Category: Devotions

Thursday 3^rd

Philippians 2:9

NIV – ‘Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name . . .’

ESV – ‘Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name . . .’

‘All hail the power of Jesus’s name!’

Edward Perronet  – RH 2

Yesterday we considered the glorious message concerning the Lord Christ, today we consider the glorious majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result of his obedience in coming into this world to save sinners, ‘God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’

Scripture informs us of the coming of Jesus into this world, it tells us of his life and his ministry, it tells us of his death, burial and resurrection and continues to tell us of his ascension, that moment when he returned to his Father, Acts 1:9 ‘And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.’ The following verses show that he went up into heaven, then in verse 33 of Acts 2 we read that he has been exalted to the right hand of God, and then our text verse above tells us that he has been given a name which is above every other name, he is in a position that is above any other, he is seated in majesty.

Our hymn today is all about the powerful and majestic name of Jesus and the glory and the honour which he rightly deserves. The chorus part says, ‘Crown him, crown him, crown him Lord of all.’

The first line of the hymn, ‘All hail the pow’r of Jesus’ name’, is a timely reminder of the power that is in the name of Jesus. The name Jesus, although an ordinary name in some parts of the world today, is an extraordinary name when it is ascribed to the Lord Jesus Christ, it is a name to which we owe so much, it is the name we love to hear. In our hymn yesterday we had the line, ‘glory to his name, glory to his name’. There is another hymn in the RH by Tersteegen that goes, ‘Name of Jesus! highest name! Name that earth and heaven adore! From the heart of God it came, leads me to God’s heart once more.’ John Newton wrote ‘How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer’s ear; it soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear.’ Frank Whitefield wrote ‘There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing its worth, it sounds like music to mine ear, the sweetest name on earth. What about the words that W. C. Martin wrote, ‘The name of Jesus is so sweet, I love its music to repeat; it makes my joys full and complete, the precious name of Jesus. Jesus! oh, how sweet the name, Jesus! every day the same! Jesus! let all saints proclaim its worthy praise for ever.’

If there is anything that we should dislike as those who believe in this precious name is when we hear unbelievers taking the name of our Saviour and using it as a swear word, or as a cussing word, the same must also be said about the taking of  God’s name in vain, it has become so common place today, even yesterday I was out in the garden and I heard one of the neighbours children behind us, who is very young just continually blaspheming and sadly with the way that we love to shorten words today to a few letters is being used with the three letters ‘omg’ – it saddens me when I hear Christians using it or saying it, God’s name is a holy name, Jesus’ name is an exalted name, and we who are blood washed need also to honour both the name of Almighty God and of the name of our wonderful Saviour. When the world despises both these names, we exalt them, we give to them the highest place.

Another hymn encourages us to ‘Take the name of Jesus with you, child of sorrow and of woe; it will joy and comfort give you—take it then where’er you go’ May we continually with our lips and by the testimony of our lives exalt the name of Jesus, the same hymn continues, ‘Precious name, oh how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heav’n; precious name, oh, how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heav’n’.

All hail the pow’r of Jesus’ name!

Let angels prostrate fall,

Bring forth the royal diadem,

And crown Him, crown Him,

Crown Him Lord of all!

Crown him, ye martyrs of our God,

Who from his altar call;

Extol the stem of Jesse’s rod,

And crown him Lord of all.

Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race,

A remnant weak and small,

Hail Him who saves you by His grace,

And crown him Lord of all.

Ye Gentile sinners, ne’er forget

The wormwood and the gall,

Go, spread your trophies at His feet,

And crown him Lord of all.

Let every kindred, every tribe,

On this terrestrial ball,

To Him all majesty ascribe,

And crown him Lord of all.

O that with yonder sacred throng

We at His feet may fall!

Join in the everlasting song,

And crown him Lord of all.

Wednesday 2^nd

Hebrews 13:8

NIV – ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.’

ESV – ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.’

‘Oh, how sweet the glorious message.’

A. B. Simpson – RH 137

We all love good news, we all love to pass on good news, we have all enjoyed receiving good news, it may have been good news concerning all manner of different things, the news of a birth, the news of an achievement, the news of a new job etc. but the best news of all is the glorious message concerning the good news of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The hymn centres the good news around the well-known verse in Hebrews 13, ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.’ In an ever-changing world this is good news, a glorious message, the person on whom it is based never changes and the message itself never changes.

