****LOVE LIFTED ME

The hymn, LOVE LIFTED ME was written and published in 1912. James Rowe wrote the lyrics and his friend, Howard Smith composed the melody.

Rowe’s daughter recalled how they had worked together.  “I can see them now, my father striding back and forth humming a bar or two, and Howard playing it and then jotting it down.  The two huddled together, working line by line, bar by bar.  Howard’s hands were severely twisted with arthritis, yet he still managed to play the piano.”

The hymn is based on two biblical accounts. The first is in Matt. 8.  While Jesus was asleep in the boat, His disciples were terrified by a fierce storm.  They woke Him and appealed to Him for help.  Jesus rebuked the wind and raging sea and, at His command, everything was calm.

The second account is in Matt.14.  The disciples were out on the sea when they saw Jesus was walking toward them on the water.  When He came near, He commanded Peter to join Him.  Peter got out and walked toward Jesus but when he looked down at the water, he became frightened and began to sink.  He cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and lifted him out of the water and asked, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

 

When they got into the boat, the wind suddenly stopped. And all those who were in the boat worshipped Him, saying, “Surely, You are the Son of God!”

There is a simple Gospel message in this hymn.

The first verse describes our redemption.  In our natural condition, as lost sinners, we were in imminent danger and in need of a Savior to rescue us.

Verse two describes our new life.  Only in Christ can we live, serve, and praise, Him.

The third verse is evangelistic.  It is a warning to others and a plea for them to look up and trust Jesus Christ, the only One who can save them.

The refrain declares our testimony; "When nothing else could help, LOVE LIFTED ME."

**********************
Some are critical of this hymn only because the upbeat tempo seems unfit for the seriousness of the lyrics.  I really like this slower, more worshipful rendition by the Gaithers.

****COME THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING

 

Robert was a small boy in mid-18th century England when his father died and so, without the guidance of a male parent in the home, he wandered into the corrupt influence of bad companions.

On one occasion, he and his wild, rowdy gang harassed a gypsy woman. Thy poured liquor into her and demanded that she tell their fortunes for free.

The drunken gypsy pointed directly at Robert and told him that he would live to see his grandchildren. He was startled by that and he thought, “If I am going to have children and grandchildren, I’ll have to change my way of living.”

That incident softened his heart and he wanted to go to church. His companions went with him to heckle the Methodist congregation. But the pastor, George Whitefield was not deterred; he boldly preached a convicting sermon from the text: “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matt 3:1)

Robert left that evening, fearful and with a deep sense of personal sin that haunted him for three years

.

At the age of 21, he made his peace with God, he trusted Christ for salvation, and he began preparations to become a Methodist preacher. Two years later, in 1757, Robert Robinson wrote the hymn that many believe was autobiographical and prophetic. It certainly seems to reflect his life.

In the last stanza he wrote: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.”

That phrase caused some to question his salvation. After all, he left the Methodists to become a Baptist and then, later, he developed a very close relationship with a Unitarian preacher. Some say he converted.

However, in a sermon he preached later, Robinson clearly declared that Jesus is God, and that, "Christ in Himself is a person infinitely lovely as both God and man."

That certainly doesn’t sound like errant Unitarian theology.

But then there is an unverified story about an incident in Robert’s old age. While traveling in a stagecoach, a young female passenger began singing, COME THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING. After a while, she asked him what he thought of her song.

The legend says that he looked at the young lady and, with tears in his eyes, said, "Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then."

To which the young woman gently replied, “Sir, the ‘streams of mercy’ are still flowing.”

The story indicates that Robert was deeply touched by the message of his own hymn and His fellowship with the Lord was restored because of the willing witness of a strange Christian.

During his life, he pastored several churches, wrote numerous works on theology, and composed several hymns.

Did Robert Robinson really drift away from the God he loved? I don't know, Maybe, We all experience those times of doubt and are prone to wander. But the second part of that phrase, as well as most of the hymn, is a proclamation of our assurance. Christ has redeemed us with His precious blood and those whom God saves, He seals, and He keeps.

****ABIDE WITH ME

This past week we have seen another tragic mass shooting resulting in 17 deaths at a Florida high school and, again, we are reminded of the grief and utter helplessness that grips us when we suffer the loss of loved ones.

But death is inevitable, and it visits every family.  And, when it does, we all want to support and encourage those who are sorrowing. 

In times of chaos, tragedy, or great loss, our worlds are turned upside down it is comforting to know that Our God never changes; He is always with us. 

