Why stagger at this word of promise?

By grace I'm saved, grace free and boundless

Words: Christian L Scheidt (1709-1761)

By grace I'm saved, grace free and boundless;
My soul, believe and doubt it not.
Why stagger at this word of promise?
Hath scripture ever falsehood taught?
No! then this word must true remain:
By grace thou, too, shalt heaven obtain.

By grace! None dare lay claim to merit;
Our works and conduct have no worth.
God in His love sent our Redeemer,
Christ Jesus, to this sinful earth;
His death did for our sins atone
And we are saved by grace alone.

By grace! O, mark this word of promise
When thou art by thy sins oppressed,
When Satan plagues thy troubled conscience
And when thy heart is seeking rest.
What reason cannot comprehend
God by His grace to thee doth send.

By grace! This ground of faith is certain;
So long as God is true, it stands.
What saints have penned by inspiration,
What in His word our God commands,
What our whole faith must rest upon,
Is grace alone, grace in His Son.

Selah.

O be not thou dismayèd

Praise God! Praise God with singing

Words: Johann Roh (fl. 1529-1547) tr. John D. Libbey (1830-1892)
Tune: Komm

Praise God! Praise God with singing,
Rejoice thou Christian flock!
Fear not though foes are bringing
Their hosts against thy rock;
For though they here assail thee,
And seek thy very life,
Let not thy courage fail thee;
Thy God shall turn the strife.

O be not thou dismayèd,
Believing little band;
God, in his might arrayèd,
To help thee is at hand.
Upon his palms engraven
Thy name is ever found;
He knows, who dwells in heaven,
The ills that thee surround.

His purpose stands unshaken-
What he hath said he'll do;
And, when by all forsaken,
His Church he will renew.
With pity he beholds her,
E'en in her time of woe;
Still by his word upholds her,
And makes her thrive and grow.

To him belong our praises,
Who still abides our Lord,
Bestowing gifts and graces,
According to his word;
Nor will he e'er forsake us,
But will our guardian be,
And ever stable make us,
In love and unity.

Selah.

Meditation: I will renew thee in My love

O little bird that sings

by Amy Carmichael

O little bird that sings
Long before the glad day springs,
What radiant victory
You show to me.

You sing of conquering faith,
And of life subduing death,
And of joy before the light
Has vanquished night.

God of the sweet bird-song,
Let us all be borne along
By this triumphant mirth
That is not of earth.

Foreseeing dawn, would we
Now exult melodiously,
And sing before the light
Has vanquished night.

Selah.

I will renew thee in My love

by Amy Carmichael

But there are times when we feel too tired even to desire; nothing is left in us to be refreshed – virtue has gone out of us. Will it ever come back? Can fatigue annihilate that which used to be, that resilience that so often has saved us from collapse? To be wakened by pain long before we should awaken, in spite of all that has been done to give us sleep… that is to know the feeling of being too tired to be refreshed, too tired even to desire.

And yet, when wakening, there comes a song of a bird – a magpie robin, a happy little bird in tidy black and white that sings before the dawn, sometimes as early as three o’clock. A long sustained sweetness suddenly breaks through the darkness, and drops of silver song are scattered everywhere. You lie listening gratefully, and your “Oh, how tired I am!” gradually becomes, “O little bird that sings” – which is at least happier than the other.

But not even the memory of that silvery sweetness can carry us through the day. Nothing but the very word of God made vital to the heart can do that. I wonder if this will do for another what it has done for me? The Septuagint reading of Zephaniah 3:17, “He will rest in His love,” is, “He will renew thee in His love.” There is enchantment in that word. There is life. There is strength.

O God, renew us in Thy love today’
For our tomorrow we have not a care;
Who blessed our yesterday
Will meet us there.

But our today is all athirst for Thee;
Come in the stillness, O Thou heavenly Dew;
Come Thou to us – to me –
Revive, renew.

September, on the southeastern coast of India, is a burnt-up month. Round about Dohnaver the earth is terra-cotta colored, and asks for the relief of low-growing green things; it can glare hotly when all that grows low is brown. The henna, within view of my window [henna is the camphire of the Song of Songs, “My beloved is to me like a cluster of henna”], is then bare, brown twig – the creamy, scented clusters are a mere memory; the little butterfly, caesalpinia, is a flicker of gold on unhappy stalks; frangipani, the temple flower, breaks out in strong blossom from a naked, fat finger-stem, and the flame of the forest is all flame and no forest green.

