A bit behind

Alright, so I went to North Carolina this weekend and visited my Aunt. I didn't do any hymns, so I need to catch up.  I'm okay with that because it means more music. To begin with, we have Charles Wesley.  I've gone to him before which is fine because he wrote a lot of hymns. Sixteen of which come from Leviticus.  Now, Leviticus is one of those books in the Bible. It's a book people try to avoid, or if they are planning to read through the whole Bible, they quit at Leviticus. Not a lot of stories in Leviticus and a whole bunch of rules that seem a little pointless at this point (they're not, they just seem that way at first glance). Wesley, while reading through Leviticus, was inspired by Matthew Henry's commentary.  Leviticus 8:35 states, "Keep the charge of the LORD, that ye die not," of which Matthew Henry writes, "We have every one of us a charge to keep, an eternal God to glorify, an immortal soul to provide for, a needful duty to be done, our generation to serve, and it must be our daily care to keep this charge, for it is the charge of the Lord our Master, who will shortly call us to an account about it, and it is our utmost peril if we neglect it." With that, Charles Wesley wrote, "A Charge To Keep I Have."

1) A charge to keep I have,
A God to glorify,
A never-dying soul to save,
And fir it for the sky.

2) To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfill;
O may it all my powers engage 
To do my Master's will!

3) Arm me with jealous care,
As in Thy sight to live,
And O, Thy servant, Lord, prepare
A strict account to give!

4) Help me to watch and pray,
And on Thyself rely,
Assured if I my trust betray,
I shall forever die.

Here's a moving Gospel rendition of the hymn.

Or if you are into '80s rock praise music

If you are interested in Leviticus, I highly recommend listening to Jeff's Ferguson sermon series.  It gives wonderful insight into an often misunderstood book of the Bible. Here is the first of five parts he did at a conference. Check it out.