For Christians, there are a few good hymns of comfort and consolation. ABIDE WITH ME is one that has become known as a funeral hymn.  There is no doubt that the author had his own inevitable death in mind when he wrote it.  But the hymn also assures us of God’s constant abiding presence in our everyday lives.

Henry Lyte was a pastor in England for 24 years.   He was forced into retirement because of his failing lungs.  His doctors told him that the tuberculosis was terminal and that he should prepare to die. 

On Sept. 4, 1847, at the age of 54 years, he preached his last sermon from the text in Luke 24.  Two disciples, on the road to Emmaus met but didn’t recognize the risen Christ.   When they reached their home, they invited Him to, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.”

Henry addressed his congregation with these words, “I stand among you today as alive from the dead, that I may hope to impress upon you to prepare for that solemn hour which must come to us all.” 

Then he preached the gospel and pleaded with them to trust in the Savior.  At the end of the sermon, he served a farewell communion feast, and, in his closing prayer, he committed his grieving congregation to the Lord’s care.  That was the last time they saw him. 

After church, he went home to rest awhile, and then took a walk on the beach.  When he returned, with his sermon still on his mind, he wrote a prayer asking for God’s presence and help.  By late evening, he had crafted that prayer into an eight-stanza poem -- ABIDE WITH ME.

The next day he boarded a ship to France. Henry’s doctor had suggested that he should leave the damp climate of the English seaside and move to a drier climate in Italy.    But he never reached Italy.  On the way, his condition worsened, and, with his last weak breath, he whispered the words, “Peace, Joy,” and he passed into the arms of his Savior. 

****I CANNOT TELL (revised)

Londonderry Air is the name of the musical composition that is the melody for an old Irish hymn of the same name.  There’s not much redeeming value in the lyrics of the hymn but musically, it is an excellent composition that most people would recognize as the melody of the famous Irish song, Danny Boy.

A variation of that tune is used in the popular, contemporary secular song, You Raise Me Up.

There are at least 11 Christian songs that have been written for that melody including, He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Need, by Dottie Rambo; What Grace Is Mine, by Kristyn Getty; and Lord Of The Church, We Pray For Our Renewing, by Timothy Dudley-Smith.  

One artist has skillfully adapted the text of the 23^rd Psalm to the melody and another singer used it in a public performance of the hymn, Amazing Grace.

One of the better songs set to Londonderry Air is I CANNOT TELL, written by an Irishman, William Young Fullerton.  As a young man, William heard the Gospel preaching of Charles Spurgeon and he was saved.  Spurgeon became his close friend and mentor. 

William Fullerton was a Baptist preacher, administrator, and writer.  He served as President of the Baptist Union and as Home Secretary of the Baptist Missionary Society.  He was a frequent speaker at Keswick Conventions. His published works include biographies of John Bunyan, Charles Spurgeon, James William Condell Fegan, and Frederick Brotherton Meyer; and other missionary histories and devotional writings.  He also compiled several hymnals.

In 1966, Ken Bible made some careful alterations to the hymn while respecting William Fullerton's original work.  The result was this amazing song as it is written in many of our hymnbooks.  Although it has become a popular and appropriate song for the Christmas season, it is a great hymn of affirmation about the saving work of our Savior.

Philippians 2:7-8 may have provided some inspiration for this hymn;  “He (Christ Jesus) made Himself of no reputation taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men…… He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death even death on the Cross.”

The songwriter posed a number of unanswerable questions; Why would He do that for us?  What would compel Him to leave His Father, lay aside His splendor, and be born in a dirty feeding trough?  Why would He choose to suffer the humiliation and the agony of the cross?

There is so much we cannot know and may never fully understand about our Great God and Savior. But, there is plenty that we can know from His revealed Word. So, after the questions, come these great declarations of our faith;  BUT THIS, I KNOW, that Christ, the Lord is risen, and because He lives I’ll rise to life eternal. He took my guilty heart and I’m forever free.  The Savior of the World is Lord and King!

I CANNOT TELL

I cannot tell why He, the King of Heaven,

Should leave the peace of all eternity,

Why God, Himself, should lay aside His splendor,

To leave the Father's side and come to me.

But this I know:  Our silence filled with singing,

And all our darkness fled from heaven's light,

When Christ the Lord, so human, yet so holy,

In love was born a child for me that holy night.

I cannot tell why He, the Joy of Heaven,

Should give Himself to suffer for my sin,

Why Holy God should love me in my shamefulness,

Why He should die to draw my soul to Him.

But this I know:  That Christ the Lord is risen,

And praise His Name, He's risen now in me!

Because He lives, I'll rise to life eternal!

He took my guilty heart, and I'm forever free!

