Hymns4Him

Self-examination is one of the most valuable dimensions of spiritual health.  Psalm 139 concludes with the request that God would search our hearts.  When we make that request, it implies that we will embark on such an examination ourselves, trusting that He would guide us to see what He sees.  What are the things we should be looking for?  Like a doctor diagnosing a patient, we should be alert to the negative side (our shortcomings) as well as the positive side (our progress).  What sins are we still struggling with?  What dimensions of the fruit of the spirit are we seeing increase?  What deeds of the flesh do people still see in us? What marks of godliness are we consciously cultivating?

But certainly the most important thing for us, is to do all of this with the desire that the Lord would show us what He sees within our hearts.  We are too prone to look too shallowly and just see things on the surface.  We are too prone to excuse ourselves and think too highly of ourselves.  We are too likely to deceive ourselves and to accept the kind words others say about us as fully trustworthy and sufficiently accurate. But the Lord sees us as we truly are.  Of course, that knowledge can be quite painful.  But it brings the sorrow that leads to further and deeper repentance.

What’s wonderful about all this is not only that He sees deeply and correctly, including all the faults and failures we try to cover up, but that He loves us in spite of all those blemishes, and is ready to help us overcome them and make more progress in lives of holiness.  As Dane Ortlund has written so helpfully in his marvelous book, “Gentle and Lowly” (as he reflects on the book by the Puritan author, Thomas Goodwin), Jesus is the physician who doesn’t turn away the sick until they heal themselves, He is the physician who is glad to heal when they come to Him. Satan tempts us to think that Jesus would be angry at us when we sin, and so we feel too embarrassed to come to Him in that condition.  But that’s exactly when He most wants us to come and most lovingly and helpfully welcomes us when we do.

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People around the world associate Handel’s great masterpiece “Messiah,” with Christmas.   But it was originally an Easter composition in three parts.  The oratorio’s structure follows the liturgical year.  Part 1 corresponds with Advent, Christmas, and the life of Jesus.  Part II deals with Lent, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost.  Part III then continues with the end of the church year and to the end of time and the final consummation, with the chorus singing heaven’s anthem, “Worthy Is the Lamb” and “Amen!” The birth and death of Jesus are told in the words of the prophet Isaiah, the most prominent source for the libretto. The only true “scene” of the oratorio is the annunciation to the shepherds, which is taken from the Gospel of Luke. The imagery of shepherd and lamb features prominently in many movements, for example: in the aria “He shall feed His flock like a shepherd” (the only extended piece to talk about the Messiah on earth), in the opening of Part II (“Behold the Lamb of God”), in the chorus “All we like sheep,” and in the closing chorus of the work (“Worthy is the Lamb”).

It was first performed in the Music Hall in Dublin, Ireland on April 13, 1742, almost 300 years ago. The audience swelled to a record 700, and ladies had heeded pleas by management to wear dresses “without Hoops” in order to make “Room for more company.” The men and women in attendance sat mesmerized from the moment the tenor followed the mournful string overture with his piercing opening line: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.” It has been “Messiah” which has elevated Handel to musical superstar status, with Beethoven himself calling Handel “the greatest composer that ever lived.”  Since most of Handel’s work was in secular music and opera, many would prefer to accord that status to Johann Sebastian Bach, whose music was primarily written for use in worship.

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Christians around the world mark the end of the week prior to Resurrection Sunday (a better title for it than “Easter”), with special services drawing meditative attention to the conclusion of that week in Jesus’ earthly life.  One of the highest, or perhaps we should say the deepest points in those observances is Good Friday.  In a now classic “BC” cartoon, one character says,
“I hate the term ‘Good Friday’.” Another asks, “Why?” to which the first responds, “My Lord was hanged on a tree on that day.” This response follows: “If you were going to be hanged on that day, and He volunteered to take your place, how would you feel?”  And the obvious answer then comes, “Good.”  It concludes, “Have a nice day.”

The doctrine of Jesus’ substitutionary atonement is absolutely foundational for biblical Christian faith.  Jesus’ death on the cross was not a sentimental gesture of concern for others that we are to imitate. It was God, in the person of the Son, taking on Himself the guilt of His elect (“He who knew no sin became sin,” 2 Corinthians 5:21) and suffering in their place the wrath of God which they deserved.  This concept of substitution is unmistakable throughout the Bible.  In the Old Testament, sinners placed their hands on the sacrificial animal, symbolically transferring their sin to that victim which was then killed as their substitute (Leviticus 16).  And in Isaiah’s fourth servant song (Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12), the refences to Jesus dying as a substitute (“the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all,” vs. 6) is found at least ten times.

