The Solid Rock – T4G 2008

     

The Solid Rock

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

The Solid Rock
Edward Mote, 1797-1834
William B Bradbury 1816-1868

Be Still, My Soul

Be Still, My Soul

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.

Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, believing, to Thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

Words: Ka­tha­ri­na A. von Schle­gel, in Neue Samm­lung Geist­lich­er Lied­er, 1752 (Stille, meine Wille, dein Je­sus hilft sie­gen);
trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Jane L. Borth­wick in Hymns from the Land of Lu­ther, 1855.
Music: Fin­land­ia, Jean Si­bel­i­us, 1899

The Lord’s My Shepherd (Psalm 23)

The Lord’s My Shepherd (Psalm 23)

THE LORD’S MY SHEPHERD, I’ll not want.
He makes me lie in pastures green.
He leads me by the still, still waters,
His goodness restores my soul.

And I will trust in You alone.
And I will trust in You alone,
For Your endless mercy follows me,
Your goodness will lead me home.
(Descant)
I will trust, I will trust in You.
I will trust, I will trust in You.
Endless mercy follows me,
Goodness will lead me home.

He guides my ways in righteousness,
And He anoints my head with oil,
And my cup, it overflows with joy,
I feast on His pure delights.

And though I walk the darkest path,
I will not fear the evil one,
For You are with me, and Your rod and staff
Are the comfort I need to know.

Stuart Townend.
Copyright © 1996 Thankyou Music.

Jesus Draw Me Ever Nearer

Chorus 1
May this journey bring a blessing
May I rise on wings of faith
And at the end of my heart’s testing
With Your likeness let me wake

Verse
Jesus draw me ever nearer
As I labor thro’ the storm
You have called me to this passage
And I’ll follow tho’ I’m worn

Verse 2
Jesus guide me thro’ the tempest
Keep my spirit staid and sure
When the midnight meets the morning
Let me love You even more

Chorus 2
May this journey be a blessing
May I rise on wings of faith
And at the end of my heart’s testing
With Your likeness let me wake

Verse 3
Let the treasures of the trial
Form within me as I go
And at the end of this long passage
Let me leave them at Your throne

Ending
Jesus draw me ever nearer
Jesus draw me ever nearer
Jesus draw me ever nearer to You
To You

2002 Modern M. Music (Admin. by Music Services)
Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
Writer(s): Keith Getty, Margaret Becker

Bow the Knee: Trust the heart of your Father when the answer goes beyond what you can see.

Bow the Knee

There are moments on our journey following the Lord
Where God illumines ev’ry step we take.
There are times when circumstances make perfect sense to us,
As we try to understand each move He makes.
When the path grows dim and our questions have no answers, turn to Him.

Bow the knee;
Trust the heart of your Father when the answer goes beyond what you can see.
Bow the knee;
Lift your eyes toward heaven and believe the One who holds eternity.
And when you don’t understand the purpose of His plan,
In the presence of the King, bow the knee.

There are days when clouds surround us, and the rain begins to fall,
The cold and lonely winds won’t cease to blow.
And there seems to be no reason for the suffering we feel;
We are tempted to believe God does not know.
When the storms arise, don’t forget we live by faith and not by sight.

Related Post(s):

Bow the Knee: Lift your eyes toward heaven and believe the One who holds eternity.

O Church, Arise

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. Heb 10:35-36

O church, arise and put your armor on;
Hear the call of Christ our captain;
For now the weak can say that they are strong
In the strength that God has given.
With shield of faith and belt of truth
We’ll stand against the devil’s lies;
An army bold whose battle cry is “Love!”
Reaching out to those in darkness.

Our call to war, to love the captive soul,
But to rage against the captor;
And with the sword that makes the wounded whole
We will fight with faith and valor.
When faced with trials on ev’ry side,
We know the outcome is secure,
And Christ will have the prize for which He died—
An inheritance of nations.

