Posted on 12/27/2005 9:54:27 AM PST by Knitting A Conundrum
There are things that move our spirits, words that God uses to comfort, aid, help and heal. For me, perhaps because I do poetry, some of what has been important have been hymns, certain poetic passages from the Bible and well-known prayers.
There was a thread I saw about how sappy and "I" centered a lot of the hymns of the last two hundred years have been, and that is probably true, but at the same time, these can have the power to draw us ever closer, or kick us over the edge when we nearly ready to fall into the loving arms of God.
I have my favorites, of course.
Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your soul.
And what keeps that in mind, sometimes, is the old song, "O Heart Bowed Down with Sorrow" which uses that as a refrain.
More love to Thee, O Christ
More love to Thee.
Here now the prayer I make
On bended knee.
This all my earnest plea
More love O Christ to Thee
More love to Thee
More love to Thee!
Sappy? Possibly. Moving? For those who actually think and mean the words, absolutely.
Thought you might like to be involved in this discussion
Prayer and meditation ping!
Jesus, Lover of my soul,
let me to thy bosom fly,
while the nearer waters roll,
while the tempest still is high:
hide me, O my Savior, hide,
till the storm of life be past;
safe into the haven guide,
O receive my soul at last.
Other refuge have I none,
hangs my helpless soul on thee;
leave, ah! leave me not alone,
still support and comfort me!
All my trust on thee is stayed;
all my help from thee I bring;
cover my defenseless head
with the shadow of thy wing.
Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
more than all in thee I find;
raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is thy Name;
I am all unrighteousness;
false and full of sin I am;
thou art full of truth and grace.
Plenteous grace with thee is found,
grace to cover all my sin;
let the healing streams abound,
make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art,
freely let me take of thee:
spring thou up within my heart,
rise to all eternity.
_____________
I think this is one of Charles Wesley's best. When I write about clinging to the cross, often times this song is in the back of my thoughts.
"Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your soul.
And what keeps that in mind, sometimes, is the old song, "O Heart Bowed Down with Sorrow" which uses that as a refrain.
More love to Thee, O Christ
More love to Thee.
Here now the prayer I make
On bended knee.
This all my earnest plea
More love O Christ to Thee
More love to Thee
More love to Thee!"
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you "Knitting A Conundrum"
A favorite verse of mine
Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
Isaiah 1:18
There's a hymn for this too:
“Though your sins be as scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though your sins be as scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they be red like crimson,
They shall be as wool!”
“Though your sins be as scarlet,
Though your sins be as scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow,
They shall be as white as snow.”
Hear the voice that entreats you,
O return ye unto God!
Hear the voice that entreats you,
O return ye unto God!
He is of great compassion,
And of wondrous love;
Hear the voice that entreats you,
Hear the voice that entreats you,
O return ye unto God!
O return ye unto God!
He’ll forgive your transgressions,
And remember them no more;
He’ll forgive your transgressions,
And remember them no more;
“Look unto Me, ye people,”
Saith the Lord your God!
He’ll forgive your transgressions,
He’ll forgive your transgressions,
And remember them no more,
And remember them no more.
I don't think I ever sang more than the first verse when I was growing up, but the image - no matter how dark and dreadful your sins are, God is there with an open hand, waiting, and he can turn your darkness into light.
midi for the hymn, in case you're interested:
http://www.breadsite.org/hymns/midi/crimson.mid
Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
We adore thee, o Christ, and we bless thee,
For by thy holy cross, thou hast redeemed the world.
This antiphon, which summarizes so much of the Christian attitude of gratitude for what Jesus has done is an ancient prayer of the Church.
I learned this version as a child. It's simple, but it sings so beautifully -
Christ, we do all adore Thee, and we do praise Thee forever.
Christ, we do all adore Thee, and we do praise Thee forever.
For on the holy cross hast Thou the world from sin redeemed.
Christ, we do all adore Thee, and we do praise Thee forever.
Christ, we do all adore Thee.
It was written by Thomas DuBois, as the closing to his "Seven Last Words of Christ."
There is a lovely midi of it at
http://www.tributek.com/chriswedoall.html
Psalm 23
I remember my mother teaching me this in the old King James version when I was a small child, maybe four years old.
1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
There are a number of excellent arrangements of this.
Isaac Watt's version:
. The Lord my Shepherd is,
I shall be well supplied.
Since He is mine and I am His,
What can I want beside?
2. He leads me to the place
Where heav'nly pasture grows,
Where living waters gently pass
And full salvation flows.
3. If e'er I go astray,
He doth my soul reclaim
And guides me in His own right way
For His most holy name.
4. While He affords His aid,
I cannot yield to fear;
Though I should walk through death's dark shade,
My Shepherd's with me there.
5. Amid surrounding foes
Thou dost my table spread;
My cup with blessing overflows,
And joy exults my head.
6. The bounties of Thy love
Shall crown my following days,
Nor from Thy house will I remove
Nor cease to speak Thy praise.
The arrangement from the Scottish Psalter of 1650 has been sent to many tunes
The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not want.