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England’s cathedrals have been the sites of some of the most wonderful preacher/theologians of all time.   Among them must be named John Donne (St. Paul’s, London) and J. C. Ryle (Liverpool). Others who never served in cathedral positions would certainly include John Stott and Martyn Lloyd-Jones.  One of the less-known settings is Bristol Cathedral, where the Puritan era preacher was Samuel Crossman (1624-1683), the author of one of the most wonderful passion hymns of all time, “My Song Is Love Unknown.” It was written in 1664 as a tribute to George Herbert (1593-1633), another of the great Puritan preacher/theologian/poets, one from the Shakespearean era.  Though never a clergyman in a cathedral, his ministry is remembered today through such works as his 77 stanza poem “The Temple,” and the hymn, “Let All the World in Every Corner Sing,” which is based on his writings.

Samuel Crossman was born in the town of Bradfield St. George in Suffolk, England. He received a bachelor of divinity degree at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he was grounded in Puritan theology.  As an Anglican Puritan minister, he served both an Anglican parish at All Saints, Sudbury, while simultaneously preaching to a Puritan congregation.  He took part in the non-conformist’s Savoy Conference, but was among the 2000 clergy ejected from the Church of England due to their refusal to submit to the 1662 Act of Uniformity, which demanded use of the official “Book of Common Prayer” for the liturgy in worship.  The Savoy Conference was a failed attempt to re-write the “Book of Common Prayer” that would be acceptable to Puritans as well as Anglicans.  It was during his exile from the Church of England that he wrote “My Song Is Love Unknown” as a poem in 1664. It was first published in “The Young Man’s Meditation” and then became published as an Anglican hymn in 1684, just two years after his death. The last verse of the hymn was written as an imitation of themes from George Herbert’s poem, “The Temple,” as a tribute by Crossman to Herbert.  After being expelled, Crossman recanted and was soon ordained in 1665, becoming a royal chaplain. He was called to a position in Bristol in 1667 and became Dean of Bristol Cathedral in 1683.  While at Bristol, he wrote 9 hymns.  After his death, he was buried in the south aisle of the Cathedral.

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This is a revision to the previously released study on this hymn – ed.

We all have childhood memories of coming into church on Palm Sunday, waving palm fronds.  For me, growing up in Miami, we had access to plenty of palm fronds in our neighborhoods, and some of those fronds were bigger than we were!  It was all in celebration of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry, a bold statement of His royal Messiahship, just days before His passion.

And the music of Palm Sunday has included marvelous celebrations of that royal entrance into Jerusalem, fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9-10.  And of course we love to hear the chorus Lift Up Your Heads, based on Psalm 24, in Handel’s classic oratorio Messiah.

Some of the greatest musical resources for us are found in our hymnals, including All Glory, Laud, and Honor.  The music we use for this was written about 1615 by Melchior Teschner, a church theologian/ musician, about a century after Luther posted his 95 Theses that launched the Protestant Reformation.  It has been given the tune name ST. THEODULPH, named after the man who wrote the words we use today, Theodulph of Orleans.  Here is his story.

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One of the most precious doctrines of the Christian faith is that of atonement.  Some of us will remember learning as children in Sunday School the simple definition that comes from dividing the syllables of the word to spell “at-one-ment.”  Our sins have separated us from God, placing us under His wrath and curse, and making us His enemies.  But by His sacrificial death for us on the cross, Jesus has taken that curse on Himself and removed the barrier between us and the Father.  Apart from His work, we would have been permanently barred from God’s presence and favor, but now by His atonement we are permanently and graciously “at one” with Him.

This is not a doctrine unique to the New Testament.  It has its origins in the earliest chapters of the Bible where Adam and Eve’s sin cut them off from God’s presence, resulting in their being driven from the Garden of Eden.  But God’s grace was evident from the very beginning of human history as God Himself provided a substitute as He took the life of an animal, shedding its blood, to make atonement for them, a covering for them in their physical nakedness, symbolizing His providing a covering for their spiritual nakedness.

And in an even more dramatic way, God enshrined this principle in the Mosaic sacrificial and ceremonial system with the provisions for observing the annual Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement (literally the day of covering) for the people of Israel, described in Leviticus 16.  The two major sacrifices on that day taught His people about the parallel dimensions of expiation and propitiation.  The sins of the people were understood to be transferred to these substitutes.  In the first, what we remember as the “scapegoat” was led far out into the wilderness where it could never return.  This taught them that their sins were removed “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12), never to be remembered against them (Hebrews 8:12).  This was the expiation side of atonement. In the second, with their sins once again transferred to the animal substitute, its blood was shed as it was killed, thus demonstrating that God’s justice was satisfied. This was the propitiation side of atonement.

