Hymn 85
William Cowper
The Sower.
Mt 13:3
Ye sons of earth prepare the plow,
Break up your fallow ground!
The Sower is gone forth to sow,
And scatter blessings round.
The seed that finds a stony soil,
Shoots forth a hasty blade;
But ill repays the sower’s toil,
Soon withered, scorched, and dead.
The thorny ground is sure to baulk
All hopes of harvest there;
We find a tall and sickly stalk,
But not the fruitful ear.
The beaten path and highway side
Receive the trust in vain
The watchful birds the spoil divide,
And pick up all the grain.
But where the Lord of grace and pow’r
Has blessed the happy field;
How plenteous is the golden store
The deep–wrought furrows yield!
Father of mercies we have need
Of thy preparing grace;
Let the same hand that gives the seed,
Provide a fruitful place.
--Th Olney Hymns
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/l/g/algyword.htm
Almighty God, Your Word is cast
Like seed into the ground;
Now let the dew of Heav’n descend,
And righteous fruits abound.
Let not the foe of Christ and man
This holy seed remove,
But give it root in ev’ry heart
To bring forth fruits of love.
Let not the world’s deceitful cares
The rising plant destroy.
But let it yield a hundredfold
The fruits of peace and joy.
Nor let Your Word so kindly sent
To raise us to Your throne
Return to You, and sadly tell
That we reject Your Son.
Oft as the precious seed is sown,
Your quick’ning grace bestow,
That all whose souls the truth receive,
Its saving power may know.
Great God, come down and on Your Word
Your mighty power bestow,
That all who hear the joyful sound,
Your saving grace may know.
Mat 13:18 "Hear then the parable of the sower:
Mat 13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
Mat 13:20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,
Mat 13:21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.
Mat 13:22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
Mat 13:23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."
Father in Heaven,
Holy is Your Name.
We are your planting.
May the soil of our hearts be worked well by the Holy Spirit so that nothing prevents the Goodness of Your Word from springing forth to Fruitfulness to Your Praise and Glory.
Father, what is it today that is a rock or a thistle or a hardened place?
I want you to place the plow there and remove it all.
Let your Perfect Will be done in our lives today and forevermore.
May you find us to be your yielded Church, belonging to you in all Purity.
I ask this in the Name of Him who loved us.
Amen
BTTT
"The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life. ....
God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just sentence against him. What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.
Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ..."
--The Old Cross and the New, A.W. Tozer