My Jesus, I Love Thee / William R. Featherstone / Adoniram J. Gordon
My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine;
for thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou;
if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
I love thee because thou hast first loved me,
and purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree;
I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow;
if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
In mansions of glory and endless delight;
I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright;
I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Psalm 71:
In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness;
turn your ear to me and save me.
Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of evil and cruel men.
For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD,
my confidence since my youth.
From birth I have relied on you;
you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
I will ever praise you.
I have become like a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
My mouth is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendor all day long.
Do not cast me away when I am old;
do not forsake me when my strength is gone.
For my enemies speak against me;
those who wait to kill me conspire together.
They say, “God has forsaken him;
pursue him and seize him,
for no one will rescue him.”
Be not far from me, O God;
come quickly, O my God, to help me.
May my accusers perish in shame;
may those who want to harm me
be covered with scorn and disgrace.
But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.
My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
of your salvation all day long,
though I know not its measure.
I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD;
I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.
Since my youth, O God, you have taught me,
and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your might to all who are to come.
Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God,
you who have done great things.
Who, O God, is like you?
Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter,
you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.
You will increase my honor
and comfort me once again.
I will praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praise to you—
I, whom you have redeemed.
My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
have been put to shame and confusion.
My Understanding: The psalmist declared the Lord God to be his rock of refuge, to which he could always go. He was being oppressed by his enemies – wicked, evil, and cruel men, who had him in their grasp. He called upon God to save him and to deliver him. He called upon God’s mercy to meet him in his time of need. He asked God to not forsake him, although he was old and his strength was about gone. His enemies assumed God had forsaken him, and they seized upon this “knowledge” to pursue the psalmist, thinking no one would come to rescue him. So, the psalmist called upon God to come quickly to help him, and for his accusers to be dealt with according to God’s justice.
The psalmist was confident in God’s answer to his prayers, for the Lord had been his hope and his salvation since his youth. His mouth was filled with praise for his God, declaring God’s glory and majesty, his righteousness, and his salvation all day long. Even though God had allowed the psalmist to “see troubles, many and bitter,” still he was confident that God Almighty would restore his life again, and would give him much comfort. And, he coupled this declaration of God’s faithfulness with songs of praise to God for what he knew God was going to do in delivering him, and as though God had already answered, and had already acted in his behalf. Thus, he asked God, with confidence, to sustain his life so that he could declare the power of God to the next generation.
We Have Hope
In this life we will have trouble. We will face hardships. We will have physical enemies. We will go through times of distress and despair. We will be sad at heart, lonely and afflicted. Yet, for those of us who are in Christ Jesus, by God’s grace and through faith (repentance and obedience) in what Jesus Christ did for us when he died on the cross for our sins, we have hope. Our Lord Jesus Christ is our Rock of refuge to whom we can go in prayer, and we can pray in confidence for him to deliver us. Yet, this may or may not be a physical deliverance. God sometimes allows us to go through difficulties in order to teach us lessons, to grow us in his grace, to make us holy, and to strengthen us in the faith and in our resolve to obey him in all things always. So, the deliverance we receive from God may be more on a spiritual level, rather than a physical level, as we learn to trust him fully with our lives and circumstances, and as he, thus, fills us with his peace and joy despite our situations.
The real deliverance thus comes when we are able to rejoice in the Lord and to be filled with his peace despite what we are going through, and despite real physical enemies coming against us, although our true enemy is Satan, and his demons. The battle against Satan has already been won, though. Jesus Christ conquered him in death and in his bodily resurrection back to life. So, to be delivered from the attacks of Satan on our lives, we must daily put on the spiritual armor with which God has supplied us (see Ephesians 6:10-20).
• The belt of truth buckled around your waist (arming ourselves with the truth)
• The breastplate of righteousness in place (being in a right relationship with God)
• Feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace
• The shield of faith, with which to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one
• The helmet of salvation (to protect our minds from Satan’s accusations)
• The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (fight lies with truth of word)
• Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests
• Be alert (watchful; discerning), and always keep on praying for all the saints
When we daily put on this spiritual armor, with which God has graciously supplied for us who put our hope and trust in him, we will experience God’s peace and joy in our lives, and we will be filled to overflowing with love for God, for his word, and a with a desire to follow him, to serve him, to obey him in all things, and to be his witnesses in sharing the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ with others, so that they, too, may find this hope of salvation.
Yet, we can’t put on this spiritual armor unless we have first of all turned from our sin, been spiritually transformed by the working of the Holy Spirit of God in cleansing us from sin, and unless we have turned to walk in faithful obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, to make him Lord (master) of our lives, and have made the commitment to follow the Lord always. Then, we can rejoice in our own salvation in that we have been set free from bondage to sin, and then we have full access to this spiritual armor to put on daily so that we can experience deliverance from enemy attacks. And, in the process of daily putting on this spiritual armor, we will grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will love him more and more, and we will be filled so much with God’s love and his word that it will just naturally flow out from our lives in praise and in sharing with others what Christ has done for us.
When in The Stillness / An Original Work / September 26, 2011
When in the stillness
Of this moment,
Speak to me, Lord,
I humbly pray.
Be my desire,
Set me on fire,
Teach me to love always.
Help me to walk in
Fellowship with You,
Listening to You;
Sit at Your feet.
Whisper Your words to me,
Oh, how gently,
Guiding me in Your truth.
While we are waiting
For Your blessing,
Lord, in our hearts
Be King today.
Help us to live for
You ev’ry moment,
List’ning to what You say.
May we not stray from
Your word within us,
Help us obey You,
Lord, in all things,
Walking each moment,
Lord, in Your presence,
Our off’rings to You bring.
Help us to love You,
Lord, our master;
Be an example
Of Your love,
Helping the hurting,
Lift up the fallen,
Showing them Your great love.
Teach them to love You,
Follow You always,
Bearing their cross and
Turning from sin;
Walking in daily
Fellowship with You,
Making You Lord and King.
http://youtu.be/MnTH6DW98EI
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