Nothing but ...

1) What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Refrain: Oh! precious is the flow that makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus.

2) For my pardon this I see --
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing, this my plea --
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Refrain

3) Nothing can for sin atone --
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done --
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Refrain

4) This is all my hope and peace --
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness --
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Refrain

This hymn was written by Robert Lowry (1826-1899). Lowry was a pastor in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US. He also was a professor of literature. Wrote hymns, some alongside Fanny Crosby. He did many things. For this hymn, he wrote the words and the music. Apparently, he kept things simple (I'm not musically inclined enough to comment, but William Peterson is, and that's who I'm getting this from.) This hymn has a five note range, with two notes for the base singers. Guitar players work with just two chords. Perhaps he is indicating the simplicity of salvation. There can be no other outside the blood of Jesus.

Generally, I'm hesitant to embrace simplistic hymns. There are some more contemporary hymns that are nothing but a chorus. "Praise teams" just play it straight for ten minutes in a bid for an emotional reaction. It's kind of like how pop-songs just repeat the same thing over and over again so it will get stuck in your head and you can never, EVER get it out. Does it make a great song? No, it's just a money-making song that fills the empty space in the short car trip to the store. Some contemporary worship songs are kind of like that. Repeating "Hallelujah" for six minutes and forty three seconds can be great while waiting to get to the pastoral prayer, but why are you singing "hallelujah"? If you're singing just the chorus of a Christianized Jeff Buckley cover of a Leonard Cohen song, you have no idea. You'll feel great about it, but no idea why you are feeling great. That's just an emotional high, it isn't really worship.

This song, even though simple, actually progresses. The first stanza asks how we are saved. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. The second stanza asks where we turn to be saved. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. The third stanza, what do I contribute to my own salvation? Nothing! but the blood of Jesus. The fourth, by what is that salvation secured. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Simple? Yes. Vapid? No. This is a great teaching hymn. We are saved by Christ alone. It's one of the five "Solae." Scripture Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, Grace Alone, Glory to God Alone. This hymn is looking directly at what Christ did for His people and is returning thanks. All of salvation is gained by Christ alone in the gospel.

Lord of Heaven and Earth And Sea

Today's hymn was written by Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1885). Christopher was the nephew of another famous Wordsworth, William. Both Wordsworth loved creation. They marveled at the beauty and the glory that is found in nature. It is an easy thing to do. Everyone has a favorite place to go when they want to get away for a while. I myself prefer the mountains, especially during the fall. Looking at the leaves as they are changing color has a very calming effect on me. There isn't a prettier place to take a drive. With the Wordsworths, they looked at nature and where inspired to write poetry. William loved nature for nature's sake. He worshiped the beauty of the mountain and the bubbling sound of the rivers. Christopher looked at the same things and saw the hand of the Creator at work. For him, nature pointed to something greater than itself. Thus, he wrote the hymn "O Lord of Heaven and Earth and Sea."

This hymn has excellent progression. The first stanza asks how we may worship. The second points to the praise that creation heaps upon the Creator. The third focuses on humanity and why it should give thanks. The fourth gives praise for the redeeming love of Jesus. And the last acknowledges that, apart from God, we have nothing. The Lord provides so that we all may live. There is nothing we have that has not been given to us by Him. This is beautiful hymn that gives thanks that we are in His hands.

1) O Lord o heaven and earth and sea,
To Thee all praise and glory be!
How shall we show our love to Thee,
Who givest all?

2) The golden sunshine, vernal air,
Sweet flowers, and fruit Thy love declare;
When harvests ripen, Thou art there,
Who givest all.

3) For peaceful homes and healthful days,
For all the blessings earth displays,
We owe Thee thankfulness and praise,
Who givest all.

4) For souls redeemed, for sins forgiven,
For means o grace and hopes of heaven:
What can to Thee, O Lord, be given,
Who givest all?

