****THOU DIDST LEAVE THY THRONE

THOU DIDST LEAVE THY THRONE was written by Emily (Elizabeth Steele) Elliott in the late 1800s.  She was the daughter of Charlotte Elliot who wrote, “Just As I Am.”

Emily had a passion for her work in rescue missions and teaching Sunday school, and she saw those occupations as opportunities to reach children with the gospel.

For six years, she edited a missionary publication for children’s ministries, in which she published a collection of 48 of her hymns.

But THOU DIDST LEAVE THY THRONE was different; it was printed separately and written exclusively for the children’s choir in her father’s parish in Brighton, England.  She wrote this hymn to clarify the meaning, of Advent and the Birth of Jesus, to the children she taught, and there are some great doctrinal truths to be discovered in it.

The text is based on Luke 2:7, “And (Mary) brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”

In the structure of this hymn, Emily used a literary technique called rhetorical antithesis.  Two observations, in each verse, are intentionally contrasted to emphasize the difference.  And each contrast hinges on the same conjunction, “BUT.”

In the first stanza, Jesus left His glorious heavenly home, BUT there was no room for Him in Bethlehem.

In the second, He is described as the King surrounded by angels always singing His praises, BUT His birth on earth was lowly and humble.

Verse three is a poetic paraphrase of Matthew 8:20 “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, BUT the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

And in the fourth verse, He came from heaven bringing words of love and life BUT, on earth, He was mocked and scorned.

A similar contrast is implied in the refrain; there was no room for Him in the Inn, BUT there is room for Him in the hearts of believers. 

  The song is sometimes used as an invitation hymn because of the last phrase in each of the first four stanzas, “O come to my heart, Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for Thee.”

But that usage misses the point.

This is not a hymn of invitation for sinners to come to the Savior; it emphasizes the reality that we have NOTHING big enough, grand enough, valuable enough, or good enough to offer that would impress God and merit His good grace and favor.  All we can do is come broken and needy and offer Him our hearts.

But, should God be pleased with that?

Well, frankly, I can’t think of anything dirtier; not even that filthy stable.  The words of Jeremiah the prophet, remind me what God thinks of my heart:

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;

Who can know it?

"I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jer. 17:9-10)

Nevertheless, the Spirit of God indwells His people anyway.  He has given us a new heart and while we are still in these sin-sick bodies, He is at work cleaning us and making us fit to live with Him.

  The point is, we have nothing to boast; ALL the glory for our sanctification belongs to Him.

The final stanza proclaims our Hope.  We are looking forward to that day when He will call us home to dwell with Him forever. 

****TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE CONSECRATED

What we call Contemporary Christian Music got its start in the middle of the twentieth century.  Baby boomers who were bored with the old music of the church brought new styles into the mainstream of American evangelical churches.

 

Much of the music deserved the criticism it got.  It was sometimes silly, doctrinally anemic, and borderline heretical; it was often man-centered and appealing to the flesh.  But, something amazing happened in the latter part of the century.   Contemporary Christian Music grew up. 

In the midst of all the clamor, emerged a plethora of excellent Christian composers, writers, and singers who brought us some of the best and most inspiring, classical and contemporary, God-honoring music in our lifetime.

 

It was in that musical environment, that a frustrated, renegade music professor developed a new, revolutionary approach to choral conducting.  Most of his contemporaries were highly critical but Dr. Gary Bonner’s master’s program produced hundreds of graduates who launched a rebirth in Church choir music throughout the Christian world.

Children’s music was elevated too.  A man named Ernie Rettino painted his face blue, put on some blue tights and a big foam costume in the shape of a book; and the character, Psalty, the Singing Hymnbook, was created.   Ernie and his wife, Debby, produced dozens of musicals designed to teach children biblical principles and doctrines using new and traditional hymns.

In one of their most successful productions, the characters took a Hymnological Adventure in a Time Machine.  They traveled back in history, to meet some famous hymn writers like David, the Shepherd King, Isaac Watts, and Fanny Crosby.  That musical resulted in teaching some of the greatest old hymns of our faith to a whole generation of children.