Listen to what the second part of verse one says, ‘Still he loves to save the sinful, heal the sick and lame, cheer the mourner, still the tempest –glory to his name!’

Let’s just stop and consider these words, ‘Still he loves to save the sinful’, this is good news, when we go back into Scripture and the ministry of Jesus we see how he came across sinners, men and women and he took their broken lives and mended them, Zacchaeus who by his own admission had robbed people by taking more tax than he should have done as a tax collector, but he met Jesus and afterwards he repaid those who he had robbed fourfold, and of whom Jesus said, ‘Today salvation has come to this house . . .’ There was the woman that Jesus met at the well, a Samaritan woman who lived an unsavoury lifestyle, but after meeting with Jesus she went running to the town, to tell people to ‘Come and see a man who had told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? As a result, many believed. There was the woman who had been caught in the act of adultery and when it came to the point of condemning her, Jesus said, ‘Has no one condemned you?’ To which she replied, ‘No one, Lord.’ Jesus then said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.’ Often, we are told that Jesus sat with the publicans and sinners, why? well the account of Zacchaeus continues with these words, ‘For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’ And Jesus is the same today, he is still seeking the lost and he is still willing to save them – this is good news, this is a glorious message, perhaps you may be reading this today and you have never committed your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, maybe you are found in situations similar to those who I have mentioned from the Scripture, well this is the good news, your life can also be turned around, you too can know the forgiveness of sin that is available through coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, you too can now what it is to be saved by the grace of God.

There is another hymn that starts off with, ‘Great God of wonders, all thy ways, describe thy attributes divine’, it continues later with these words, ‘Who is a pardoning God like thee, or who has grace so rich so free? The answer is to be found in the text for today, it is to be found in the one who God sent into this world to save sinners, it is only within the Christian faith, that the true source of eternal salvation can be found, for it is found in the one who is ‘the same yesterday, and today, and forever’, who is also ‘the way, and the truth, and the life’ and NO ONE can come to the Father except through Jesus. The way is the same, the person is the same, the message is still the same – the Lord Jesus Christ and the Cross.

Read through the rest of this hymn and whatever your circumstances or situation today, remember that the one who this song is all about is with you today, allow him to come into your life to still the storm, allow him to come and to bring healing and wholeness, allow him to come and to minster into the depth of your soul, he is still the same, yesterday, today, and forever.

Oh, how sweet the glorious message,

Simple faith may claim:

Yesterday, today, forever,

Jesus is the same;

Still he loves to save the sinful,

Heal the sick and lame,

Cheer the mourner, still the tempest,

—glory to his name!

Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same,

All may change, but Jesus never—glory to his name!

Glory to his name! Glory to his name!

All may change, but Jesus never—glory to his name!

He who pardoned erring Peter,

Never needst thou fear;

He who came to faithless Thomas,

All thy doubt will clear;

He who let the loved disciple,

On His bosom rest,

Bids thee still, with love as tender,

Lean upon His breast.

He who ‘mid the raging billows,

Walked upon the sea,

Still can hush our wildest tempest,

As on Galilee;

He who wept and prayed in anguish,

In Gethsemane,

Drinks with us each cup of trembling,

In our agony.

As of old he walked to Emmaus,

With them to abide,

So through all life’s way he walketh,

Ever near our side;

Soon again we shall behold him,

Hasten Lord the day;

But twill still be this same Jesus

As he went away.

Tuesday June 1^st

1 Peter 1:25

NIV – ‘”. . . but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.’

ESV – ‘”. . . but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.’

‘How firm a foundation.’

George Keith – RH 264

Yesterday we looked at a hymn that speaks of God’s everlasting love, today the hymn is all about his eternal Word. The hymn reminds us that the Word of God is a sure and solid foundation on which we can build our faith upon, it is also a sure and solid guide on which we can base our lives upon. The Word of God is as we are reminded in Psalm 119:105 a reliable and trustworthy ‘lamp to my feet and a light to my path.’

I love books, too much Elaine would say! even this week I have finally manged to purchase through an on-line site a full collection of the ‘Encyclopaedia Britannica’ a set of books that I have always longed to own, but never been willing to pay the price they cost, I saw a set advertised on-line and for sale in Darlington, made an offer I didn’t expect them to accept, but they did and so I am waiting to collect them, but even though this will be another compilation of books to add to my collection, with all the information they contain, they will never offer to me the daily bread that I need to sustain my daily walk with God, there is only one source and it is his eternal Word. Above every book on my bookshelves, the Word of God is the most appreciated and the most valuable.