5)To Thee, from whom we all derive 
Our life, our gifts, our power to give:
O may we ever with Thee live,
Who givest all!

Unfortunately, I could not find a good recording of it. Here is a congregation singing just a couple of the stanzas.  If/when I find something better, I will post it.

Mystery of God

So, I'm Presbyterian, which is really more of a statement on church government than it is on theological beliefs.  It got it's start in Scotland where John Knox fueled a reformation. There are many things that Presbyterians do well. They're known for teaching, church discipline, and no one runs a committee system like Presbyterians do. There are some things that Presbyterians are less known for; for instance, talking about the Holy Spirit. Of course, all generalities have their exception. I've known some Presbyterians to speak very eloquently about the nature of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is often referred to by the church fathers as the Mystery of God. This is due mainly to the fact that the Holy Spirit shines the light on the other two persons of the Trinity. His purpose is to illuminate and reveal and apply grace to us. That's a brief summation, I don't think I could accomplish in a blog illuminating the role of the Holy Spirit. He is equally magnificent and powerful as the Father and the Son.

If you haven't guessed by now, I'm listening to a hymn which focuses on the third person of the Trinity. The hymn is called "Come, Gracious Spirit, Heavenly Dove," written by Simon Browne. Browne wrote because that helped him learn better than experiential methods. Possibly Browne's biggest trial is when he defended himself against a highwayman. In self-defense, Simon Browne killed his attacker. This weighed heavily on his soul as he was convinced he was guilty of murder. Yet he still wrote hymns and prayers to the Lord. Here are the lyrics to this one concerning the Holy Spirit.

1) Come, gracious Spirit, heav'nly Dove,
With light and comfort from above;
Be Thou our Guardian, Thou are Guide;
O'er ev'ry thought and step preside.

2) To us the light of truth display,
And make us know and choose Thy way;
Plant holy fear in ev'ry heart,
That we from God may ne'er depart.

3) Lead us to holiness, the road 
Which we must take to dwell with God;
Lead us to Christ, the living way;
Nor let us from His pastures stray.

4) Lead us to God, our final rest,
To be with Him forever blest;
Lead us to heav'n, its bliss to share,
Fullness of joy forever there.

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.

An Oldie but a Goodie

Tonight I'm listening to Shepherd of Eager (Tender) Youth.

1) Shepherd of eager youth, Guiding in love and truth
Through devious ways - Christ, our triumphant King,
We come Thy name to sing; Hither Thy children bring
Tributes of praise.

2) Thou art our Holy Lord, The all-subduing Word,
Healer of strife; Thou didst Thyself abase
That from sin's deep disgrace Thou mightest save our race
And give us life.

3) Ever be near our side, Our shepherd and our guide,
Our staff and song; Jesus, Thou Christ of God,
By Thy enduring Word Lead us where Thou has trod, 
Make our faith strong.

4) So now, and till we die, sound we Thy praises high
And joyful sing; infants and the glad throng
Who to Thy church belong, unite to swell the song
To Christ, our King.

This hymn was written by Clement of Alexandria (ca. 170 - ca. 220). It is the oldest hymn we have in which we know who the author is. Clement of Alexandria wrote this hymn to instruct new believers.  This idea would be precious to Clement of Alexandria, as he was a philosopher and ran a school to teach philosophies, both Christian and other kinds.  Notice he covers the three offices of Christ (prophet [stanza three], priest [stanza 2], and king [ stanza 1]). He also places high emphasis on God's Word, which instructs believers what exactly they are to believe concerning God and their duties that God requires of His flock.  This is an excellent hymn to help children learn about the God who love them.  All of this points to Clement of Alexandria's desire to educate. Besides, look at this guy! Who wouldn't want to learn from him?

Clement of Alexandria

Dost Thou See Them?