 

One of those hymns, TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE, is a prayer of consecration written by Frances Havergal.   It may have been inspired by these words in Leviticus; “Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy. “

In Paul’s letter to the church at Rome, he wrote, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1).

 

In this hymn, Frances Havergal holds nothing back in her offering to the Lord.  She starts with a dedication of her life but then she gets specific; not only her life but all her days and every moment.  When she offers her hands and her feet, she is asking God to direct everything she does and everywhere she goes.  She submits every word from her lips and every thought to His control.  Her treasures, her will, and her heart; everything she has is Consecrated to God for His use and His glory. 

****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.

****HAVE THINE OWN WAY, LORD

Adelaide A. Pollard was a sincere Christian lady who, from all indications, was fully dedicated to the work of the ministry.  She spent most of her life serving her Lord.  She was convinced that God was calling her to be a missionary.

Following her education in elocution and native cultures, she moved to Chicago and for several years she worked in a variety of Christian ministries while trying to raise funds and support for her desired missionary work in Africa.

She worked as a teacher in two different schools for girls and she was also engaged as an itinerant Bible study teacher.  She aided in the teaching and preaching circuits of two evangelists and later, she taught at a missionary training school.  Though she spent most of her life in ministry work, she was frustrated; the dream of a calling to Africa was fading.

At the age of 45, while attending a prayer meeting one night, an elderly woman was praying.  As she began her prayer, the woman omitted the usual kinds of requests for God to give them health and shower them with physical blessings.  Instead, she simply uttered the words, "It really doesn't matter what you do with us, Lord -- just have your way with our lives . . .."

On her way home that night, that old woman’s prayer reminded Adelaide of a passage in Jer. 18:3-6, “So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel.  And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.  Then the word of the LORD came to me: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done?’ declares the LORD. ‘Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.’”

Adelaide began to form the lyrics in her mind, and before going to bed, she had written the lyrics on paper.  That night in 1907, was a turning point in her life as she realized that God is in control; He directs us and uses us in His service for His good pleasure.  Nevertheless, she continued to hold out hope that God would lead her to Africa.

At the age of 60, she finally made a trip to a mission work in Africa but, shortly after her arrival, World War I interrupted her plans and she spent the war years in Scotland.  After the war, she returned to the United States in poor health but continued to work in Christian ministries until she died at the age of 72 in 1934.

Some have speculated that this hymn's third stanza is an autobiographical statement of her personal struggles to discern and submit to God's will fo her life.

In 1989, the scourge of Political Correctness brought about two changes in this hymn.  Before it was acceptable for the new United Methodist Hymnal, it was scrubbed of any perceived inferences to racism or slavery.  

In stanza two, the word, "Master," was changed to "Savior."  But that doesn't really make sense in the context of the song; God as our Savior is already presumed but as the Potter, the Lord IS our Master and He has the right to mold us and use us as He sees fit.

The second alteration they made was to the phrase, "whiter than snow."  It was changed to "wash me just now," which was a pointless redundancy as the very next phrase was a repeat of that phrase.

Those who favored the changes argued that one doesn't have to be white to be perceived as spiritually pure and socially acceptable.  An African American member of the committee said, "You can wash me as much as you wish, but after you've finished, I'll be just as black, which is beautiful." 

But the argument was foolish.  This hymn is not about being socially acceptable; it's about our sanctification and our humble submission to our Lord and Master.

To be fair, there were some, on the committee, who wanted to retain the original text.  They rightly reasoned that the biblical reference, in the text, was about our spiritual cleansing as in Psalm 51:7, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow," or in Isaiah 1:18, "Come now, and let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

Most other conservative denominations did not allow Political Correctness to redefine the biblical teachings of this hymn, but retained the rich text in verse two, as it was intentionally written:

Have Thine Own Way, Lord!  Have Thine own way!

Search me and try me, Master, today.

Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,

As in Thy presence, humbly I bow.