Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus / Louisa M.R. Stead / William J. Kirkpatrick
’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”
O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life, and rest, and joy, and peace.
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!
I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Will be with me to the end.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. Reproof, rebuke, correct, encourage and train me in righteousness. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen. I read Acts 21 (quoting vv. 10-14):
After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”
12 When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
As soon as I recorded this last verse (v. 14) in my handwritten journal, the Lord brought this song into my mind:
My Jesus, As Thou Wilt! / Benjamin Schmolck / Carl M. von Weber
My Jesus, as Thou wilt! Oh, may Thy will be mine!
Into Thy hand of love I would my all resign.
Through sorrow or through joy, conduct me as Thine own;
And help me still to say, ‘My Lord, Thy will be done.’
My Jesus, as Thou wilt! Though seen through many a tear,
Let not my star of hope grow dim or disappear.
Since Thou on earth has wept, and sorrowed oft alone,
If I must weep with Thee, ‘My Lord, Thy will be done.’
My Jesus, as Thou wilt! All shall be well for me;
Each changing future scene I gladly trust with Thee.
Straight to my home above I travel calmly on,
And sing, in life or death, ‘My Lord, Thy will be done.’
My Understanding: In both the Old Testament and the New Testament there were times when the Lord would have a prophet of God act out a prophecy. And, this was true in this story, as well, with this man named Agabus. He used Paul’s belt to illustrate how Paul would be bound by the Jews and handed over to the Gentiles. Sometimes the Lord uses real situations in my life like that where he gives me a spiritual illustration from something that has happened to me or that I am experiencing personally. I believe the Lord is doing just that with my left knee. The pain in my knee is not like anything I have ever experienced before and it is concentrated on my left leg. So, I believe the Lord would have me look at what spiritual application could be received from this situation with my left knee in combination with this passage of scripture and these two songs.
So, I want to first of all look at the significance of the knee from a Biblical perspective.
Romans 11:1-6: I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? 4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
Romans 14:11: It is written:
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will confess to God.’”
Philippians 2:9-11: Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
In the first passage, Elijah was concerned that he was all alone and that his opposition was trying to kill him. God answered his concern by telling him that God had reserved for himself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal (a false god). So, if we ever get feeling sorry for ourselves, thinking that we are all alone, that is a good verse to memorize and bring to recall, to remind us that God has reserved thousands who have not bowed the knee to false gods. Amen! We just may not know who they are. The next verse is a prophecy of scripture concerning a future time when every knee will bow to God. The third passage is similar to the second, yet I saw a distinction in the word “should,” meaning that it is the right thing for somebody to do. And, the reason is because God exalted Jesus and gave him the highest place and the name that is above every name. It is thus fitting and proper and right that we should bow the knee at the name of Jesus. In all three passages of scripture, the knee is used in conjunction with the word “bow,” which means to yield, submit, show of respect and loyalty, and reverence. So, the knee is a symbol of humility, obedience; worship, submission, service and honor to God or to something else.
It is my left knee that is in pain. When I have dreams, usually left means west and right means east, and I believe that is the same here. So, my west leg is in pain, in particular my knee. The west is generally a symbol of the USA, so this would be saying that the west leg, i.e. the church in the west is suffering or is going to suffer pain in the knee. A leg is like a branch, which can mean a local unit in an organization, or a limb of a body or a tree, which fits with the concept of the west branch of the Body of Christ, the church. A leg can also be a period of time, and a knee is a joint which is a junction between parts of this leg (time period), so the knee can also symbolize a junction, an intersection or crossroads in a span of time in which there is or will be severe pain like we have not known before. This sounds like the period of time known as the tribulation or as The Great Tribulation.
Luke (the writer of ACTS) said that when they heard this, they pleaded with Paul not to go where he was going to face this that the prophet had prophesied he would have to go through. I think there are many well-meaning people today who would try to persuade us that we will not have to go through the time of tribulation and that the church in the west is somehow different from the church world-wide which has had to suffer enormous persecution for the cause of Christ. Yet, Paul responded by telling them not to weep for him because he was not only ready to be bound, but also to die for the name of the Lord Jesus. Wow! What a testimony! If I am ready to be bound and to die for the name of Jesus Christ, then what is a pain in my knee? It is nothing! I must be willing to go through this pain for the Lord’s will to be done in my life in rebuking, correcting, encouraging and training me in righteousness, for surely that is God’s purpose to purify his church, his bride, and to make her ready for his return. So, I must be willing to accept this pain if that is the Lord’s will, if that is what is needed in my life in order to purify me and to make me ready for Jesus.
When the people were not able to dissuade Paul, they gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.” We should never give up in defeat against the enemy, but we should give up in the sense of yielding our will to the will of the Father over our lives and to accept whatever pain is necessary in our lives to melt us, mold us, fill us and use us for his glory. We should always say, “Nevertheless, not my will, but Yours be done.” And, that is really the point of the suffering that the west leg of the church must go through so that they will bow the knee to Jesus and so that they will surrender their will to the will of the Father instead of living to please themselves or bowing their knee to other gods. “Yes, ‘tis sweet to trust in Jesus, just from sin and self to cease; just from Jesus simply taking life, and rest, and joy, and peace.”
My Jesus, as Thou wilt! Though seen through many a tear,
Let not my star of hope grow dim or disappear.
Since Thou on earth has wept, and sorrowed oft alone,
If I must weep with Thee, ‘My Lord, Thy will be done.’
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