This hymn before us today reminds us that the Word of God tells us that God is with us as we navigate through life, whether our experience takes us down into the valley or up onto the mountain top, he is there to uphold us even as we go through the tough trying times, God is faithful, God is very present and all powerful. I wonder how often we can testify to the fact that in our experience the Word of God has become the source through which we have been inspired to continue, been given hope when we were feeling hopeless, and been given direction when we were feeling lost. We can also testify to its power to convict us, to encourage us, to develop us and to draw us closer to God and toward his will for our lives. This is because it is a living and a powerful Word as we are reminded in Hebrews 4:12 ‘For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.’ When we read it and meditate upon it prayerfully, we are allowing God himself to speak into our hearts, into the very depths of our being, we are allowing God’s Word to shape us, to form us, to develop us, and to direct us.

May we appreciate this firm foundation we have that is to be found in his excellent Word, may we give it the place that it deserves in our lives, may it not be a book like many others sat on a shelve gathering dust, but may it be our daily companion, making sure that we use it to dust out our lives, to be made clean and pure, as vessels that are holy and acceptable before God. I have often quoted a verse from Psalm 119:9 with these devotions, which I will quote again today, ‘How can a young man (or young woman) keep his way pure? By guarding it (I say respectfully, by dusting it off) according to your word.’

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!

What more can He say than to you He hath said,

You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

Fear not, I am with thee; oh be not dismayed!

For I am thy God and will still give thee aid:

I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand

Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

The rivers of grief shall not thee overflow:

For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless:

And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,

I will not, I will not desert to its foes!

That soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake,

I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!

Monday 31^st

Jeremiah 31:3

NIV – ‘The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”’

ESV – ‘. . . the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.’

‘Loved with everlasting love.’

G. Wade Robinson RH 380

This one of my favourite hymns, it is a hymn that reminds us that we are loved with an everlasting love, a love which has impacted our lives, and has also had an impact on our outlook on life. It is a love which we would know nothing about except by the grace of God, it is a love we did not deserve, but by the grace of God, and it is a love which we cannot fully comprehend but by the grace of God, it is a love that I am so glad that I have come to know. The song reminds us that once we have been captivated by the everlasting Love of God, we see everything in a completely new way as expressed in the second verse, ‘Heaven above is softer blue, earth around is sweeter green, something lives in every hue, Christlike eyes have never seen . . .’ It amazes me that there are those who are so heavily involved in the natural world, who marvel at the wonder and the beauty of creation and yet they fail to see the Great Creator behind it all, they have to try and attempt to find another cause, but for us whose eyes and hearts have been opened to the wonderful love of God, we see behind it all the Creator God who not only created it all but also sustains it. That is the difference between men and women who have been captivated by God’s love and those who choose to spurn it, even to deny it.

The hymnal has the verse as quoted above from Jeremiah 31:3 which continues to talk of the faithfulness of God, because of God’s everlasting love, there stems also his continuing faithfulness from it, this reminds me that because he has set his love upon us and within us, he will never fail us or let us down, the day will come when all will be no more, ‘heaven and earth may fade and flee, firstborn light in gloom decline, but, while God and I shall be, I am his and he is mine’, that is the wonder of this everlasting love, it is an unending love that will endure through whatever life may throw at us, because of his great faithfulness.

The third verse should be a means of comfort to us, it reminds us that because of God’s everlasting love and the fact that we have come to know and to receive it we are to be found in a place of safety, ‘closed in everlasting arms.’

Paul reminds us of this amazing, incredible and everlasting love in his letter to the Church at Rome, Romans 8 of which I will remind us, ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (vv35-39)

Loved with everlasting love,

Led by grace that love to know;

Spirit, breathing from above,

Thou hast taught me it is so.

Oh, this full and perfect peace!

Oh, this transport all divine!

In a love which cannot cease,

I am His, and He is mine.

Heaven above is softer blue,

Earth around is sweeter green;

Something lives in every hue

Christless eyes have never seen:

Birds with gladder songs o’erflow,

Flow’rs with deeper beauties shine,

Since I know, as now I know,

I am His, and He is mine.

Things that once were wild alarms

Cannot now disturb my rest;

Closed in everlasting arms,

Pillowed on the loving breast.

