Thought for the day

6 I’ve lived far too long
     with people who hate peace.
7 I’m for peace,
     but when I speak, they are for war.
Ps 120:6–7 (CEB)

Wonderful Peace (hymn)

494 Wonderful Peace

1 Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight,
   Rolls a melody sweeter than psalm;
   In celestial like strains it unceasingly falls
   O'er my soul like an infinite calm.

Chorus:
   Peace! peace! wonderful peace,
   Coming down from the Father above;
   Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray,
   In fathomless billows of love.

2 What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace,
   Buried deep in my innermost soul;
   So secure that no power can mine it away,
   While the years of eternity roll! [Chorus]

3 I am resting to-night in this wonderful peace,
   Resting sweetly in Jesus' control;
   I am kept from all danger by night and by day,
   And his glory is flooding my soul. [Chorus]

4 I believe when I rise to that city of peace,
   Where the Author of peace I shall see,
   That one strain of the song which the ransomed will sing,
   In that heavenly kingdom will be, [Chorus]

5 Weary soul, without gladness or comfort or rest,
   Passing down the rough pathway of time!
   Make the Saviour your friend ere the shadows grow dark;
   O accept of this peace so sublime. [Chorus]
                         W. D. Cornell
                         Hymns for the Family of God

Psalm 83 (paraphrased)

490 Psalm 83

I am so depressed tonight, O God.
I feel as if I am the sole target of an enemy barrage —that all the demons of hell are bent upon damning my soul for eternity.

I remember Your precious promises, but I do not witness their fulfillment.
I talk to people about Your love, and they drown my zeal with scorn.
I step forth to carry out Your will, but I feel no sense of accomplishment.
I mouth words, wave my arms, and beat the air with fruitless endeavor.
Then I fall like a wounded warrior, bone-weary, defeated, and lonely.
And I wonder if You are truly my God, and if I am really Your child.

Consume, O God, these demons that depress, these enemies that plague my soul.
May the whirlwind of Your Spirit sweep them out of my life forever.
May I awaken in the morning with a heart full of joy, and with the strength and the courage to walk straight and secure in the dangerous and difficult paths before me.
                         —Leslie Brandt
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
Wow. This paraphrase really speaks to me. It's so raw and real. No wonder people have been drawn to the psalms for thousands of years. They aren't afraid to be real with God. May I be that honest with him!
</idle musing>

In spite of our resistance…

When we read in the Old Testament that God is just and righteous, this doesn’t refer to a threatening abstract quality that God has over against us. It is much more like a verb than a noun, because it refers to the power of God to make right what has been wrong. That in itself sounds inoffensive enough, but the radical message underlying it, and the one we resist, is that God does this right-making in spite of our resistance.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 134 (emphasis original)

Real Prayer

484 Real Prayer

The prayer preceding all prayer is,
"May it be the real I who speaks.
May it be the real Thou
that I speak to."
   C. S. Lewis
   Hymns for the Family of God

"Right relationship"

Perhaps the most succinct thing we can say against “right relationship” as an adequate definition of righteousness is that it is not a verb! The most important thing to remember about the righteousness of God is that it is the powerful action of God in making right. “Righteousness in the Old Testament is not some ontological state of cosmic harmony, but an event inaugurated by God’s intervention in the world for the sake of humanity and rendered according to the divine will” (Brevard Childs, Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments: Theological Reflection on the Christian Bible [Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993], 490).—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 134 n. 61 (emphasis original)

May the Mind of Christ, My Savior

483 May the Mind of Christ, My Savior

1 May the mind of Christ my Savior
   Live in me from day to day,
   By his love and pow'r inspiring
   All I do or say.

2 May the Word of God dwell richly
   In my heart from hour to hour,
   So that all may see I triumph
   Only through his pow'r.

