Song for Sunday: It is Well with My Soul

This hymn, probably more than any other hymn and maybe even more than any other song, has stirred my soul to rejoice in the glorious salvation found in Jesus Christ.  The hymn does not say that there is no longer any battle within, because we still fight against sin.  Rather it rejoices in the knowledge that, no matter what the outward circumstances or the amount of sin committed past, present or future, when we, when I, enter God’s presence at the end of my life or the end of this world, it will be well.  I will be accepted and welcomed.

 

When peace like a river attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll

Whatever my lot Thou has taught me to say

"It is well, it is well with my soul."

 

It is well with my soul

It is well, it is well with my soul!

 

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought,

My sin, not in part but the whole

Is nailed to His cross and I bear it no more!

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, oh my soul!

 

Though Satan should buffet and trials should come

Let this blessed assurance control

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate

And has shed His own blood for my soul

 

And Lord haste the day when my faith shall be sight

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll!

The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend

Even so, it is well with my soul!

 

~ Horatio G. Spafford & Philip P. Bliss

Song for Sunday: Beyond

This past week I found this song.  It’s rooted in the story of God descending in His glory on Mount Sinai.  It’s a fascinating account.  (Exodus 19 and on, especially the end of Exodus 33 and part of 34)  But for the purpose of this song: as God’s presence was resting on Mount Sinai there was lightning flashing, and thunder and smoke, but rather than running away, like the rest of Israel, Moses begged to see God’s glory, meaning God Himself.  God replies that no one can see His face and live.  But He tells Moses that Moses can stand in a cleft in a rock and God will cover it with His hand and pass in front of Him and then Moses will see His back.  This is huge.  So huge that I’ve told it terribly.  But I tried to capture a bit of Moses’ hunger and intensity for God in this song.  It’s the kind of desire that inspires desire in me.  (note: the curtain in the bridge refers to the curtain in the tabernacle and later the temple that seperated the Holy of Holies, where God’s visible presence was, from the Holy Place.  This kept people from meeting God on a personal level.  They had to go through a priest.  When Jesus died on the cross that curtain was torn from top to bottom, opening up access to God for everyone.  But I used the curtain as a symbol of going beyond knowing God superficially and knowing Him intimately.)   

 

We come before You Lord

You’re deserving of our praise

Not just for what You’ve done

But because of who You are

 

Show us Your glory, show us Your glory Lord.

Show us Your glory, show us Your face

 

 No one can see Your face and live

But if we don’t still we are dead

Take us up the mountain

Lead us to Your fiery presence

 

 Lead us beyond the curtain

Lead us to You

Lead us to intimacy

Yahweh, with You

~ DJ Friesen

 

Song for Sunday: How Can I Keep From Singing

This has been one of my favourite songs lately.  What I like about it is not that it is from the overflow of my heart necessarily, but it stirs my heart to sing, to worship; reminds me to praise God.

 

There is an endless song

Echoes in my soul

I hear the music ring

And though the storms may come

I am holding on

To the rock I cling

 

How can I keep from singing Your praise

How can I ever say enough

How amazing is Your love

How can I keep from shouting Your name

I know I am loved by the King

And it makes my heart want to sing

 

I will lift my eyes

In the darkest night

For I know my Savior lives

And I will walk with You

Knowing You’ll see me through

And sing the songs You give

 

I can sing in the troubled times

Sing when I win

I can sing when I lose my step

And fall down again

I can sing ’cause You pick me up

Sing ’cause You’re there

I can sing ’cause You hear me, Lord

When I call to You in prayer

I can sing with my last breath

Sing for I know

That I’ll sing with the angels

And the saints around the throne

 

~ Traditional, adapted by Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman and Ed Cash

From Chris Tomlin: See the Morning

(c) 2006 sixsteps Music

Song for Sunday: Angels from the Realms of Glory

  My dad’s sermon this Christmas morning was about why Jesus came: because of how He viewed sin.  God sees sin as a serious thing and we’re supposed to look at it the same way.  I found this Christmas carol to be poignant in light of that.

 

Angels! from the realms of glory,

Wing your flight o’er all the earth;

Ye who sang creation’s story,

Now proclaim Messiah’s birth:

 

Come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn King.

Come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King.

 

Shepherds! in the field abiding,

Watching o’er your flocks by night,

God with man is now residing;

Yonder shines the heavenly light:

 

Come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn King.

Come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King.

 

Saints! before the altar bending,

Watching long in hope and fear,

Suddenly the Lord, descending,

In His temple shall appear:

 

Come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn King.

Come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King.

 

Sinners! wrung with true respentance,

Doomed for guilt to endless pains:

Justice now revokes the sentence,

Mercy calls you, break your chains:

 

Come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn King.

Come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King.

 

~ Thos. Hastings

 

Song for Sunday: On a Hill Far Away

  Christmas is all about Easter.  I wrote this song a couple years ago when the meaning of Christmas was coming to me in a fresh way.  I think the song speaks for itself. 

