and was thinking about committing suicide when he saw a large crowd gathering for a meeting down the street.  He thought if he could get inside, he could warm up a little. 

What Bob didn’t know is that he had stumbled into a gospel meeting.

Even though he was a little fuzzy-headed from his whiskey, he heard the Gospel preached by Billy Sunday, and he heard the crowd singing a song by William Martin. 

God saved Robert Steele that night.  And, like David, he could say, “The Lord…brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.” (Ps. 40:2).

A few days later Bob went to see his wife and told her all that had happened.  She tearfully welcomed him back into her arms and her life.  And with his family restored, they invited his widowed mother to live with them.

When his daughter began taking piano lessons, the first real song she learned to play was the one her father had heard the night he was saved; MY HEAVENLY FATHER WATCHES OVER ME.

****ROCK OF AGES

Psalm 73 is a plea to God for protection. In it, David uses the metaphor of a rock to describe God’s ability to protect him from the evil deeds of his enemies.

  

Be my STRONG REFUGE, For You are my ROCK and my FORTRESS.  Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.  Let my enemies, who seek to harm me, be confounded and consumed.  

The metaphor is applied to God several other places in scripture.  It speaks of His strength and ability to rescue, protect and keep His people.  In Psalm 18:2, the Psalmist says, “The Lord is my ROCK and my FORTRESS and my deliverer; My God, my STRENGTH, in whom I will trust; My SHIELD and the horn of my salvation, my STRONGHOLD.” 

And Isaiah says, “the LORD God is an everlasting ROCK” (Isa 26:4).

So, God is pictured as a strong stone fort where we are safe from harm. We need the Lord’s protection from both human and demonic enemies.  

But more than that, we should never forget that we come into this world as sinners and enemies of God.  We need Him to protect us from Himself. And the only way to escape the wrath of His righteous justice is to find shelter in the Only One who can save us, the Rock of our Salvation; Jesus Christ alone. 

That is the metaphor Augustus Toplady used in his hymn, ROCK OF AGES.   In the first line, he personifies this cleft Rock; it is Jesus Christ.  

The word “cleft” is a noun that means a split or opening made by striking or cutting.  The allusion reminds us of the day when Moses asked the LORD to show him His glory.   But God said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”   “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the ROCK.  So, it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in THE CLEFT OF THE ROCK, and (I) will cover you with My hand while I pass by.   Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”  (Ex 33:20-23). 

Did you see that?  Salvation is a work of the Lord.  It was God who put Moses in the Rock.  

And how is it that this Rock, Christ Jesus, is a cleft rock?   

We are reminded of how, after God saved His people and miraculously led them out of bondage, destroyed their enemies, and provided everything they needed in the wilderness, the people began whining and complaining that they were going to die of thirst.  So, the Lord told Moses to strike the ROCK with his staff and the water flowed out from the cleft of the ROCK.

That was a picture of the work of Christ at Calvary where Jesus, our Rock of salvation, was “smitten, stricken, and afflicted” by the LORD, “pierced for our transgressions… crushed for our iniquities” (Isa 53:4-5).

And from His side flowed His “precious blood” that cleanses our sins  (1 Pet 1:19), mixed with water “welling up into eternal life” (Jn 4:13-14).

Toplady’s hymn, ROCK OF AGES, is the prayer of a desperate man. In the second half of the first stanza, he continues his pleading with God, to wash him with the water and blood that flowed from Jesus’ side because, "without the shedding of blood, there is no remission for sin." 

And then he goes on to admit that he is completely helpless; If God doesn’t save him, he will die. He has nothing of value or virtue; no goodness, and no merit.  All he can do is beg for God’s mercy and trust in His grace.   

Another commentary on this hymn can be seen HERE.   

****TRUST AND OBEY

In my commentary last week, about the hymn, TRUSTING JESUS, I pointed out the necessity of trusting completely in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation.  There is nothing we can do to earn or merit God’s grace.   Jesus paid it all.  Ours is to repent and believe.