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When a loved one or a dear friend dies, we who know the Lord experience what Paul wrote to the church in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, “We grieve but not like those who have no hope.”  As Christians we know that death cannot hold us, but it still hurts terribly.  Tears are normal, and even beautiful, at the funeral service of one who has been called home to be with the Lord.  But our tears are unique, in that those tears of sadness and mourning are mixed with tears of joy and celebration.

There are few events in which the differences between a Christian and a non-Christian are seen in such stark contrast as at a believer’s funeral.  Pastors can testify how often they have seen the difference as they look out from the pulpit over the assembled congregation.  There have been those whose faces reflect either the misery of bleak hopelessness or just the struggle to hang on to pleasant memories.  And then there are those whose faces glow with that special smile, even through tears, that make it clear that they know “the secret!”

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Paul wrote in Galatians 6:14, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”  We are carefully self-conscious in making sure that we don’t glory in other things than the cross (the negative side of Paul’s admonition).  But are we equally conscious to make sure that we do actually and whole heartedly glory in the cross (the positive side)?  The cross signifies something incredibly glorious to believers, as it points us to the enormity of God’s love for us in giving His Son to die on “that old rugged cross” as the atoning sacrifice for our salvation.  That’s the sentiment we feel, as in this beautiful quote from Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661), letter 62. “Welcome, welcome, welcome, sweet, sweet cross of Christ; welcome fair, fair, lovely, royal King with Thine own cross.  Let us all three go to heaven together.”  (Rutherford was a Scottish Presbyterian pastor and theologian, and one of the Scottish commissioners to the Westminster Assembly.)

As a gruesome instrument used to execute the worst of criminals, the cross is what God used to accomplish the magnificent redemption of His elect.  When Jesus took our sins upon Himself, “He who knew no sin became sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21), enduring that curse (Galatians 3:13) as He virtually became the worst of all criminals, with all of the sin of all of the elect of all ages placed on Him (Isaiah 53:6), though not becoming thereby a sinner Himself.  Though the cross is a terrible thing, for believers, Christ’s cross is a marvelous thing.  It’s in that cross that we glory.

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None of us feels that we have achieved the prayer life that we want to have, or that we ought to have.  Even the disciples instinctively knew that was true, as they were with Jesus day in and day out, hearing the way He prayed to His Father in heaven.  That’s why they asked Him in Luke 11:1, “Lord, teach us to pray.”  And then Jesus proceeded to give them the words to “The Lord’s Prayer,” which we ought to call “The Disciples’ Prayer,” since the actual Lord’s Prayer is what we have, recorded in John 17 as “Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer.”

Prayer is not only essential in the Christian life.  It is also one of the greatest privileges afforded to us, that at any moment and in any place, we can instantly stand in the throne room of heaven and talk to the God of the universe, addressing Him in this intimate, but reverent language, as our heavenly Father, knowing that our presence and our petitions are not only accepted, but welcomed.   One author has written that it is such an enormous privilege, and awesome honor … even frighteningly so … that when we enter a church worship service to come into God’s presence in prayer, we should not only be handed a hymnal, but even a seat belt and a crash helmet!

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None of us experiences a life free from trials.  They come in many forms and at many times.  Some are from without, as we experience loss or opposition.  Some come from within, as we are weighed down by discouragement and even depression.  Others are the result of debilitating illness or broken relationships.   Sadly, for some it can even be result of war.  Sometimes they catch us off guard, and if we are not spiritually armed, we will find ourselves struggling, wondering where God is, and if He has deserted us.  But what is common to us all is that we will experience situations where we cannot manage in our own strength, but must cry out to the Lord.

The Thirty Years War in Germany was such a time.  This conflict lasted from 1618 to 1648, as competing forces sought to gain control of the region, either Protestant or Catholic.  As armies engaged one another, common folk were caught in the middle.  One-third of the population of the country died during those years.  It wasn’t just the soldiers in battle (and the collateral civilian deaths).  It was also the diseases that spread from the decaying corpses in the fields, and the starvation that resulted from food supplies being destroyed by the retreating armies.  Back and forth the pendulum swung, until the Peace of Westphalia finally brought it to an end.

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