 

It’s Christmas time in Bethlehem town.

The shepherds awake with angels all around.

"Go to Bethlehem the Baby to see;

He’ll save you from your sins, your Redeemer is He.

‘Cause on a hill far away He will bleed and die,

The sacrifice for all your sins.

On a hill far away God’s plan will be fulfilled

In a perfect way."

 

It’s Easter time.  The Son of God is hanging on a tree.

The final cry is heard.  In death Christ won the victory!

Don’t go to the tomb because He’s not there!

He has risen, your sin He can bear.

On a hill far away Jesus bled and died,

The sacrifice for all our sins.

On a hill far away God’s plan was fulfilled

In a pefect way.

 

Now it’s today.  Sinners let’s run to His cross

And nail our sins there,

Count everything else as loss.

When we’re at His cross we see His face

And we are purified by Amazing Grace.

‘Cause on a hill far away my sins nailed Him there;

I left Him to die alone.

But on a hill far away God reached down in His love

And made the murderer His child.

On a hill far away Jesus bled and died,

The sacrifice for all my sin.

On a hill far away Jesus reaches out in love;

Sinner come to Him.

 

Jesus, I come

Jesus, I have sinned

I come

 

~DJ Friesen

 

 

 

 

Song for Sunday: Joy to the World!

  For the December Sundays I’ll be posting some of my favourite Christmas songs, or just good ones.  This carol became one of my favourites over the last year.  I think it’s a carol that could be song any time of the year and be appropriate.  It’s joyously poetic.

 

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

 

Joy to the earth! the Saviour reigns;

Let men their songs employ;

While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains,

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

 

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found,

Far as the curse is found,

Far as, far as the curse is found.

 

He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders, wonders of His love.

 

~ Isaac Watts & George F. Handel

Song for Sunday: How Sweet the Name of Jesus

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer’s ear!

It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear,

And drives away his fear.

 

It makes the wounded spirit whole, and calms the troubled breast;

‘Tis manna to the hungry soul, and to the weary rest,

And to the weary rest.

 

Dear name! the rock on which I build, my shield and hiding place;

My never-failing treasury filled with boundless stores of grace,

With boundless stores of grace.

 

Weak is the effort of my heart, and cold my warmest tho’t;

But when I see Thee as Thou art, I’ll praise Thee as I ought,

I’ll praise Thee as I ought.

 

Till then I would Thy love proclaim with ev’ry fleeting breath;

And may the music of Thy name refresh my soul in death,

Refresh my soul in death!

 

~ John Newton & Thomas Hastings

Song for Sunday: My Saviour’s Love

  From time to time God has grace on me to remind me of what a wretched sinner I am and with it comes the awe and wonder that despite that, He has redeemed me and called me His child.

 

I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene,

And wonder how He could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean.

 

How marvelous!  How wonderful!  And my song shall ever be:

How marvelous!  How wonderful is my Saviour’s love for me!

 

For me it was in the garden He prayed: "Not My will, but Thine;"

He had no tears for His own griefs, but sweatdrops of blood for mine.

 

He took my sins and my sorrows, He made them His very own;

He bore the burden to Calvary, and suffered and died alone.

 

When with the ransomed in glory His face I at last shall see,

‘Twill be my joy through the ages to sing of His love for me.

 

~Charles H. Gabriel

Song for Sunday: One Day

  This song speaks of Christ from before He came to earth til He comes back.  I love verse one and how it reminds me of what Jesus left to come to earth to rescue me.

 

One day when heaven was filled with His praises,

One day when sin was as black as could be,

Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin—

Dwelt amongst men, my example is He!

 

One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain,

One day they nailed Him to die on the tree;

Suffering anguish, despised and rejected:

Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He!

 

One day they left Him alone in the garden,

One day He rested, from suffering free;

Angels came down o’er His tomb to keep vigil;

Hope of the hopeless, my Savior is He!

 

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer,

One day the stone rolled away from the door;

Then He arose, over death He has conquered;

Now is ascnded, my Lord evermore!

 

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming,

One day the skies with His glories will shine;

Wonderful day, my beloved ones bringing;

Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine!

 

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;

Buried, he carried my sins far away;

Rising, He justified freely forever;

One day He’s coming — oh, glorious day!

 

~ J. Wilbur Chapman & Charles H. Marsh

Song for Sunday: Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus

  The Bible story I have probably repeated the most for practical application is the story of Peter walking on the water.  It is such a strong picture of how when we focus on the problems around us we are overwhelmed but if we look to Jesus they are no longer that important.  As I was going through my music this morning to find something to play for prelude in church I found this song, "Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus."  Immediately another application came to mind.  It’s not only problems that tempt us to look away from Jesus, it’s also good things.  For me this week it’s been entertainment.  Wholesome entertainment but time consuming.  Somehow watching anything on screen is more appealing than reading the Word of God and speaking with the Author.  But this short song, or rather chorus of a song, puts it well.

 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace.

~ Helen Lemmel