Throughout Church history, there have been many who have distorted that Doctrine of salvation by Grace Alone, in ways that are destructive and heretical.  The official word for the heresy is antinomianism which is literally translated, “against law.”  That is the teaching that says, “We are now in an age of grace and are no longer under the law.”

You might recognize some other names for the heresy such as ”Easy Believism,” or  “Free Grace.”  It’s the practice of encouraging people to repeat a simple, anemic, unrepentant prayer to ask Jesus into their lives and then convince them that they are saved and safe and eternally secure when there has been no real new birth.   

It is offensive to the Gospel and destructive to people when we allow them to believe that they can be positionally right with God while continuing in their sins without consequence; that Jesus paid the penalty for all their sins without telling them that God expects them to stop sinning.

I’m sure you have heard many variations of that, especially today, when so many churches, in the name of political correctness or tolerance, are welcoming and celebrating all kinds of gross unrepentant immorality into their memberships because, “after all, that’s the way God created them and who are we to judge?”

One man, I know, after leaving his wife and shacking up with another woman, said to me, “I don’t care, I accepted Jesus into my heart when I prayed that prayer and I know I’m going to heaven anyway so it doesn’t matter what I do.”

So I need to make a statement, here, which may seem like a paradox.   "While it is true that no one will ever get to heaven by their good works, it is also true that no one will get to heaven without them."

One night at a D. L. Moody evangelistic meeting a young man stood up to testify about the uncertainty of his salvation.  He said, “I am not quite sure, but I’m going to trust, and I’m going to obey.”

That statement was the inspiration for the hymn, TRUST AND OBEY.  It emphasizes two aspects of our salvation—first, our faith and then, our willingness to subject ourselves to God’s Word in obedience. 

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  Eph 2:10

That’s what we were redeemed for; to walk in good works.   Salvation is just the beginning.  When God saves us, He begins the process of cleansing us and making us fit to live with Him forever.  With the Word of God and the indwelling Spirit of God to convict us, we begin to see ourselves as God sees us.  If our sins don’t bother us; if we are not changed, and if we are not turned from our old ways to walk in obedience to Him, then there is a good reason to question the reality of our salvation.

“TRUST AND OBEY, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, But to TRUST AND OBEY.”

****AMAZING GRACE

John’s mother was a godly woman who took him to church every Sunday.  She taught him to read and memorize Scripture and hymns.  She prayed that God would use him in Christian ministry.  But when he was seven years old, she died and John was left with his stepmother who allowed him to run free and do whatever he wanted.  He got himself into a lot of trouble.

At the age of eleven, his worldly sea-captain father took him into the slave trading business where he worked as a seaman.  The sailor’s life was not a friendly wholesome environment for a young boy and John became vile and wretched; he had a reputation for his profanity and debauchery.  He was a really, really, bad dude.  

Not only did he grow to reject his mother's Christian faith, he actually led other sailors into unbelief.  Most people thought he was beyond hope and beyond saving.

He was 24 years old when his ship had become severely battered in a fierce storm that had raged on for nearly two weeks.  The canvas sails were thrashed to shreds and the wood planks on one side of the ship had been splintered and torn open.  The ship was taking on water.  They had little hope of survival, but they continued, night and day, working the mechanical pumps, trying to keep it afloat. After eleven days, John was too exhausted to pump so, he was tied to the helm and tried to hold the ship on its course.

That was when he remembered his mother’s teachings and his thoughts began to turn to Christ.  He realized that his life seemed as ruined and wrecked as the battered ship he was trying to steer through the storm.  A little later, he found a Bible and opened it to Proverbs 1:24-31 and, in that storm, he saw his own desperate condition reflected on the pages as if God had written these words just for him: 

“I tried to help, but you refused to listen. I offered my hand, but you turned away from me.  You ignored my advice and refused to be corrected.  So, I will laugh at your troubles and make fun of you when what you fear happens.  Disasters will strike you like a storm.  Problems will pound you like a strong wind.  Trouble and misery will weigh you down.