But this year is different, and this morning my chair was turned so that I could see into the enclosure upon which my room opens, and till the sun rose and made it too bright I feasted my eyes on the greenness. Never before have these eyes seen a green September. This year, the first time within living memory, not only are the greater trees, and of course all the palms, green [that is their happy custom], but the little henna is green, the gaiety of the caesalpinia set in green, the temple-tree flowers are like pale stars in a green night, the gorgeous crimson of the forest flame glows bright from among its own gracious foliage. Rioting over a tangle of low bushes near my window the delicate large bells of the blue convolvulvus call to the little sunbirds, and those lovely things, iridescent jewels in feathers, peck through the tube from the outside, poised in the air on tiny, fluttering wings. Beside me is a fern, lately achieved after many a vain assay; the mass of fragile lace is full of the whispers of woods and water. The unwonted beauty is because this year we have had rain during the hot weather: the sap is racing up every growing thing as though the thermometer did not register between 90 and 100 degrees in the shade.

And all this sweet greenness and the dewy freshness of flowers is like a picture in color, set to familiar words. Leaves and flowers, down to the last leaf bud and flower bud, are nourished in sap. They do not cause the sap to rise or regulate its flow. They do not understand its mysterious power. But as it flows through them it revives them, renews them. We who are ill [and tested and dry] know that we could never do much to bring the sap of life to bear upon our own souls. We may have helps [I have, and they are countless], or we may have none [some have very few]; but whether we are set in families or as lonely as a sparrow on a housetop – that friendliest of little birds that does not like to be alone anywhere – we know that we depend on something that is not of ourselves to keep us fresh and green. And we know that we are sometimes too spent even to pray for it.

And here is grace: we need not pray. There are times when all that is asked of us is just what is asked of the leaves and flowers and the fronds of the fern. They continue in the plant, the sap flows up to them.

Continue you in My love, says our Lord. And even the most tired of us can continue, stay there, be there – no words can be too simple to say what He means. Do not go away, He says. Why should we? How could we? Do we want to speak to Him? “He then, lying on Jesus’ breast, saith unto Him…” Are we too tired to speak at all? Be silent then, in love. “Surely towards God silence becometh my soul; from Him is my expectation,” is Rotherham’s rendering of Psalm 62:1, 5. And as we are silent, letting our hearts rest in quietness in Him from who is our expectation, He will cause sap to rise. He will renew us in His love.

And so, however weary the clogging flesh my be, we shall win through and we shall know,

Patience of comfort, peace and fortitude,
Drink where fresh waters flow,
Taste angels’ food.
For loving, Thou dost love until the end;
O great and dear Redeemer, we have proved
What Love Divine can spend
On its beloved.

The things we would least choose to have are round about us. But “In these things be not thrown down, nor in despair; but stand evenly at the will of God, and suffer all things that come to thee, to the praising of our Lord Jesus Christ; for after winter cometh summer, and after night cometh day, and after tempest cometh clearness.”

Alleluia!

Selah.

Amy Carmichael, Rose from Brier, 60-65.

A word for the day: The Lord does wonders for the faithful

Answer me when I call, O God

Psalm 4

Answer me when I call, O God, defender of my cause,
you set me free when I am hard-pressed;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
'You mortals, how long will you dishonour my glory;
how long will you worship dumb idols
and run after false gods?'
Know that the Lord does wonders for the faithful;
when I call upon the Lord, He will hear me.
Tremble, then, and do not sin;
speak to your heart in silence upon your bed.
Offer the appointed sacrifices
and put your trust in the Lord.
Many are saying,
'O that we might see better times!'
Lift up the light of your countenance upon us, O Lord.
You have put gladness in my heart,
more than when grain and wine and oil increase.
I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep;
for only you, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Selah.

A song for Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you!

O 'twas a joyful sound to hear

Words: Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady, 1698
Tune: Mount Sion

O 'twas a joyful sound to hear
our tribes devoutly say,
up, Israel! to the temple haste,
and keep your festal day.
at Salem's courts we must appear,
with our assembled powers,
in strong and beauteous order ranged,
like her united towers.