Tonight, I'm listening to Saint Andrew of Crete's hymn, "Christian, Doth Thou See Them?" Andrew of Crete lived in the 8th century.  Legend has it that the saint was mute until the age of 7, when he partook of communion and was cured. Andrew of Crete is known as a hymnist.  His longest, actually called a canon, is 250 stanzas long.  It's a first person account going through the entire Bible called "The Great Canon." And no, I'm not planning on doing it for this blog, mainly because of my penchant for typing out all the stanzas.

                                                                   St. Andrew of Crete
We have the hymn I'm listening to today because of John Mason Neale (1818-1866). Neale was an excellent scholar who knew twenty languages.  (We will come to Neale again, as he is responsible for Christmas hymns such as "O Come, O Come Emanuel," "Good King Wenceslas," and "Good Christian Men Rejoice.") As with people who speak twenty languages often do, John Mason Neale made himself a nuisance to the leaders of his church. Neale championed higher liturgy and worship, which bothered the local Anglican clergy. Thus, Neale was "relegated" to the almshouse for old men.  Not that he minded too much, it gave him more time to translate hymns.

John Mason Neale

Listening and reading through "Christian, Doth Thou See Them?" reminds me of the book Kris Lungard's Enemy Within, which is pretty much a translation of John Owens Mortification of Sin. Lundgard translates the book from Puritan English into Readable English.  In it, Lundgard stresses the need for constant awareness of sin.  We always need to be on the look out. This hymn deals with similar vigilance.  The first stanza refers to visible temptation.  St. Andrew of Crete calls for the believer to "up and smite them."  Fight back against sin!  The second stanza certainly covers the more spiritual temptations.  The temptations that gnaw on our wants and desires.  Again, there is a call for the believer to fight back, including spiritual strengthening such as prayer and fasting.  The third stanza covers all the influences we hear.  Hear, St. Andrew of Crete reminds the singer to answer all those voices boldly! We should have confidence in our beliefs. We should be encouraged. In fact, that's how the hymn ends, with words of encouragement spoken from the Lord's perspective.  One of the things that I learned early at Penn State, and has stuck with me, is the need to encourage one another.  Sometimes we are called to rebuke our brethren, other times we are called to comfort, but we should always encourage one another no matter the situation.  The Lord is always at work and His salvation is guaranteed, no matter how great our sin.

1) Christian, dost thou see them on the holy ground,
How the powers of darkness compass thee around?
Christian, up and smite them, counting gain but loss
In the strength that cometh by the holy cross.

2) Christian, dost thou feel them, how they work within,
Striving, tempting, luring, goading into sin?
Christian, never tremble, never be downcast;
Gird thee for the battle watch and pray and fast.

3) Christian, dost thou hear them, how they speak thee fair,
"Always fast and vigil, always watch and prayer?"
Christian, answer boldly, "While I breathe I pray."
Peace shall follow battle, night shall end in day.

4)"Well I know thy trouble, O my servant true.
Thou art very weary; I was weary too.
But that toil shall make thee some day all mine own,
And the end of sorrow shall be near my throne."

I couldn't get the video to work, here is a link to the music.

Sands of Time

Before I go to bed tonight, I'm going to catch up on my hymns. I need to do a second one today in order for that to be accomplished.  The second hymn is "The Sands of Time Are Sinking."  This hymn was written by Anne Ross Cousin (1824-1906). She was inspired by Samuel Rutherford's last words which are, "I shall live and adore Christ; glory to my Redeemer forever. Glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's land."  Cousin took the phrase "in Emmanuel's land" and just ran.  She actually wrote 19 verses.  Surprisingly, we don't sing all nineteen verses in church.  Usually the chopped up version ends with the verse about the Bride keeping her eyes on the Bridegroom.  It's a good place to end the hymn.  I really like this song and the story it tells.  It will be a great day when we shall live in Immanuel's land.

Here is the video to Indelible Grace's version of the hymn.  It's a live version with a harmonica, so that's cool. I'll type out the lyrics after the video.