I cannot tell when He will rule the nations,

How He will claim His loved ones as His own;

And who can tell the holy jubilation,

When all His children gather round His throne?

But this I know:  All flesh will see His glory,

And skies will burst as all creation sings.

The Son will rise on one eternal morning,

When Christ, the Savior of the world, is Lord and King!

****WHAT A DAY THAT WILL BE

I was nine years old in 1956 when I spent the summer on my uncle Anton's farm in South Dakota.

  

Early one morning my older cousin, Lloyd, hitched the horses to the wagon and we headed to the hay fields. The horses must have sensed, probably from past experiences, the hard day that was in front of them because, no matter how hard Lloyd tried to drive them, they only had one speed; SLOW.  We probably only drove two or three miles but it seemed to take forever.

Once we arrived, Lloyd hitched the horses to the hay rake. The team sluggishly dragged the rake over forty acres of freshly mowed hay and we pitched it into huge haystacks.

It was a long, hot, and humid Summer day.  The insects were annoying and the work was hard for all of us, especially the horses.  By the end of the day, we were all parched and weary but our work was done and we were going home.  We hitched the horses to the wagon, loaded our gear, and headed for the barn.

The return trip was different.  Lloyd didn’t have to drive the team home.  Instead, he wrapped the reins tightly around his powerful hands and stood with both feet firmly braced against the wagon’s bulkhead. With all his massive weight and strength, he struggled to maintain some control over the powerful force of those horses thundering down the road at breakneck speeds.  But as hard as he pulled, and as loud as he yelled, he couldn’t slow them down.

We all hung on tightly as the wagon jumped and bounced over the rutted dirt road.  It was a rough and thrilling ride.   

But it was short.  Those horses knew their work was done and they were going home.  They knew the way and they were anxious to get there.

Matt. 5:12 says, “Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven.”

Sometimes life is hard and our difficulties seem unbearable. It seemed that way for Jim Hill.  When he was a new Christian, his 50-year-old mother-in-law suddenly suffered a severe, debilitating stroke.  She was a fine, godly woman and Jim had a difficult time understanding why God would allow that kind of hardship to come on her.

As he was driving home one afternoon he recalled these words from Rev. 21:4, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

He thought, “WHAT A DAY THAT WILL BE,” and the idea for this song began to form in his mind.  As soon as he got out of his car, he found a piece of cardboard on the ground and began to scrawl out the lyrics.

 

As Christians, we labor and suffer in this life, more joyously than others, knowing that our way leads to heaven.  We are on the trip home and we anxiously anticipate our rest in our Father's house.  

Can you imagine?  “There’ll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear, No more sickness, no pain, no more parting over there.  And forever I will be with the One who died for me.  What a day, glorious day that will be.”  

****SAVED BY GRACE

 

Saved By Grace

 

When she was six weeks old Fanny Crosby developed an infection in her eyes. Her doctor treated them with a mustard paste. Fanny screamed with pain and her parents begged the doctor to remove the ointment. But he insisted that it be left on her eyes for a full day to kill the infection. When it was finally removed, the damage was done. Her corneas were severely burned, and Fanny spent her entire life in total blindness.

About a year later her father died and her 21-year-old mother took a job as a maid to provide for herself and her daughter. So, Fanny was left in the care of her grandmother, Eunice, who devoted her life to raising and educating her granddaughter.  Eunice spent many hours reading the Bible to Fanny. She taught her the importance of prayer and a close relationship with God. 

Fanny had an amazing capacity for memorizing large passages of Scripture. She could quote the entire Pentateuch, the Gospels, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and many of the Psalms. 

She considered her blindness a blessing from God. She wrote, "It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank Him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow, I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things around me."

That attitude was evident early in her life. When she was just eight years old, she wrote this poem: "Oh, what a happy soul am I!  Although I cannot see, I am resolved that in this world, Contented, I will be. How many blessings I enjoy, That other people don’t? To weep and sigh because I'm blind, I cannot, and I won't."

Those words remind us of Paul’s admonition to the church in Philippi. “Not that I speak in regard to need, for 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.”

Fanny Crosby was the most prolific gospel songwriter in American History. She wrote nearly 9000 hymns. Her eyes were blind, but her spiritual sight was razor sharp. Many of her songs contain allusions to the day when she would finally see her Savior. Here are some examples that you might recognize:

In BLESSED ASSURANCE, she wrote, “Visions of rapture now burst on my sight.”

Or "HE HIDETH MY SOUL in the cleft of the rock, where rivers of pleasure I see."

In  ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOR LEADS ME, are the words, “Lo! A spring of joy I see.”