Oh, to lie forever here,

Doubt and care and self resign,

While He whispers in my ear,

I am His, and He is mine.

His forever, only His:

Who the Lord and me shall part?

Ah, with what a rest of bliss

Christ can fill the loving heart.

Heaven and earth may fade and flee,

Firstborn light in gloom decline;

But, while God and I shall be,

I am His, and He is mine.

Friday 28^th

2 Timothy 1:6

NIV – ‘For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.’

ESV – ‘Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.’

‘O thou who camest from above.’

Charles Wesley – RH 546

It would be impossible for me to not consider this hymn as it is the one hymn that has probably influenced me the most as I have traversed through life.

From as early as I can remember this hymn has been the deep and sincere prayer from my heart. I could never sing it as a teenager without it bringing a deep sense of conviction in my life concerning the will and the purpose of God, asking that the desires of my heart would be good and godly desires, desires that would be centred around the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1-2—‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’)

The hymn starts off with a prayer asking God to kindle a flame of sacred love on the mean altar of our hearts, it is a prayer of consecration, a prayer expressing a desire to sanctify our lives to the will of God, and once the flame of sacred love for God and the things of God has been kindled, for it to burn with inextinguishable blaze, that we may continually return to its source in humble prayer and fervent praise. It is all about having firstly a deep love for God and for the things of God.

Verse three of the song is a prayer from the heart of an individual to be aligned to the will of God, to be willing to work and think and speak for him and a prayer that the flame will continue to burn, that the gifts that have been implanted within us by the Spirit of God will be stirred up. It is possible that we can become slack, or lukewarm in our love for God, for the things of God and in our service for God and we need to keep close to him, and continually allow the draught of the Holy Spirit to blow in our lives to keep the flame alight. Then in the final verse there is a declaration of commitment and obedience toward the will of God, ‘Ready for all thy perfect will, my acts of faith and love repeat, till death thy endless mercies seal, and make the sacrifice complete’ it is a prayer that speaks of total surrender to the will of God.

It is in Isaiah 6 we read the account of Isaiah and his vision of the Lord. I often think of this account with this hymn, for I like to think that this was the moment where the flame of sacred fire was lit on the mean altar of his heart, in verse 8 we read ‘Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then said I, ‘Here am I; send me’.’ He made himself ready for all the perfect will of God. For Moses I see the moment of the sacred fire being lit on the mean altar of his heart as he met with God by the bush that burned with fire but was not consumed, and as God called and commissioned him, he became a man who also was ready for all God’s perfect will.

God has a plan, his will and purpose for every one of us, the challenge to bring to each one of us from the use of this hymn is this, have we allowed the flame of sacred love to be kindled upon the mean altar of our hearts, do we allow it to burn with inextinguishable blaze, are our desires such that we want to be working, speaking, and thinking for Jesus, are we ready for all his perfect will?

Taking the text that the hymnal compilers have used, maybe there is someone reading this who needs to fan into flame again the gift of God. May God help us all to remain in that place or position which is the centre of his will.

O thou who camest from above,

The pure celestial fire to impart,

Kindle a flame of sacred love

On the mean altar of my heart!

There let it for thy glory burn

With inextinguishable blaze;

And trembling to its source return,

In humble prayer and fervent praise.

Jesus, confirm my heart’s desire

To work and speak and think for thee;

Still let me guard the holy fire,

And still stir up thy gift in me.

Ready for all thy perfect will,

My acts of faith and love repeat,

‘Til death thy endless mercies seal,

And make my sacrifice complete.

Thursday 27^th

Psalm 91:1

NIV – ‘Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.’

ESV – ‘He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.’

KJV – ‘He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.’

‘Dwelling in the secret place, overshadowed by his grace.’

Grace Clement – RH95

This is the hymn that Anne chose for Tim to play during communion a week or so ago, it is a hymn that reminds us that we dwell in a place of safety once we have committed our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many castles in Great Britain that were built to be places of fortitude, places of safety in the midst of conflict, there are places where people can go to which are termed as places of refuge should they be at risk from others, some will have that place which they would call their safe place, a place where they can retire to, from everything else and be alone, this hymn reminds us that for all who trust in Jesus we can be found in a safe place, in the context of this hymn it is the secret place of prayer, where we shut ourselves away from the world and spend time in communion with the triune God, ‘hidden there from all alarm, safe from danger, fear and harm; holden up by his strong arm, seeing only Jesus’.