He makes me down to lie
In pastures green; He leadeth me
The quiet waters by.
My soul He doth restore again;
And me to walk doth make
Within the paths of righteousness,
Even for His own Name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk in death’s dark vale,
Yet will I fear no ill;
For Thou art with me; and Thy rod
And staff my comfort still.
My table Thou hast furnishèd
In presence of my foes;
My head Thou dost with oil anoint,
And my cup overflows.
Goodness and mercy all my life
Shall surely follow me;
And in God’s house forevermore
My dwelling place shall be.
There is a listing of the tunes with midis at
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/m/lmysheph.htm
I have written at least two or three poems based on this. Here is one:
There are moments that I am amazed
at the strong hands unsought
that lift me up out of the morass
I find myself,
out of the dark crevass
where I am wedged,
lost and confused.
Can I speak
of the gratitude within my heart
for the touch of my shepherd
when the valley seems so dark,
the shadow of death
seems so near,
and dawn seems forever away?
Yours are the waters
that purify me,
that sooth my soul,
Yours is the bread of life,
the green pastures
that restore me,
that transform me,
that shape me
after your will.
Yours is the staff that defends me,
and in your shadow,
under your watchful eye,
I am safe,
even as the enemy would devour me.
Yours the goodness and mercy
that rescues me,
that calls me,
that saves me.
Let me dwell in your house,
walk in your ways,
rest myself safe in your loving arms,
This day, and always.
Amen.
When I gather with other believers to sing praises to the Lord, the music and words grab my heart more quickly than I can believe. Almost immediately the tears begin to fall. My singing of most hymns is usually accompanied by tissues, but I just believe that the Lord loves to hear us sing, and He knows the condition of our hearts as we lift them up to Him.
Strangely, betty boop and I were recently discussing worship music and discovered that we both are drawn to Handel’s Messiah. Most everyone is familiar with the Hallelujah Chorus, but the entire lyrics are amazing: Handel’s Messiah lyrics
In conventional worship, my personal favorite is this one:
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride
Forbid it Lord that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ my God
All the vain things that charm me most
I sacrificed them to His blood
See from His head His hands His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did ere such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown
Were the whole realm of nature mine
that were a present far too small
Love so amazing so divine
Demands my soul my life my all
Some more popular music also lifts me in the Spirit – almost everything by Mozart, instrumentals like Chariots of Fire, and an occasional pop song that has a second meaning to me, like this favorite by Johnny Cash:
I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you're mine, I walk the line
I find it very, very easy to be true
I find myself alone when each day is through
Yes, I'll admit that I'm a fool for you
Because you're mine, I walk the line
As sure as night is dark and day is light
I keep you on my mind both day and night
And happiness I've known proves that it's right
Because you're mine, I walk the line
You've got a way to keep me on your side
You give me cause for love that I can't hide
For you I know I'd even try to turn the tide
Because you're mine, I walk the line
I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you're mine, I walk the line
The neat thing about the Messiah is that it is nothing but arrangements of Bible verses on the appropriate subject.
If you want to listen to the music, I discovered a site that has the most excellent MIDIs of the Messiah.
http://www.botproductions.com/music/messiah.html
There are many, many good and great songs on the passion of Christ, but this is one of my favorites:
O Sacred Head
O sacred head, surrounded
by crown of piercing thorn!
O bleeding head, so wounded,
reviled and put to scorn!
Our sins have marred the glory
of thy most holy face,
yet angel hosts adore thee
and tremble as they gaze
I see thy strength and vigor
all fading in the strife,
and death with cruel rigor,
bereaving thee of life;
O agony and dying!
O love to sinners free!
Jesus, all grace supplying,
O turn thy face on me.
In this thy bitter passion,
Good Shepherd, think of me
with thy most sweet compassion,
unworthy though I be:
beneath thy cross abiding
for ever would I rest,
in thy dear love confiding,
and with thy presence blest.
Henry Baker's translation.
One of the neat things about The Passion of the Christ, I think, that it moved the somewhat sanitary and neat images from so much of our religous art into the realm of the real in people's minds. It was really blood. It really hurt. The image of Jesus in the crown of thorns should remind us, or anyway reminds me of how it's NOT an abstraction. It's not a set of symbols for season change like the rites to Tammuz were.
Jesus was real. He fought back who knows what anxiety in the Garden of Gethsemane, he let himself be tried, beaten nearly to death, and finally crucified. It was not pretty. It was bloody, noisy, probably smelly, tainted with human sin, cruelty and darkness, and yet he did it for love.
For me, it's essential to my walk not to forget the reality, to see what he did for me, to know that my sins were there as part of the burden he carried.
The whip travels in a descending arc,
three thongs carrying weights of lead
double headed cargo
to increase the impact.
The hand that wields is
the rough and calloused hand
of a soldier doing a duty,
unknowing,
uncaring
of whose back it was in front of him.
Perhaps as he swings,
he thinks of all the looks of disdain,
the women who turn away,
the men who spit when he passes
and they think he does not see,
this strange people
with their strange hates
and strange language
and strange god,
and in retalliation,
he swings harder.
