Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted

Stricken, smitten and afflicted,

See him dying on the tree!

'Tis the Christ by man rejected!

Yes, my soul, 'tis he! 'tis he!

'Tis the long-expected prophet,

David's son, yet David's Lord;

By His Son God has now spoken

'Tis the true and faithful word.

Tell me, ye who hear him groaning,

Was there ever grief like his?

Friends thru' fear His cause disowning,

Foes insulting his distress:

Many hands were raised to wound him,

None would interpose to save;

But the awful stroke that pierced him

Was the stroke that justice gave.

Ye who think of sin but lightly,

Nor suppose the evil great;

Here may view its nature rightly,

Here its guilt may estimate.

Mark the sacrifice appointed!

See who bears the awful load!

'Tis the Word, the Lord's anointed,

Son of man, and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation;

Here's the refuge of the lost:

Christ, the Rock of our salvation:

His the name of which we boast.

Lamb of God, for sinners wounded!

Sacrifice to cancel guilt!

None shall ever be confounded

Who on him their hope have built.

Thomas Kelly.

Amazing Grace

I never knew that the hymn Amazing Grace had six verses originally. What I knew was that we usually sang four or five and a last verse that didn’t seem to fit. So this past Sunday when we sang six, with that last not seeming to fit, I decided to look at the author in the hymnal. Well it seems I knew John Newton wrote the lyrics but that last verse wasn’t his!!! It said it was from A Collection of Sacred Ballads. 

I’ve always been disturbed about this verse because it changes the whole flow of Newton’s thought, jumping from “I/me” to “we/we’ve.” This time I pointed that out to my wife and she said, “It sounds like a blog post.” I agreed, so here is some education about that non-Newton verse.

Let’s start with the original lyrics by John Newton:

1.

Amazing grace (how sweet the sound)

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

2.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed!

3.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares

I have already come:

'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

4. 

The Lord has promised good to me,

His word my hope secures;

He will my shield and portion be

As long as life endures.

5.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease:

I shall possess, within the veil,

A life of joy and peace.

6.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,

The sun forbear to shine;

But God, who called me here below,

Will be forever mine.

Too many hymnals stop with the fourth (and sometimes the 5th) verse and add this verse not written by Newton: 

When we've been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun,

We've no less days to sing God's praise,

Than when we first begun.

With a wee bit of research, this is what I found. The verse shows up in the book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and, according to Wikipedia, had been passed down orally in African-American communities for at least 50 years. It was one of between 50 and 70 verses of a song titled "Jerusalem, My Happy Home", which was first published in a 1790 book called A Collection of Sacred Ballads.

I really wish that non-Newton verse was left out and kept Newton’s verses.

There you have it—a thought for today!

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,

and with fear and trembling stand;

ponder nothing earthly-minded,

for, with blessing in His hand,

Christ our God to earth descendeth,

our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,

as of old on earth He stood,

Lord of lords, in human vesture,

in the body and the blood.

He will give to all the faithful

His own self for heav'nly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven

spreads its vanguard on the way,

as the Light of light descendeth

from the realms of endless day,

that the pow'rs of hell may vanish

as the darkness clears away.

At His feet the six-winged seraph,

cherubim with sleepless eye,

veil their faces to the Presence,

as with ceaseless voice they cry,

“Alleluia, alleluia,

alleluia, Lord Most High!”

Be Still My Soul!

Be still, my soul! the Lord is on your side;

Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;

Leave to your God to order and provide;

In ev'ry change he faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul! your best, your heav’nly friend

Thru' thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul! your God does undertake

To guide the future as he has the past;

Your hope, your confidence, let nothing shake;

all now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul! the waves and winds still know

His voice who ruled them while he lived below.

Be still, my soul! when dearest friends depart

And all is darkened in the vale of tears,

Then shall you better know his love, his heart,

Who comes to soothe your sorrow and your fears.

Be still, my soul! your Jesus can repay

From his own fullness all he takes away.

 Be still, my soul! the hour is hast'ning on

When we shall be forever with the Lord,

When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,

Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.

Be still my soul! when change and tears are past,

All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Lyrics by Kathrina von Schlegel (1752), translated from the German by Jane Borthwick (1855).

Sung to the tune, Finlandia

Sunday Hymn

We had a choir this past Sunday, three days before Christmas, along with other musicians—including me (on the pipes) and my wife (with snare drum) beginning the service prelude with “The Little Drummer Boy.”  The rest of the prelude were tunes by several flautists and then a duet with a trombone and piano.  The other musicians also accompanied the congregation during Christmas hymns. The choir sang a song between the sermon and Communion, which I thought had some very good lyrics, and which I wanted to share here.

Prepare

From Bethlehem, the House of Bread,

 A Child will come to lead us

His bed a place where sheep are fed,

The spotless Lamb called Jesus.

He comes for those who go astray, 

To gather and to feed them.

Let ev’ry heart prepare the way

To welcome and receive Him.

Jerusalem, the House of Peace,

Rejected and despised Him.

He led her people through the streets

Before they crucified Him.

Upon the cross, He died that day;

Our sin by blood forgiven.

The Lamb of God prepared the way

That leads us into heaven.

Eat the bread,

Drink the cup, 

Share the love.

Prepare your hearts to welcome Him;

The little Child, the Great I AM!

Come to the table pure in heart, 

Prepare to dine together, 

For soon the Lord will gather us

To live with Him forever.

Prepare to share the wedding feast

Prepared for us by Jesus

In His bright home, the House of Light

Where Christ the Lamb, the great I AM, 

The little Child will lead us; 

The Lamb of God will lead us.