Quite honestly, the melodies are often outdated, but the promises in the old hymns must be resurrected.
Heavy hearts burdened by news, energy zapped by full schedules, life today can easily invite fatigue pain, where is an emergency pick-me-up?
Well, first in a relationship with the God of Creation. As simply as calling on the name of His Son. Asking Him to come in and wash and renew, Jesus does all this, but it’s not a one time adventure, it’s a life’s walk . . .
and the walk is crooked, sharp, and filled with ills! We increase mental awareness and physical strength as we journey on, but our spirit is starved and grieved by the constant darkness and lies.
The Word is God’s promise. Sixty-six Books to bring hope. But the hymnal . . .
(quick, and go find one,) it’s an immediate help.
As nourishing is good food to the body, the Word and the hymns bring vitality to our weary spirits.
If I write today and one person opens and reads the words of a hymnal, and is infused with hope to believe in a greater way, my labor is not in vain.
Our spirits grow weary. We have wrecks over time, but the cross of Christ brings comfort.
Read aloud this old hymn: In the Cross of Christ I Glory, by John Bowring, 1825.
In the cross of Christ I glory,
towering o’er the wrecks of time;
all the light of sacred story
gathers round its head sublime.
When the woes of life o’ertake me,
hopes deceive, and fears annoy,
never shall the cross forsake me.
Lo! it glows with peace and joy.
Perhaps this brings a hunger and thirst to discover the hope of the cross.
Bowring penned his own experience in his hymn published in 1825. With 2020 approaching, can we glean from wisdom of old to help replenish our soul?
When the sun of bliss is beaming
light and love upon my way,
from the cross the radiance streaming
adds more luster to the day.
It’s as if spending time in meditation of these words brings us to an ocean’s shore where we feel the power of God to restore.
Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure,
by the cross are sanctified;
peace is there that knows no measure,
joys that through all time abide.
For me, this hymn brings me to a present place. To a beach and the warm sun, where God shows me His power, and in the vast beauty, His love.
Today, let’s let God take us beyond where we are. Let’s let Him encourage our sadness with His great arm of compassion, let us believe our God’s present help and direction, right now, restating:
In the cross of Christ I glory,
towering o’er the wrecks of time;
all the light of sacred story
gathers round its head sublime.
Finding myself at the cross today, I turned to, At the Cross, from Isaac Watts, 1701, as well. Revived and happy, I am filled and restored. Take time to read this aloud:
At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!
Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I?
Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give my self away
’Tis all that I can do.
Words: Isaac Watts (1707)
This is how I can glory in nothing but the cross of Christ. The hymnal heals my soul with immediate reminders of God’s love for me, you, . . . and the whole world.
May God bless you.