O ever pray for Salem's peace;
for they shall prosperous be,
thou holy city of our God,
who bear true love to thee.
May peace within thy sacred walls
a constant guest be found;
with plenty and prosperity
thy palaces be crowned.

For my dear brethren's sake, and friends
no less than brethren dear,
I'll pray: May peace in Salem's towers
a constant guest appear.
But most of all I'll seek thy good,
and ever wish thee well,
for Zion and the temple's sake,
where God vouchsafes to dwell!

Selah.

A song from Psalm 122, written in the 17th century, still apt today... blessings be upon Jerusalem and all who love her truly!

I have none other help but thee

I call on thee, Lord Jesus Christ

Words: Miles Coverdale (1487-1568)
Tune: Ich ruf zu dir

I call on thee, Lord Jesus Christ,
I have none other help but thee.
My heart is never set at rest
till thy sweet words have comforted me.
And steadfast faith grant me therefore,
to hold by thy word evermore,
above all things,
never resisting
but to increase in faith more and more.

Selah.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision

And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:14-16

Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.

Psalm 63:7

He giveth more grace

by Annie J. Flint

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added affliction He addeth His mercy;
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father's full giving is only begun.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arms everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

His love has no limit; His grace has no measure.
His pow'r has no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!

Selah.

Annie wrote this song with a pen clenched between her teeth, so crippled with arthritis that she could not use her hands... out of her great pain and trial came these most beautiful words of faith. Blessed is she who has not seen, and yet believes! May her faith encourage you today!

So let the Spirit draw us near

Relentless lover, God in Christ

Words: Marnie Barrell
Tune: Kingsfold

Relentless lover, God in Christ
who died to set us free,
unswerving as your love for us
may our commitment be:
to come and learn what courage means,
and take the challenge up
to walk with Christ through death to life,
to drink His bitter cup.

And when we come, may that fierce love
be tasted, touched and known,
as we who gather round the Cross
meet in Christ's death our own.
God grant we shall not fear to drink
His cup, the blood He shed,
nor let our hands, unwounded, shrink
from taking up His bread.

So let the Spirit draw us near
to find, in hope and trust,
His broken body risen here,
His life renewed in us.
Life given, life renewed again
in thousandfold increase;
He lives, and sends us out to be
His living gift of peace!

Selah.

That my whole being may proclaim

Fill thou my life, O Lord my God

Words: Horatius Bonar, 1866
Tune: Richmond

Fill thou my life, O Lord my God,
in every part with praise,
that my whole being may proclaim
thy being and thy ways.

Not for the lip of praise alone,
nor e'en the praising heart
I ask, but for a life made up
of praise in every part!

Praise in the common things of life,
its goings out and in;
praise in each duty and deed,
however small and mean.

Fill every part of me with praise;
let all my being speak
of thee and of thy love, O Lord,
poor though I be, and weak.

So shalt thou, Lord, from me, e'en me,
receive the glory due;
and so shall I begin on earth
the song forever new.

So shall each fear, each fret, each care
be turned into a song,
and every winding of the way
the echo shall prolong;

So shall no part of day or night
from sacredness be free;
but all my life, in every step
be fellowship with thee!

Selah.

Crown, O God, thine own endeavor

Judge eternal, throned in splendor

Words: Henry S. Holland, 1902, alt.
Tune: Komm, O komm, du Geist des Lebens

Judge eternal, throned in splendor,
Lord of lords and King of kings,
with thy living fire of judgment
purge this land of bitter things;
solace all its wide dominion
with the healing of thy wings.

Still the weary folk are pining
for the hour that brings release,
and the city's crowded clangor
cries aloud for sin to cease;
and the homesteads and the woodlands
plead in silence for their peace.

Crown, O God, thine own endeavor;
cleave our darkness with thy sword;
feed all those who do not know thee
with the richness of thy word;
cleanse the body of this nation
through the glory of the Lord.

Selah.