3 May the peace of God my Father
   Rule my life in ev'rything,
   That I may be calm to comfort
   Sick and sorrowing.

4 May the love of Jesus fill me
   As the waters fill the sea,
   Him exalting, self abasing --
   This is victory!

5 May I run the race before me,
   Strong and brave to face the foe,
   Looking only unto Jesus
   As I onward go.

6 May his spirit live within me
   As I seek the lost to win,
   And may they forget the channel,
   Seeing only him.
                         Kate B. WWilkinson
                         Hymns for the Family of God

A different kind of outrage

Where is the outrage? It is God’s own; it is the wrath of God against all that stands against his redemptive purpose. It is not an emotion; it is God’s righteous activity in setting right what is wrong. It is God’s intervention on behalf of those who cannot help themselves.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 132 (emphasis original)

O To Be Like Thee

480 O To Be Like Thee

1 O to be like Thee! Blessed Redeemer,
   this is my constant longing and prayer;
   gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
   Jesus Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Refrain:
   Oh! to be like Thee! O to be like Thee,
   blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art!
   Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
   stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

2 O to be like Thee! Full of compassion,
   loving, forgiving, tender, and kind;
   helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
   seeking the wand’ring sinner to find. [Refrain]

3 O to be like Thee! Lowly in spirit,
   holy and harmless, patient, and brave;
   meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
   willing to suffer, others to save. [Refrain]

4 O to be like Thee! Lord, I am coming
   now to receive th’anointing divine;
   all that I am and have I am bringing,
   Lord, from this moment all shall be Thine. [Refrain]

5 O to be like Thee! While I am pleading,
   pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
   make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
   fit me for life and heaven above. [Refrain]
                         Thomas O. Chisholm
                         Hymns for the Family of God

Tozer for Tuesday

Unfortunately, many Christians settle for less than God’s conscious, manifest presence in their daily walk. There is a strain of loneliness infecting many Christians, which only the presence of God can cure. Why do so many Christians shy away from the holy presence of God? God’s face (His realized, manifested and enjoyed presence) may be the treasure of all God’s people.—A.W. Tozer, Experiencing the Presence of God, 146

Fill Thou My Life, O Lord My God

479 Fill Thou My Life, O Lord My God

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

2 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:

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

4 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.

5 So shalt thou, Lord, receive from me
   the praise and glory due;
   and so shall I begin on earth
   the song for ever new.

6 So shall no part of day or night
   unblest or common be,
   but all my life, in every step,
   be fellowship with thee.
                         Horatius Bonar
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
Not a terribly popular hymn, only occurring in about 100 hymnals. Hymnary.org inserts a verse:

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

</idle musing>

Injustice is real! Suffering is real! God is real!

The Dalai Lama has been an admirable symbol of courage around the world and continues to trouble the Chinese Communist regime with his steadfast presence and his hold on his people and their aspirations. His inability or unwillingness to integrate injustice and suffering with his worldview, however, limits him. It is interesting to contrast him with his friend Desmond Tutu. Both of them have famous laughs. As has been noted by several observers, however, the Dalai Lama often uses his laugh to deflect attention from unpleasant subjects. He and Tutu are friends, but Tutu never laughs in that way. His laugh is an eschatological sign of God’s triumph over evil. He has felt the intensity of the struggle in his bones in a way that does not appear either in the demeanor or in the writings of the Dalai Lama. For him, suffering is the way to compassion, which is the way to happiness and the cessation of suffering. His teaching often sounds as if suffering and compassion were not connected to actual suffering human beings at all, but are stages along the way to personal happiness and even “achieving one’s goals.” Dalai Lama, with Howard C. Cutler, The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living (New York: Riverhead Books, 1998), 128-30, 228, 310, and various other passages throughout.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 124 n. 40

More about Jesus Would I Know

477 More about Jesus Would I Know

1 More about Jesus would I know,
   more of His grace to others show;
   more of His saving fullness see,
   more of His love who died for me.

Refrain:
   More, more about Jesus;
   more, more about Jesus;
   more of His saving fullness see,
   more of His love who died for me.

2 More about Jesus let me learn,
   more of His holy will discern.
   Spirit of God, my Teacher be,
   showing the things of Christ to me. [Refrain]

3 More about Jesus in His Word,
   holding communion with my Lord,
   hearing His voice in ev'ry line,
   making each faithful saying mine. [Refrain]

4 More about Jesus on His throne,
   riches in glory all His own;
   more of His kingdom's sure increase;
   more of His coming, Prince of Peace. [Refrain]
                         Eliza E. Hewitt
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
Take a minute to click through to the biography of the hymnwriter.
</idle musing>