Yet his hand is not alone
on the braided leather of the handle,
his hand,
shadowed by every hand,
my hand,
my arm swinging the leather,
my sin adding to the agony
of that blow,
my darkness slapping against his skin,
causing him to gasp for breath
as it bites
my weakness the lead gouges digging.
Mea culpa,
mea culpa,
mea maxima culpa.
Rock of Ages
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.
2. Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law's commands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.
3. Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.
4. While I draw this fleeting breath,
when mine eyes shall close in death,
when I soar to worlds unknown,
see thee on thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee.
This is one of my favorite hymns, and has been most of my life.
It is, in a way, something like the Anima Christi, a prayer that I also find very moving:
Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within thy wounds hide me.
Permit me not to be separated from thee.
From the wicked foe defend me.
At the hour of my death call me.
And bid me come to thee.
That with thy saints I may praise thee.
For ever and ever. Amen.
Surrender to the will of God, acknowledgement of Jesus' sacrifice, our need, and his love is so much of what allows us to grow as Christians.
This is another one of my favorite hymns.
I need thee every hour,
most gracious Lord;
no tender voice like thine
can peace afford.
Refrain:
I need thee, O I need thee;
every hour I need thee;
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to thee.
I need thee every hour,
stay thou nearby;
temptations lose their power
when thou art nigh. Refrain
I need thee every hour,
in joy or pain;
come quickly and abide,
or life is in vain. Refrain
I need thee every hour;
teach me thy will;
and thy rich promises
in me fulfill. Refrain
I need thee every hour,
most Holy One;
O make me thine indeed,
thou blessèd Son. Refrain
There are times when you are just hungry for the presence of God. "Like the deer pants for the rivers of water, so my soul longs after you," the psalmist sings, and at times, each of us who loves the Lord will feel that same hunger, emptiness, that God-shaped hole in our own hearts, our own lives.
When that hunger is upon you, nothing else will do - not toys, or work, or secular entertainment, not sex, not drugs, not alcohol...nothing but God. We can try to run away from it, but the emptiness will always be there until we say yes to God.
O Lord,
King of my heart,
Walk with me like you did
the disciples on the road to Emmaus,
and let my heart burn within me
as you teach me your way,
even if I do not recognize my teacher.
O Lord,
King of my heart,
breathe on me your Holy Spirit
that I may be filled with the fire of your love,
and be your tool
to renew the face of the world.
O Lord,
King of my heart,
Ask me often
if I love you
so that I may always be aware
of why I do what I do,
and for whom do I do it.
Help my heart and soul always and ever
reply Yes.
I Corinithians 1: 18-25
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart."
Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
_____________
After all these centuries, the Crucifixion is still a scandal. Yet for those of us who believe, the truth is there, in the coming of the Jesus, son of God and son of Mary, in his death upon that cross, and in the empty tomb. To those who do not believe, it may seem foolishness, or scandalous, or mythological, or wish fulfillment or even a conspiracy put together by the apostles. To those of us who believe, it is life.
With Paul, I can say, "But far be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world hath been crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Galatians 6:14
One of several hymns that brings this home to me is Beneath the Cross of Jesus by Elizabeth Cecelia Douglas Clephane in 1868:
Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
the shadow of a mighty rock
within a weary land,
A home within a wilderness,
a rest upon the way,
from the burning of the noontide heat
and the burden of the day.
O safe and happy shelter!
O refuge tried and sweet!
O trysting-place where heaven's love
and heaven's justice meet!
As to the exalted patriarch
that wondrous dream was given,
so seems my Savior's cross to me
a ladder up to heaven.
There lies beneath its shadow,
but on the farther side,
the darkness of an open grave
that gapes both deep and wide;
and there between us stands the cross,
two arms outstretched to save,
like a watchman to guard the way
from that eternal grave.
Upon that cross of Jesus
mine eyes at times can see
the very dying form of one
who suffered there for me;
and from my stricken heart, with tears,
two wonders I confess:
the wonders of redeeming love,
and my own worthlessness.
I take, O cross, thy shadow
for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
the sunshine of his face;
content to let the world go by,
to know no gain nor loss,
my sinful self my only shame,
my glory all: the cross.
It isn't sappy at all.
Lots of things move us to tears sometimes. I was walking down the hallway in my home yesterday and at the corner leading to the foyer is a beautiful crucifix. It struck me how lonely Christ looks on the cross and how lonely he must have been as He hung there in bloody tatters abandoned and suffering.
I could probably compose very bad verse to attempt to describe my grief at that time, but it would be sappy and bad and yet, very sincere and spiritual.
This is a magnificent thread, dear Knitting, and I love you! Thank you for these psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, bringing gladness. I can't choose any favorites: in whatsoever exalts or displays Christ Jesus I am supremely content.
I agree...this is why what matters is does it move you to Christ.
I can't say I have a favorite, myself...but a lot of pieces of music, prayers, meditations, that are in that inner circle of having touched my life, or that I go back to over and over again...Like Luke chapter 6, like Micah 6:8...
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