And in, TO GOD BE THE GLORY, “But purer and higher and greater will be, Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.”

Or in, TELL ME THE STORY OF JESUS; "a story of love so tender, clearer than ever I see.”

“NEAR THE CROSS! O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me;”

REDEEMED has this phrase, “I know I shall see in His beauty, the King in whose law I delight;”

And in GIVE ME JESUS, are these words; “let me view His constant smile.”

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."

That remark may have been her inspiration for at least a couple songs; MY SAVIOR FIRST OF ALL has these great lyrics; “When my lifework is ended and I cross the swelling tide, when the bright and glorious morning I shall see; I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side, and His smile will be the first to welcome me.”

In this great hymn of faith that I am featuring today, notice that she repeated this same line at the end of each stanza, “And I shall see Him Face to Face and Tell the Story, SAVED BY GRACE.”

Here are the lyrics:

1.  Someday the silver cord will break, And I no more as now shall sing; But, oh, the joy when I shall wake Within the palace of the King! And I shall see Him face to face And tell the story—Saved by grace.

2.  Someday my earthly house will fall; I cannot tell how soon ’twill be; But this I know—my All in All Has now a place in heav’n for me. And I shall see Him face to face And tell the story—Saved by grace.

3.  Someday, when fades the golden sun Beneath the rosy tinted west, My blessed Lord will say, “Well done!” And I shall enter into rest. And I shall see Him face to face And tell the story—Saved by grace.

4.  Someday, till then I’ll watch and wait, My lamp all trimmed and burning bright, That when my Savior ope's the gate, My soul to Him may take its flight. And I shall see Him face to face And tell the story—Saved by grace.

 

(Comments are welcomed, you may contact me at ralphmpetersen@gmail.com or by phone at (951) 321 9235.)

   

***HE LIVES

The popular song, HE LIVES, may not be listed among the greatest hymns ever written but it probably qualifies to be among the most loved, especially in American congregations during the mid 20^th century.  And I understand the sentimental popularity; it is a lively and joyful declaration of the resurrection of Jesus and it is fun to sing with its antiphonal response phrases in the chorus.

 

Nevertheless, I have been reluctant to use it because of one glaring weakness that permeates the text.  I am not implying that there is any false doctrine in it; there isn’t. 

So, what is the problem?  I am troubled by the weak subjectivity of the dominant theme that moves us, three times, to the question in the chorus, “You ask me how I know He lives?” and the subsequent response, “He lives within my heart.”

I understand that each of us has unique experiences where we have felt or sensed God’s nearness, protection, and love in our lives.  For those who are redeemed, we see His hand everywhere and in everything just as the writer has said, “In all the world around me, I see His loving care.”  

Our subjective testimonies may be true, but they’re not compelling proofs. They are secondary to objective truth.   Our confidence (and especially our testimonies to unbelievers) must rest on solid evidence and we have plenty of it.  

So when the song asks the question, “You ask me how I know He lives?”  I think the author could have written an objective response something like, “I’M GLAD YOU ASKED.  THERE IS EVIDENCE BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT.”  But, unfortunately, that doesn’t fit in the musical meter.

So what evidence is there for the resurrection of Jesus from the dead?  

We have the eye-witness testimonies of the apostles and others who met the risen Christ; those who physically “walked and talked with Him” in the flesh. 

We have the account of a doctor, Luke, who recorded the words the angel spoke to the women who were looking for Christ’s body at the tomb; “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.”  And later, he recorded that Jesus “presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs.”

We have the testimony of Peter who declared, “This Jesus, God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.”

Even though he often gets a bad rap, I am really glad that Jesus used Thomas to validate His resurrection.  Thomas heard the testimonies of others but he demanded more than just hearsay; he wanted real, tangible evidence; “Unless I see, in His hands, the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them.  Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!”  Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side.  Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”  And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus was seen by over five hundred people, during the forty days between His resurrection and His ascension, many of whom were still alive at the time these accounts were recorded in scripture.

We have the accounts from Paul who, as a skeptical unbeliever and a violent persecutor of Christians, met the risen, glorified Christ on the road to Damascus.

And we have the inspired Word of the living God.  In the words of R. C. Sproul, “We have to determine our theology from the Word of God, not from what we feel.”

This song is most often used in Resurrection Day celebrations because of its exuberant assurance of great things to come. Jesus said, “I Am the Living One; I was dead and behold I Am alive for ever and ever!”   

We really do serve a risen Savior so we can joyfully and confidently sing,

Rejoice! Rejoice, O Christian, 

Lift up your voice and sing,

Eternal hallelujahs 

To Jesus Christ, the King!