It is in that secret place that we can be truly blest, it is in that secret place where we can know what it is to truly rest, it is in that secret place that we can know intimacy with Christ, communing as close friends, deep in contemplation and deep in conversation, us talking, him listening, him talking and us listening, the place where we get strength, where we are renewed, the place where we can be sent from, equipped for whatever the day may bring.  But I want to also suggest that the secret place is also to be found in the Lord Jesus himself.

One of the great themes of the Pauline epistles is found in those two words ‘in Christ’, there is no better place to be found, in Christ we are new creations, in Christ we are complete, in Christ we are in a pace of safety. Whether we consider the secret place to be the place of prayer or of our being found in Christ, we can say, ‘dwelling there, how truly blest! Leaving all, how sweet to rest’.

The text that the hymnal has above this hymn is from the Old Testament and from that well known psalm, 91 and verse 1. It reminds us that we need to learn to be willing to dwell in the secret place (KJV) if we want to remain under the shadow of the Almighty. The newer versions do not use the words ‘secret place’, they use ‘dwells in the shelter’, whether we use ‘secret place’ or ‘shelter’, it tells us that we need to be somewhere other than out in the world, which is a place of danger or risk, and the place which is our place of safety is found in the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is available to all because of what he has done for us at Calvary, the place where he has defeated the enemy of our souls, in coming to Jesus we are not coming to a place of safety, amongst many, but to THE place of safety. He is the only place where we can be to be ‘safe from danger, fear and harm’, and to be ‘holden up by his strong arm’, as we draw close to him may we all be able to say, ‘seeing only Jesus.’

Dwelling in the secret place,

Overshadowed by his grace,

Looking up into his face,

Seeing only Jesus.

Hidden there from all alarm

Safe from danger, fear and harm;

Holden up by his strong arm,

Seeing only Jesus.

Dwelling there, how truly blest!

Leaving all, how sweet to rest,

Head upon my Saviour’s breast,

Seeing only Jesus.

Resting there, no more to roam,

Drawing near to heaven and home,

Waiting there until he come,

Seeing only Jesus.

Wednesday 26^th

Revelation 4:11

NIV – ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.’

ESV – ‘Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.’

‘Let me sing for the glory of heaven like a sunbeam has swept o’er my heart.’

S. Trevor Francis – RH 44

This hymn does not have a Scripture reference above it in the hymnal, so I have chosen the one I have used.

As I was preparing the devotions for this week I was looking out of the window (I’m writing this on May 17^th) and the tulips are still in bloom, I have never known a year when they have lasted so long, and because I planted them in intervals they have lasted even longer, and will probably still have some in a week or two, and while looking out, the words of this hymn came to mind, ‘Let me sing for the glory of heaven . . .’ the second and third verses says, ‘If thy works praise thee, Giver of good, if the sun shines his praise unto thee, if the wind, as it sighs through the wood, makes a murmur of song from each tree— then these lips, sure, a tribute shall bring, though unworthy the praises must be; shall all nature be vocal and sing, and no psalm of rejoicing from me?’ It is a challenge that if nature (and I see it in the beauty of the tulips as they stand in rows like a choir) cry out praise to the Lord God, then surely praise should also flow from these lips of mine. In yesterday’s devotion the challenge was for a thousand tongues to sing, in todays it is for lips that will speak out, shout out, sing out praise to Almighty God.

The fifth verse tells us the type of song we should be singing, ‘A song of a sinner forgiven, and a song that is music to thee; a song of a pilgrim to heaven, yes, a song from a sinner like me!’  it is a personal song of praise, praise that comes from my own heart as I (or as you) contemplate what Christ has done and is still doing as I make my pilgrimage, as I journey toward heaven, and yet the wonder is as is seen in verse 4 ‘And rejoice, though surrounded with praises, thou wilt still hear a song such as mine.’ When we are alone he hears our worship and praise, when we are in fellowship together in a local Church setting where we may be 30 – 40 gathered together, he hears our individual worship, praise, and even if we are in a mass gathering where the number may be a thousand or more, he still hears our worship, praise, that is not only the corporate voice but the individuals voice, ‘though surrounded with praises (which also includes the heavenly host) thou wilt still hear a song such as mine.