The faith that the dark past has taught us

Lift every voice and sing

James Weldon Johnson, 1899

Lift every voice and sing
till earth and heaven ring,
ring with the harmonies of liberty.
Let our rejoicing rise
high as the listening skies;
let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us;
sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
facing the rising sun
of our new day begun,
let us march on, till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod,
bitter the chastening rod,
felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
yet, with a steady beat,
have not our weary feet
come to the place for which our parents sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears have been watered;
we have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
out from the gloomy past,
till now we stand at last
where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
thou who hast by thy might led us into the light;
keep us for ever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee;
lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee;
shadowed beneath thy hand
may we for ever stand,
true to our God, true to our native land.

A prayer of heart

The stars declare His glory

Words: Timothy Dudley-Smith
Tune: Aldine

The stars declare His glory;
the vault of heaven springs,
mute witness of the Master's hand
in all created things,
and through the silences of space
their soundless music sings.

The dawn returns in splendor,
the heavens burn and blaze,
the rising sun renews the race
that measures all our days,
and writes in fire across the skies
God's majesty and praise.

So shine the Lord's commandments
to make the simple wise;
more sweet than honey to the taste,
more rich than any prize,
a law of love within our hearts,
a light before our eyes.

So order too this life of mine,
direct it all my days;
the meditations of my heart
be innocence and praise,
my rock, and my redeeming Lord,
in all my words and ways!

Selah.

I am the Lord that healeth thee

Be still and know that I am God

Words: Anonymous, based on Psalm 46
Tune: Be still and know

Be still and know that I am God,
be still and know that I am God,
be still and know that I am God.

I am the Lord that healeth thee,
I am the Lord that healeth thee,
I am the Lord that healeth thee.

In thee, O Lord, I put my trust,
In thee, O Lord, I put my trust,
In thee, O Lord, I put my trust!

Selah.

Life-giving Spirit, o'er us move

O Holy Ghost, thy people bless

Words: Henry Williams Baker, 1874
Tune: Tallis' Ordinal

O Holy Ghost, thy people bless
who long to feel thy might,
and fain would grow in holiness
as children of the light.

To thee we bring, who art the Lord,
ourselves to be thy throne;
let every thought and deed and word
thy pure dominion own.

Life-giving Spirit, o'er us move,
as on the formless deep;
give life and order, light and love,
where now is death or sleep.

Great Gift of our ascended King,
His saving truth reveal;
our tongues inspire His praise to sing,
our hearts His love to feel.

True Wind of heaven, from south or north,
for joy or chastening, blow;
the garden-spices shall spring forth
if thou wilt bid them flow.

O Holy Ghost, of sevenfold might,
all graces come from thee;
grant us to know and serve aright
one God in Persons Three!

Selah.

The splendor of your love

Restore in us, O God

Words: Carl P. Daw, Jr.
Tune: Southwell

Restore in us, O God,
the splendor of your love;
renew your image in our hearts,
and all our sins remove.

O Spirit, wake in us
the wonder of your power;
from fruitless fear unfurl our lives
like springtime bud and flower.

Bring us, O Christ, to share
the fullness of your joy;
baptize us in the risen life
that death cannot destroy.

Three-personed God, fulfill
the promise of your grace,
that we, when our searching ends,
may see you face to face!

Selah.

Savior of the nations, come

Have you ever noticed how even the colors of the season hint at advent? As one poet said, "All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres..." So it is, the sky, the land, the air, all hint of Maker's care, and visitation: nature evokes praise, and highest prayer!

Savior of the nations, come

Words: Ambrose of Milan, ca. 397
Tune: Nun komm der Heiden Heiland

Savior of the nations, come;
virgin's Son, here make thy home!
Marvel now, O heaven and earth,
that the Lord chose such a birth.

Not by human flesh and blood;
by the Spirit of our God
was the Word of God made flesh,
woman's offspring, pure and fresh.

Wondrous birth! O wondrous child
of the Virgin undefiled!
Though by all the world disowned,
still to be in heaven enthroned.

From the Father forth He came
and returneth to the same,
captive leading death and hell
high the song of triumph swell!

Thou, the Father's only Son,
hast over sin the victory won.
boundless shall thy kingdom be;
when shall we its glories see?

Brightly doth thy manger shine,
glorious is its light divine.
Let not sin overcloud this light;
ever be our faith thus bright.

Praise to God the Father sing,
praise to God the Son, our King,
praise to God the Spirit be
ever and eternally!