The Hope of all who seek Him, 

The Help of all who find,

None other is so loving, 

So good and kind.

HE LIVES!

****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.

****MY SAVIOR'S LOVE

  

I selected this song for our Sunday worship because my Pastor's sermon was about how we (Christians) are to be prepared for persecution and suffering because our Lord suffered persecution.

In this hymn, the writer, Charles Gabriel, refers to the Lord as “Jesus the Nazarene” which references a statement in Matthew’s Gospel:

“He [the Lord Jesus] came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene’.”

What does that mean?  To be blunt, Nazareth had a lousy reputation; it was the “lowlife neighborhood on the other side of the tracks.”  Nazarenes were despised by most people including the people of Galilee.

When Philip referred to the Lord as “Jesus of Nazareth”, Nathanael’s derogatory response was, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”

Later, followers of Christ (who were associated with Paul), before they were known as Christians, were called, “the sect of the Nazarenes” which was intended to be an insult and a put-down.  (And, by the way, the world STILL hates us because the world hates Christ.)

This kind of scornful contempt for the Son of God was prophesied:

(Ps. 22:6-7) “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.  All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;”

(Ps. 69:20-21) “Reproaches have broken my heart so that I am in despair.  I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.  They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst, they gave me sour wine to drink.”

For Jesus to be called a “Nazarene” might allude back to Isaiah’s prophecy; “He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him and no beauty that we should desire Him.

“He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces.  He was despised, and we esteemed him not.

“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.”

So all of this is to be expected.  We are all familiar with the first few verses in the second chapter of Philippians-- the “Humiliation of Christ.”  It details a remarkable description of how the Almighty God, the creator of the Universe, the Holy and Just One, would stoop so low and take on the form of a man and suffer and die for His creation.  Certainly, this humiliation would include rejection, persecution, grief, beatings, scorn, and maltreatment.

The hymn writer’s personal sense of “amazement” is that this One, so despised by humans, would love him enough to die for his sins.

MY SAVIOR'S LOVE

I stand amazed in the presence,

Of Jesus, the Nazarene,

And wonder how He could love me,

A sinner, condemned, unclean.

He took my sins and my sorrows;

He made them His very own;

He bore the burden to Calvary

And suffered and died alone.

When with the ransomed in glory,

His face I, at last, shall see,

’Twill be my joy through the ages

To sing of His love for me.

Refrain:

How marvelous, how wonderful!

And my song shall ever be:

How marvelous, how wonderful

Is my Savior’s love for me!

And that is the message of the gospel of grace, the Good News that the Son of God set aside His glory and humbled Himself to be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

He suffered and died a terrible death, under the wrath of God, as our substitute, so that we, through faith in Him, might be forgiven and receive the gift of eternal life.  How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me.

*HE LIFTED ME

There is a tendency, today, to disregard those stuffy old hymnbooks. People are drawn to more contemporary Christian music.  Some of it is not bad but there are lots of poorly written and doctrinally weak "7-11" and "Jesus-is-my-girlfriend" type songs that stir emotions and make us feel all warm and fuzzy about ourselves.

Not long ago, I rediscovered the great, old classic treasure, HE LIFTED ME.  The song exposes our human condition and inability to present ourselves worthy of God's grace.

It doesn't do much for my self-esteem, but it does make me feel all warm and fuzzy about my Savior.

  

In loving-kindness, Jesus came,

My soul in mercy to reclaim,

And from the depths of sin and shame

Through grace, He lifted me.

He called me long before I heard,

Before my sinful heart was stirred,

But when I took Him at His Word,

Forgiv’n, He lifted me.

His brow was pierced with many a thorn,

His hands by cruel nails were torn,

When from my guilt and grief, forlorn,

In love, He lifted me.

Now on a higher plane, I dwell,

And with my soul I know ’tis well;

Yet how or why, I cannot tell,

He should have lifted me.

Refrain

From sinking sand He lifted me,

With tender hand, He lifted me;

From shades of night to plains of light,

Oh, praise His Name, He lifted me!

I was discussing this with a friend and theologian, Ron Livesay, who explained it something like this:

“It's not like we were in danger of drowning and God threw us a lifeline to grab so that we could save ourselves.  NO!  

"We were hopelessly buried in the deepest sea, helplessly mired in the sand and mud.  We were dead.  

"With no way to save ourselves, God reached down, picked us up, brought us up, set us on a firm foundation, and breathed new life into us.”  

The Psalmist put it like this, "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings."  (Psa. 40:2)

HE LIFTED ME was written by Charles H. Gabriel in 1905.