In the book of Revelation, we read of the elders bowing down before the throne and worshipping, we read also of the angels numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing . . . To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever.’ The day is coming when we will no longer sing ‘a song of a pilgrim to heaven’, we will sing as pilgrims who have arrived in heaven, and what a joy it is going to be to be able to join with the elders around the throne, with the myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands of angels and with all the redeemed of the Lamb to worship, to sing praise to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. And guess what? Even though the number will be innumerable, the One who sits upon the throne and the Lamb will still hear a voice such as mine! (and yours)

Let me sing, for the glory of heaven

Like a sunbeam has swept o’er my heart;

I would praise thee for sins all forgiven,

For thy love, which shall never depart.

If thy works praise Thee, Giver of good,

If the sun shines his praise unto thee,

If the wind, as it sighs through the wood,

Makes a murmur of song from each tree—

Then these lips, sure, a tribute shall bring,

Though unworthy the praises must be;

Shall all nature be vocal and sing,

And no psalm of rejoicing from me?

O wonderful, glorious Redeemer!

I would worship thee, Saviour Divine;

And rejoice, though surrounded with praises,

Thou wilt still hear a song such as mine.

A song of a sinner forgiven

and a song that is music to thee

A song of a pilgrim to heaven.

Yes, a song from a sinner like me.

Tuesday 25^th

Psalm 9:1

NIV – ‘I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.’

ESV – ‘I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.’

‘Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise.’

Charles Wesley – Redemption Hymnal  8

I have just opened my music copy of the Redemption Hymnal and noticed that I have marked inside the date when I first had it, Spring Bank Holiday Convention, Hereford, 29^th May 1976. The day after I left school! It is very worn, the cover is falling off, some of the index pages are missing, and the long edges of the pages are wearing away from the use that it has had, but, the book may be old, most of the hymns are old, some would say that they are old fashioned and out of date, but I will never agree, as they are full of timeless truth that have been a source of strength, help and blessing to countless millions over the years since the various authors composed the various hymns, hymns that have led people to worship, hymns that along with the preaching of the gospel have brought many to the foot of the Cross and hymns that have encouraged many, myself included to come to the place of surrendering wholly to the claims of the gospel.

The hymn I have turned to first, is the great hymn by Charles Wesley, ‘Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise’, it is a hymn that expresses the desire that should be deep within the heart of every blood washed believer to come before God in adoration and praise. It is a hymn that expresses that God has been so good to us that one tongue is almost insufficient to bring the praise and worship that he deserves, we need a thousand tongues because of the outpouring of his manifold blessings to those who love him.

It is Paul who reminds us in Ephesians 1:3 ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places . . .’ Every spiritual blessing deserves our thanks, beside all the blessings of daily provision, material and physical, in the words of another hymn, ‘Count your many blessings, name them one by one’ if we were to do this, we would need the thousand tongues to sing our great Redeemer’s praise!

Charles Wesley expresses some wonderful truth in this hymn, in verse one it is to express the triumphs of God’s grace, verse 2 is a prayer that God will help us to proclaim the honours of his name, verse 3 a verse of praise to the Saviour’s name and verse 5 a call to celebration, but I quote from verse 4 ‘He breaks the power of cancelled sin, he sets the pris’ner free; his blood can make the foulest clean, his blood availed for me.’ This is the wonderful, good news of the gospel, it doesn’t matter how steeped we were in sin, how far into the gutter we had crawled, the precious shed blood of Jesus was and still is sufficient to cleanse and to save and what is more it not only cleanses us from sin, but it also cancels the sin, it blots it out, it is completely erased away! Surely this is worth singing about with the one tongue we do have let alone if we were to have a thousand tongues! May we forever be grateful and willing to express from our hearts and with our tongues, our great Redeemer’s praise.

O for a thousand tongues to sing

My great Redeemer’s praise

The glories of my God and King

The triumphs of his grace!

My gracious Master and my God

Assist me to proclaim

To spread thro’ all the earth abroad

The honours of your name

Jesus! the name that charms our fears

That bids our sorrows cease

’tis music in the sinner’s ears

’tis life and health and peace

He breaks the power of cancelled sin

He sets the pris’ner free;

His blood can make the foulest clean;

His blood availed for me

Hear him, ye deaf; his praise. Ye dumb,

Your loosened tongues employ;

Ye blind, behold your Saviour come;

And leap, ye lame, for joy!

Daily Devotions

Monday 24^th

Psalm 100:1-2

NIV (vv1-2) – ‘Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.’

