Tag: Give to the winds thy fears

A 1737 Hymn turns me around every time. “Give to the winds thy fears;”

1. Give to the winds thy fears;
hope and be undismayed.
God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears,
God shall lift up thy head.

2. Through waves and clouds and storms,
God gently clears the way;
wait thou God’s time; so shall this night
soon end in joyous day.

3. Leave to God’s sovereign sway
to choose and to command;
so shalt thou, wondering, own that way,
how wise, how strong this hand.

4. Let us in life, in death,
thy steadfast truth declare,
and publish with our latest breath
thy love and guardian care.
Paul Gerbhardt, translated by John Wesley, 1737).

“Hope and be undismayed . . . ”

These are times of great trouble. Persecuted Christians are imprisoned, there are economic struggles, deceptive governments, struggles in the church, physical illnesses, and losses of great magnitude, etc.

I wrote this first paragraph many years ago. But, it fits today.

What great comfort to know, God is the same. God’s Word never changes.

I feel as if, in life, I play a one-stringed guitar.

God’s Word tells us, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19).

This is my one-stringed theme in life. So, when my heart is out of tune, most likely there is no song around. A good-themed melody is a therapy for the heart and mind.

I share this old hymn from long ago, and want to encourage you to join me to put some voice on the words and speak these faith sounds to revive worn-out souls:

“Give to the winds thy fears; hope and be undismayed; God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears, God shall lift up thy head.”
“Through waves and clouds and storms, He gently clears thy way; Wait thou His time; So shall this night soon end in joyous day.”

The second stanza reminds me God is big when trials seem to build. Nothing is impossible with Him. I can trust Him. You can trust Him. We can trust God.

When we choose to believe and follow the Lord, He will faithfully lead us:

Leave to God’s sovereign sway
to choose and to command;
so shalt thou, wondering, own that way,
how wise, how strong this hand.

Have you given your life to the One who gave His own? Jesus paid it all. All our debt in full. Is today your day to rest in His strong, sovereign hand?

There is no death in Christ! To rest in His love is eternal love and life forever with Him.

Let us in life, in death,
thy steadfast truth declare,
and publish with our latest breath
thy love and guardian care.

We must rest in His Word and truth:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27.

If you feel the Lord tugging on your heart to pray, then talk to Him now. Salvation in Jesus is only a prayer away. Ask Him in your life.

He comes in and cleanses and makes new all the garbage and junk and debt of sin. We all have sin. We all need a Savior. Is today the day?

If you have the Lord and feel burdened and heavy on this day, talk to the Lord,

Through waves and clouds and storms,
God gently clears the way;
wait thou God’s time; so shall this night
soon end in joyous day.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor” Isaiah 61:1-3.

Are you changed today? For salvation or revived hope to persevere? Talk to someone about it!

God bless each of us today. How we need Jesus. In His name, we pray. Amen.

Re-charge with an old hymn to increase faith

Dead phones need a charger. Weary souls need a re-charger too. Paul Gerhardt knew about the need to be encouraged, so in 1656, he penned these words:

“Give to the winds Thy fears; Hope and be undismayed;

God hears Thy sighs and counts Thy tears,

God shall lift up Thy head.” Hymn by Paul Gerhardt, translated by John Wesley, 1656.

 Some old hymns need to find their way back in today’s busy minds.

A 1656 hymn speaks volumes, plain and clear for today, “hope and be undismayed.”

John Wesley is a familiar name. He’s the brother of Charles  Wesley, one of the 19 children born of  Samuel and Susanne Wesley. John was four years older than Charles, and  they both were used mightily by God.

But John Wesley had sighs and fears. All of human race has sighs, tears, and fears.

However, God lifts up our head. When we believe, our heads rise. 

“Through waves and clouds and storms, He gently clears Thy way; Wait Thou His time; So shall this night soon end in joyous day.”

Faith helps us wait for His time. Ecclesiastes 3:17 reminds us: 

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

This night will soon be over into a joyous day.

“Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD” Ps. 27:14.

God is God, we’re not. He is a Sovereign God, He knows the beginning from the end. But waiting on the LORD is hard. Our hearts become weak and weary. 

We struggle to trust Him. How we need to know Him and His love deeper and wider.

He knows everything about us, yet He loves us with tender-mercies.

There is no one like God. But do we know Him?

When we spend time with Him. He will strengthen our heart.

Faith is believing God. Wanting to know His Word, His Ways, His wisdom.

“Leave to God’s sov’reign sway To choose and to command; So shall thou, wond’ring, own that way, How wise, how strong His hand!”

 He desires my best, not my own wandering ways.

When I don’t fully understand, do I believe still?

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ Romans 10:17.

Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind Job 12: 9-10.

“How can tragic loss, disease, and strife bombard our lives as it does?”

We ask, we wonder, we doubt God’s love,

Yet His Hand remains to hold ours as we walk among thorns in this broken sin-cursed world.

There’s always hope, as long as there’s God.

“Let us in life, in death, Thy steadfast truth declare, And publish with our latest breath Thy love and guardian care.

God’s Word, a voice of love and care and steadfast truth: 

Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? 
 
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. 
 
 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. 
 
No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. 
 
 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. 
 
 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.
 
Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing Isaiah 40:21-26.

 

“Far, far above thy thought, His counsel shall appear, When fully He the work hath wrought, that caused thy needless fear.”

  He supernaturally lifts us to carry on . . .

Until that day,

He calls us home.

“Give to the winds thy fears. Hope and be undismayed.

God hears they sighs and counts thy tears.

God shall lift up thy head.”