“Fools will call for me, but I will not answer. They will look for me, but they will not find me.  That is because they hated knowledge. They refused to fear and respect the LORD.  They ignored my advice and refused to be corrected.  They filled their lives with what they wanted. They went their own way so they will get what they deserve.”

That was a day John would never forget.  Almost 60 years later, he would write in his diary, "…I endeavor to observe the return of this day with humiliation, prayer, and praise.  On that day, the Lord sent from on high and delivered me out of deep waters."

He began a disciplined schedule of Bible study, prayer, and reading the works of other theologians.  At the age of 39, John began serving God in the pastoral ministry and he preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ for 43 years.  He wrote and published hundreds of hymns, of which the most famous is "AMAZING GRACE."

John Newton was known as “The Great Blasphemer,” a nickname he had given himself because he knew what he once was; a rude, profane, slave-trading enemy of God.  And he knew that it was only by God’s AMAZING GRACE that he was saved from that storm and saved from God’s wrath.  John Newton never stopped being amazed by God's grace.  At the end of his life, he told his friends, "My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things: That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior."

****ALAS! AND DID MY SAVIOR BLEED? (2)

“You can’t be saved if you don’t know you’re lost.”  We don’t hear that axiom much, anymore, because, in our modern culture, we practice too much self-worship and self-esteem. We tend to minimize our own sinful natures. We use non-offensive terms like “missing the mark,” “shortcomings,” or “mistakes.”

We do that with our children too. We avoid telling them about their sin or calling them out for their rebelliousness. We use phrases like “acting out” to describe their bad behavior. Instead of disciplining them or allowing them to suffer consequences for their willful disobedience, we give them “time out” and send them to their rooms to play with their video games. 

We are inclined to make excuses for our sins like, “I’m just human,” or “That’s the way God made me,” or, “I’m a good person, I’m not nearly as bad as a lot of other people.” But God doesn’t compare people on a sliding scale.

The Gospel is Good News but before we can begin to appreciate the goodness of God’s grace, we need to know how grievous our sins are.  We must first understand the Bad News of the Gospel. 

In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul, the apostle, quoting from the Psalms and Isaiah, made a startling, assessment of all men everywhere. “They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none who does good.  They are dead.  They are as unclean things and their good works are like filthy rags.”  “There is no faithfulness in their mouths; in their body is destruction; their throat is an open tomb. Their mouths are full of cursing and deceit and oppression; under their tongue is trouble and iniquity” (Is. 64 and Rom. 3).

That’s really Bad News.  It’s a blanket indictment against all people. There are NO EXCEPTIONS!  

Humility was a major theme in my former pastor’s sermons for a few weeks and I think this song, ALAS! AND DID MY SAVIOR BLEED? is a truly, humbling hymn. In the first stanza, Isaac Watts used an image that has been rejected by a generation that thinks too highly of itself. The phrase, “for such a worm as I,” has been replaced, in most modern hymnals, with “for sinners such and I” or “for such a one as I.” Those alterations are unfortunate because they minimize the horrible depth of our sin natures. But his allusion to a worm is scriptural and is an important setup to the hymn’s contrast between man’s sin and God’s grace.

  

Bildad asked Job, “How can a man be righteous before God?  If even the moon does not shine, and the stars are not pure in God’s sight, how much less is man, who is a maggot, and a son of man, who is a worm?”

Abraham referred to himself as mere "… dust and ashes." (Gen. 18:27).  And Isaiah said, "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6)

David wrote, “I am a worm and not a man.” (Psalm 22:6).  That was a prophetic statement about the Son of God who would humble Himself to become the One who would be despised and scorned by men, and even forsaken by His Father when He was hung, in our stead, on the cross.

So, the allusion is both fitting and humbling. Isaac Watts laid out the Gospel in a way that leaves us no room to gloat with pride or self-esteem. Instead, we are humbled and struck with great grief when we realize our wretched, helpless condition. That’s the meaning of the word, “Alas.”  There is no place to turn; there is no hope in our own goodness or worth. 