ESV (vv1-2) – ‘Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!’

Over the next couple of weeks or so, I have chosen to take a different route for the devotions, and then we will return to continue to look at another book of the Bible.

The route I am taking is to look at some of the hymns, taken from the Redemption Hymnal, the music edition has at the top of each hymn a Scripture reference which I will commence each devotion with, the hymnal uses the KJV, but I will continue to use the references from both the NIV and ESV.

Over the last few months, I have enjoyed listening to some singing from a Church in Northern Ireland, and if you love the older hymns and some of the more modern ones, search ‘Youtube’ for Whitewall Metropolitan Tabernacle, Belfast and enjoy the music from there. Also search for ‘the 30 minute gospel hymn sing’.

The singing of hymns or songs has always been an integral part of Christian worship, the book of Psalms contains many songs that the Children of Israel would have sung, and David the psalmist continually encourages singing as a part of worship. Just as an example today we will read some of his words that encourage us to sing.

To sing the glory of his name, and praise to his name, Psalm 66:1-2 ‘Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise!’ Psalm 66:4 ‘All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.’ He encourages us to sing of the LORD’s steadfast love, Psalm 89:1, ‘I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.’ 101:1 ‘I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O LORD, I will make music.’ In this psalm he encourages the use of music and we know how he expressed this in the final psalm, 150, ‘Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!’ I know we all like differing styles and have preference for different instruments, but what matters is that they are played in a manner that brings praise and adoration to the LORD God and lead us to the place so that everything that has breath can praise the LORD! For in the previous psalm (149:1) we are encouraged to sing and praise together, ‘Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly!’ there is something powerful about corporate worship.

It is something we have missed being able to do as we have gathered together during the pandemic, but as restrictions begin to be lifted and we can begin to start enjoying ‘live’ music again, I trust that it will be the earnest desire of each one of us to ‘enter his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!’ (Psalm 100:4)

We end today with a psalm of praise Psalm 95:1-7 ‘Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.’

Friday 21st

Acts 1:6-11

NIV (v8) – ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”’

ESV (v8) – ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”’

This Sunday coming, will be what we call Whit Sunday or Pentecost, the day in the Church calendar in which we celebrate the arrival of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church 2000 years ago in Jerusalem.

Jesus had declared that he would build his Church and that the gates of Hell would not prevail against it. Since the Day of Pentecost, Hell has sought to do its best to wipe out the Church, but two thousand years later she is healthy and still growing as souls are added each day around the world.

In Acts 1 we see that Jesus had informed the disciples that after they had received the power of the Holy Spirit they would be witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. And the spread began immediately as on that first momentous day, three thousand souls were saved and soon they began to be dispersed taking the gospel with them.

It is said that the gospel first came to the shores of the United Kingdom in the first century as it was introduced as another religion among many religions in what then was a pagan Britain, those who followed Christianity though were persecuted until Constantine saw the use of one religion as a means of unifying the empire, so Christianity became permitted. It was later through the endeavour of Augustine and others that Christianity became more popular.

The UK has gone through periods of great awakenings where revival has taken place, and many have been added to the Church,  but what I want to focus on in this devotion is the missionary endeavours that have gone from the shores of this relatively small island that have caused a greater harvest to take place in so many different parts of the world.

We need to be mission minded, not only concerned for the salvation of souls on our own doorstep, but further afield within the United Kingdom and further afield around the nations of the world. The restrictions of the pandemic may have hindered our focus on mission, but something I want us as a local fellowship to be focused on in the future is the need for us to continue to cooperate with those who are involved in mission so that the good news of the gospel may continue to be shared and the Church that commenced being built on that first Day of Pentecost may continue to be built.

We cannot all go further afield, but we can give, and we can pray, and in doing so others can be sent and the gospel shared.

It is important that we consider giving out of our resources for mission beside that which we set aside as a tithe and as offering to the local Church, it is not a taking of a tenth and divvying it up into sections, the tenth is the tithe, which is for the work and ministry in the local Church, and our offerings and giving for mission should be above and beyond. Remembering that God loves a cheerful giver, we give to further the work of the gospel, we give that the kingdom of God might be extended, we give because we want above all that God will be glorified around the nations of the world. We give because God has given to us, we give because we want to be honourable in the use of the resources that God has entrusted to us.

I have not focused so much on Pentecost, that will be our theme as I continue this Sunday on the work of the Holy Spirit.