Come, see the cross where love and mercy meet,
As the Son of God is stricken;
Then see His foes lie crushed beneath His feet,
For the Conqueror has risen!
And as the stone is rolled away,
And Christ emerges from the grave,
This vict’ry march continues till the day
Ev’ry eye and heart shall see Him.

So Spirit, come, put strength in ev’ry stride,
Give grace for ev’ry hurdle,
That we may run with faith to win the prize
Of a servant good and faithful.
As saints of old still line the way,
Retelling triumphs of His grace,
We hear their calls and hunger for the day
When, with Christ, we stand in glory.

Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

The Harmony of God’s Providence and its Uniform Designs

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

When God allows severe trials and afflictions come into our lives, as feeble human beings, they test our faith in God. Are trials and afflictions in fact  privileges of God’s children ? From the scriptures, it is clear that God is  always on the His throne and in control. He does what He purposes for His Glory.  He acts out of His sovereign will.   The redeemed belong to Christ, He bought them by His own blood. Everything that comes into our lives does not come by chance but is all a  manifestation of God’s fore knowledge and special care for his children, all them who loved God and are Christ’s redeemed.  Christ  promised that He will never leave His sheep. In our journey of life as sojourners through this earth , all providences come about for the good of those that are Christ’s. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

In this embedded clip  is a moving testimony of Brady, a young boy who was diagnosed with brain cancer at age of 10.  It was then God shined the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ into his heart.  He was transformed  and showed great joy through the 4 years of living  and suffering with this terminal illness. His testimony before all people who came into contact with him showed that he had a great hunger for God showing  much faith and joy in knowing that God was at work in him. Through it all, the testimony of his parents showed that their lives and that of their other two children were drawn much closer to God through the experience that Brady underwent. We may not have the answers now as to why God allowed experience such as this to come to Brady  but we can trust that such  seemingly sad experience worked for His purpose and for His Glory. God ensured that all things worked together for good for Brady and his family.

In Matthew Henry‘‘s commentary on Rom 8:28:
The privilege of the saints, that all things work together for good to them, that is, all the providences of God that concern them. All that God performs he performs for them, Psalms 57:2. Their sins are not of his performing, therefore not intended here, though his permitting sin is made to work for their good, 2 Chron 32:31. But all the providences of God are theirs – merciful providences, afflicting providences, personal, public. They are all for good; perhaps for temporal good, as Joseph’s troubles; at least, for spiritual and eternal good. That is good for them which does their souls good. Either directly or indirectly, every providence has a tendency to the spiritual good of those that love God, breaking them off from sin, bringing them nearer to God, weaning them from the world, fitting them for heaven. Work together. They work, as physic works upon the body, various ways, according to the intention of the physician; but all for the patient’s good. They work together, as several ingredients in a medicine concur to answer the intention. God hath set the one over against the other (Ecc 7:14): sunergei, a very singular, with a noun plural, denoting the harmony of Providence and its uniform designs, all the wheels as one wheel, Eze 10:13. He worketh all things together for good; so some read it. It is not from any specific quality in the providences themselves, but from the power and grace of God working in, with, and by, these providences. All this we know – know it for a certainty, from the word of God, from our own experience, and from the experience of all the saints.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. Psalms  57:2

God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.” 2 Chron 32:31

In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. Ecc 7:14

Christians Upset and Bitter About Trials

"Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul." Job 7:11

Warren Wiersbe

“Our values determine our evaluations. If we value comfort more than character, then trials will upset us. If we value the material and physical more than the spiritual, we will not be able to `count it all joy.’ If we live only for the present and forget the future, then trials will make us bitter, not better”

(Be Mature, [Wheaton, Ill.: Victor, 1978], p.23 by Warren Wiersbe).

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:2-4, 12

As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.  Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. James 5:10-11

Related Posts:

Sovereignty of God: My Grace is All Sufficient Through Deep Waters I Asked You To Go

Job: When the Righteous Suffer, Part 1 by John Piper

Job: When the Righteous Suffer, Part 2 by John Piper