In the second stanza, Watts asks a disturbing, rhetorical question, "Was it for crimes that I had done, He suffered on the tree?”  And the only answer is YES!  We can’t just blend in or hide, unnoticed, with the masses of humanity; this is personal. This is where our humility suddenly turns to grief and shame as we face the awful truth; Alas!  My sin caused His pain; I am responsible for His suffering and death. 

It’s at that point, we can begin to appreciate and understand the magnitude of the GOOD NEWS.  The Lord laid my sin on Jesus who willingly took my punishment on the cross. The second verse ends with an expression of humble praise to God for His amazing mercy, grace, and love.

ALAS! AND DID MY SAVIOR BLEED?

Alas! and did my Savior bleed,

and did my Sovereign die;

Would He devote that sacred head,

for such a worm as I?

Was it for crimes that I have done,

He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity! Grace unknown!

And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide,

and shut its glories in,

when God, the mighty maker, died,

for His own creature's sin.

Thus, might I hide my blushing face

while His dear cross appears;

dissolve my heart in thankfulness,

and melt mine eyes to tears.

But drops of tears can ne'er repay

the debt of love I owe.

Here, Lord, I give myself away;

'tis all that I can do.

****HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION (2)

If you were to Google Search for lists of the greatest Hymns of the Christian faith, HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION, would be on almost all of them.  The title of this song is also its theme- We have a Rock Solid Faith that is built on a Firm Foundation which is God’s Word.  

Some other hymns with similar themes, come to mind like Christ Is Made The Sure Foundation, or how about, “On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand; all other ground is sinking sand.”  

This is the kind of stuff that builds confidence.  Authentic Biblical Faith isn’t fuzzy; it’s not iffy; it’s not uncertain.   When someone asks, “Are you sure you’re going to be with the Lord when you die?” we don’t have to offer meek, squishy-sounding, answers like, “I think so," or "I hope so.”   We can respond with absolute assurance, “I Know That My Redeemer Lives, and because He lives, I too shall live.”   Those of us whom God has redeemed can rest assured that our salvation is solid and unshakeable. 

Some people would say (and there are whole denominations that say), that kind of attitude is proud, or arrogant, or boastful; that we can’t possibly know for sure.  And they would be right if our confidence was in ourselves.  

But our confidence is not in anything we do; it’s not in our self-righteousness, our works, or our religious devices.  In fact, this might come as a surprise to you, –-  If you’re saved, it’s not because your walked down an aisle or repeated a prayer.   Salvation is of the Lord. You are saved if you are trusting, totally, in the finished work of Jesus Christ alone.   

Every line, of these lyrics, has a sense of power and authority as though God, Himself, is actually speaking.  And that's because almost all of these lyrics are paraphrases of, allusions to, or quote from some text from God’s immutable Word. 

 

And so, in verse one, we see that the foundation for our faith is laid in the excellence of His unchanging Word.  The Apostle Paul tells us that we are “members of the household of God, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets;” that foundation being the very Words of God.  And then he anchors that figurative building on the Living Word, Jesus Christ, Himself, being the chief cornerstone.   What more can He say?  We don’t need any new revelation from God.  He has spoken!

The second verse, then, assures us that we have no need to fear anything.  It’s almost an exact quote from Isaiah 41:10: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

Aren’t you glad that your salvation is not dependent on your own works of righteousness?    The God who saves us is always with us.  The Spirit of God indwells us.  He helps us; He strengthens us, and He hold us up with His own all-powerful hand.

The third verse contains God’s promise that His grace is completely sufficient for every need.  Even when He takes us through extreme trials and persecutions, He does it to refine us and to purify us for our good and His glory.    

We are weak but God is Strong.  Sometimes we might wonder and question, but we can be confident that the foundation of our faith is Sure.  It cannot fail because Jesus never fails.  And God’s Word is on the record.  “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread…, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you.   He will not leave you or forsake you.”