1) The sands of time are sinking, the dawn of Heaven breaks;
The summer morn I've sighed for - the fair, sweet morn awakes:
Dark, dark hath been the midnight, but dayspring is at hand,
And glory, glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land.

2) O Christ, He is the fountain, the deep, sweet well of love!
The streams of earth I've tasted more deep I'll drink above:
There to an ocean fullness His mercy doth expand,
And glory, glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land.

3) Oh! Well it is forever, Oh! well forevermore,
My nest hung in no forest of all this death doomed shore:
Yea, let the vain world vanish, as from the ship the strand,
While glory - glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land.

4) There the Red Rose of Sharon unfolds its heartsome bloom
And fills the air of heaven with ravishing perfume:
Oh! To behold it blossom, while by its fragrance fanned
Where glory - glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land.

5) The King there in His beauty, without a veil is seen:
It were a well spent journey, though seven deaths lay between:
The Lamb with His fair army, doth on Mount Zion stand,
And glory - glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land.

6) Of in yon sea beat prison My Lord and I held tryst,
For Anwoth was not heaven, and preaching was not Christ:
And aye, my murkiest storm cloud was by a rainbow spanned,
Caught from the glory dwelling in Immanuel's land.

7)But that He built a Heaven of His surpassing love, 
A little new Jerusalem, like to the one above,
"Lord take me over the water hath been my loud demand,
Take me to my love's own country, unto Immanuel's land.

8) But flowers need nights cool darkness, the moonlight and the dew;
So Christ, from one who loved it, His shining oft withdrew:
And then, for cause of absence my troubled soul I scanned
But glory shadeless shineth in Immanuel's land.

9) The little birds of Anwoth, I used to count them blessed,
Now, beside happier altars I go to build my nest:
Over these there broods no silence, no graves around them stand,
For glory, deathless, dwelleth in Immanuel's land.

10) Fair Anwoth by the Solway, to me thou still art dear,
Even from the verge of heaven, I drop for thee a tear
Oh! If one soul from Anwoth meet me at God's right hand,
My heaven will be two heavens, In Immanuel's land.

11) I've wrestled on towards Heaven, against storm and wind and tide,
Now, like a weary traveler that leaneth on his guide,
Amid the shades of evening, while sinks life's lingering sand,
I hail the glory dawning from Immanuel's land.

12) Deep waters crossed life's pathway, the hedge of thorns was sharp;
Now, these lie all behind me Oh! for a well tuned harp!
Oh! To join hallelujah with you triumphant band,
Who sing where glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land.

13) With mercy and with judgment my web of time He wove,
And aye, the dews of sorrow were lustered with His love;
I'll bless the hand that guided, I'll bless the heart that planned 
When throned where glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land.

14) Soon shall the cup of glory wash down earth's bitterest woes,
Soon shall the desert briar break into Eden's rose;
The curse shall change to blessing the name on earth that's banned
Be graven on the white stone in Immanuel's land.

15) O I am my Beloved's and my Beloved's mine!
He brings a poor vile sinner into His "house of wine."
I stand upon His merit - I know no other stand,
Not even where glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land.

16) I shall sleep sound in Jesus, filled with His likeness rise,
To love and to adore Him, to see Him with these eyes:
'Tween me and resurrection but Paradise doth stand;
Then - then for glory dwelling in Immanuel's land.

17) The Bride eyes not her garment, but her dear Bridegroom's face;
I will not gaze at glory but on my King of grace.
Not at the crown He giveth but on His pierced hand;
The Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel's land.

18) I have borne scorn and hatred, I have borne wrong and shame,
Earth's proud ones have reproached me for Christ's thrice blessed Name:
Where God His seal set fairest they've stamped the foulest brand,
But judgment shines like noonday in Immanuel's land.

19) They've summoned me before them, but there I may not come,
My Lord says "Come up hither," My Lord says "Welcome home!"
My King, at His white throne, my presence doth command
Where glory - glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land.