 

So the song ends with one of the most powerful promises of assurance ever put to music;  

          The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,

                    I will not, I will not desert to its foes;

          That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

                   I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

5/29/2016

****AT CALVARY

The story behind this hymn was told by Dr. Torrey, who was the President of Moody Bible Institute in the mid-1800s.  He told how he had received a letter from a pastor with a troublesome and rebellious son.  The father hoped that attendance at Moody would help. 

Dr. Torrey advised him that, even though he sympathized with him, his responsibility was to run a Bible school and not a reform school, and so he had to deny the father’s request. 

After many letters of relentless pleading, Dr. Torrey finally gave in with the stipulations that the son must meet with him every day and must abide by the rules and requirements of the Institute.

After months of private counseling, the father’s prayers were answered.  The boy, William Newell, was saved.  He eventually became a minister and later returned to Moody Bible Institute as a teacher.

It was a fascinating story but I want to focus on the text of the hymn.  It makes an excellent presentation of the gospel of grace which he originally wrote as a chronological account of his personal testimony in the form of a poem.

Verse 1 starts with his wasted past.  Note the first phrase, “Years I spent in vanity and pride.”  He was self-absorbed, self-sufficient, arrogant, and, even though he was a preacher’s kid, he was unconcerned about God and unreceptive to the message of the Gospel.

 

And that is the sinful condition of every man.  We are all born with depraved natures, incapable of doing good and bound for judgment and the eternal wrath of a holy God.  BUT GOD sent His Son to die for our sins AT CALVARY.

In verse 2, are the words, “At last, Then, and Until.”  They follow all those “years in the author’s “past.”

  

Then there came a turning point in William’s life and it wasn’t of his own efforts or good works.  In the words of his poem, it happened when, “By God’s Word, at last, my sin I learned.” That’s when the Spirit of God opened his ears to hear, and the Word of God penetrated his heart.

It’s through the preaching of the Gospel that men are saved.  We aren’t saved simply by warm fuzzy messages about how much God loves us.  A true Gospel message must bring us to a clear understanding that the law, God’s moral standard, has been broken and we are guilty and deserve judgment.

“Then, he said, I trembled at the Law I’d spurned.” Once William Newell realized his guilt, the Spirit of God convicted him and made him aware of his need for a Savior.  And the result of that was his turning to the Only remedy; the Only way to salvation; the Cross of Jesus Christ AT CALVARY

In verse three William describes the result of his new faith in Jesus Christ.   He expressed it this way, “Now I’ve given to Jesus, everything, Now I gladly own Him as my King.”

When God saves a man, there will be evidence of a changed life that surrenders to His Lordship and a heart that is naturally filled with His praises.

  

William Newell finished his poem with a great song of praise:

“Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!

Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!

Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span AT CALVARY!”

5/8/16

****ALAS! AND DID MY SAVIOR BLEED?

Is our sin nature something to sing about?

Thirty-some years ago when my friend, Phil, got saved, he began reading through his Bible starting with Genesis.  One day while we were discussing his thoughts about his reading, he observed that – “all those guys (meaning the patriarchs) were dirty rotten lowlifes just like me.”

I thought that was pretty insightful.  It was revelatory for him; if God could save those guys, He certainly could save Phil.

People, then, were no different than we are today.  We all have the same problem.  It is our sin nature. It is universal.  We are all dirty. We are all disgusting. The reformers called it Depravity.

So for our song service in church one Sunday, I was looking for hymns that addressed that problem.  In the past, there were plenty of hymn writers who were explicit about our sinfulness and its consequences.  But songs on those themes are rare today.

Our contemporary culture, with its fixation on positive self-esteem, likes to obscure the reality of sin with more palatable terms like “missing the mark,” “shortcomings,” “failures,” or “errors.”   But sin is not an error.  An error is like when you forget to carry a digit while adding a column of numbers.

Do we really want to sing about the darkness of our sinfulness?   I know that it seems strange but, when contrasted with the sinless perfection of our Savior, our redemption, then, shines even brighter and those songs become much more meaningful.  We can never fully appreciate all that God has done to save us until we get a clear picture of what we really are without Christ.

Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed? was written by Isaac Watts.  In spite of the fact that many modern editors have changed the last line of the first verse of This hymn to “For sinners such as I” (or even worse, “for such a one as I”) Isaac Watts was purposefully deliberate in crafting the phrase, “for such a worm as I.”

And he was certainly biblical in that description.  In the book of Job, Bildad raised the question: “How then can man be righteous before God?”  “Man…is a maggot, and…a worm.” 

And in Psalm 22, David (speaking prophetically, the words of Christ) cried out to God saying, “I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.” 

In Isa. is a strange Word of encouragement from God to Israel, “Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you,’ says the LORD and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel”

Isaac Watts drew his inspiration from Psalm 51 when he wrote these words in another hymn:

         

“Lord, I am vile, conceived in sin,

                  And born unholy and unclean;

         Sprung from the man whose guilty fall

                  Corrupts the race, and taints us all.”

That is sound, biblical theology.  Apart from the intervention of God’s sovereign grace, we are utterly helpless and hopeless.  And it’s in that context that we should sing with great joy and thanksgiving, words like these from the hymn, “It Is Well” by Horatio Spafford:

    

“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!”

But it’s also in that context of God’s grace in our salvation, that we can sing, reverently and soberly:

       

 “Was it for crimes that I had done

                  He groaned upon the tree?

         Amazing pity! Grace unknown!

                  And love beyond degree!”

ALAS!  AND DID MY SAVIOR BLEED?

Alas! and did my Savior bleed?

And did my Sov'reign die?

Would He devote that sacred head

For such a worm as I?

Was it for sins that I had done

He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity! grace unknown!

And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide

And shut his glories in,

When Christ, the mighty Maker, died

For man the creature's sin.

Thus, might I hide my blushing face

While His dear cross appears,

Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,

And melt my eyes to tears.

But drops of grief can ne'er repay

The debt of love I owe:

Here, Lord, I give my-self away

Tis all that I can do.

****MY HOPE IS IN THE LORD

"Hope,” is a word we tend to use as a synonym for a wish or a desire.  But in Scripture, the word is better defined as the joyful certainty of a future reality.  It is a “know so” confidence in the faithfulness of a reliable and never-changing God and His never-changing Word.

MY HOPE IS IN THE LORD, a hymn written by Norman Clayton, gives us, in four short verses, a clear, biblical declaration of the Gospel of grace.  As a general rule, I try to avoid most Christian songs that have an abundance of, first person, personal pronouns when selecting music for our Sunday worship services.  This one is different.

It is significant to note that this song is personal; and although it is full of the personal pronouns MY, and ME, there is not one single occurrence of the word, I.  This song is really NOT about ME.  The subject of the song is my hope, who is my Lord and my Savior.  

The first verse properly affirms that MY hope rests in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He willingly gave His life on the cross to pay MY debt of sin.  And then, because He rose from the dead, MY hope is a “living hope” in a “living Savior.”

The second verse makes it very clear that the saving work of Christ is not just any hope in the modern, wishful thinking sense; it’s MY ONLY hope.  I can never be good enough to earn my salvation and there is nothing I can do to secure it.  It is ONLY by God’s grace that MY sin has been laid on Him and the righteousness of Jesus Christ is credited to my account.

The third verse describes the present, intercessory work of Christ.  He is MY great High Priest in heaven.  He is seated there at the right hand of the Father, eternally proclaiming that MY debt has been paid.

Verse four declares that all this is a work of God’s amazing grace.  He planned it all and He did it freely.  His grace in saving me renders any of my effort worthless and completely irrelevant.  It is only for me to believe and receive His unearned and unmerited favor.

1.    My hope is in the Lord

Who gave Himself for me,

And paid the price of all my sin at Calvary.

2.    No merit of my own

His anger to suppress.

My only hope is found in Jesus’ righteousness.

3.    And now, for me, He stands

Before the Father’s throne.

He shows His wounded hands and names me as His own.

4.    His grace has planned it all,

’Tis mine but to believe,

And recognize His work of love and Christ receive.

(Chorus)

For me, He died,

For me, He lives,

And everlasting life and light He freely gives.