Journey Through the Hymns: Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy (Part Five)

Lo! th’ incarnate God ascended,Pleads the merit of His blood:Venture on Him, venture wholly,Let no other trust intrude It's easy to forget or even overlook how incredible that first statement is. Lo! th’ incarnate God ascended,Pleads the merit of His blood: Maybe Job had a better understanding of this. In Job chapter nine, he laments...

Journey Through the Hymns: Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy (Part Four)

Come, ye weary, heavy-laden,Lost and ruined by the fall;If you tarry till you’re better,You will never come at all Scripture is very clear on our state before salvation. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power...

Journey Through The Hymns: Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy (Part Three)

Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,God’s free bounty glorify;True belief and true repentance,Every grace that brings you nigh In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus said to those around him, “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR...

Journey Through the Hymns: Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy (Part Two)

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,Weak and wounded, sick and sore; Have you noticed a trend in these great hymns of the faith? Such as that most of them begin with a declaration of man's radical depravity? Look at the way the first verse of this hymn portrays humanity: poor, needy, wounded, weak, sick, sore,...

Journey Through the Hymns: Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy (Part One)

Hey, I’m back! So, let’s try to pick up where we left off, shall we? and begin hymn #5. This hymn is called “Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy,” and was written by Joseph Hart, a Calvinistic minister during the eighteenth century. Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy Joseph Hart Come, ye sinners, poor and...

Weekly Hymn #11: Immortal, Invisible

Immortal, Invisible by Walter Chalmers Smith Immortal, invisible God only wise In light inaccessible Hid from our eyes Most blessed, most glorious The Ancient of Days Almighty, victorious Thy great name we praise Unresting, unhasting And silent as light Nor wanting, nor wasting Thou rulest in might Thy justice, like mountains High soaring above Thy...

JTTH: I Sing the Mighty Power of God (Part Three)

I sing the goodness of the Lord That filled the earth with food He formed the creatures with His Word And then pronounced them good Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed Where’er I turn my eye If I survey the ground I tread Or gaze upon the sky! How can we even begin to fathom...

JTTH: I Sing the Mighty Power of God (Part Two)

I sing the mighty power of God That made the mountains rise That spread the flowing seas abroad And built the lofty skies These words are a wonderful reminder of God's power and glory in creation, and of His sovereignty over all of His creatures. Our finite minds will never be able to comprehend the...

JTTH: I Sing the Mighty Power of God (Part One)

This week we’re going to look at the lyrics of our fourth hymn in this series, I Sing the Mighty Power of God, written by Issac Watts. I Sing the Mighty Power of God By Issac Watts I sing the mighty power of God That made the mountains rise That spread the flowing seas abroad...

JTTH: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Part Five)

That word above all earthly powers No thanks to them abideth The Spirit and the gifts are ours Through Him who with us sideth Let goods and kindred go This mortal life also The body they may kill God’s truth abideth still His kingdom is forever! Scripture makes it clear in many places that God...

JTTH: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Part Four)

And though this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us We will not fear, for God has willed His truth to triumph through us The Prince of Darkness grim We tremble not for him His rage we can endure For lo, his doom is sure One little word shall fell him The beginning...

JTTH: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Part Three)

Did we in our own strength confide Our striving would be losing Were not the right Man on our side The Man of God’s own choosing Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He Lord Sabaoth, His name From age to age the same And He must win the battle In Psalm...

JTTH: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Part One)

Time for a new hymn! As most of us probably know, A Mighty Fortress is Our God was written by Martin Luther, who nailed the 95 Theses onto the church door in Wittenburg and officially began the Protestant Reformation. It’s a wonderful, theologically sound hymn that uses very “weighty” language to describe the sovereignty of...

JTTH: Amazing Grace (Part Five)

The Lord has promised good to me His word my hope secures He will my shield and portion be As long as life endures When we’ve been there ten thousand years Bright shining as the sun We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than when we first begun I’m going to try to get...

JTTH: Amazing Grace (Part Four)

Through many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come ‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far And grace will lead me home When we hear the phrase “amazing grace,” we often think of saving grace, the grace that God displays when He saves sinners and brings us out of the domain of darkness...

JTTH: Amazing Grace (Part Three)

Photo by Artem Sapegin on Unsplash ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear And grace my fears relieved How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed! This second verse of Amazing Grace might seem a little strange to some. ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear? What is that supposed...

JTTH: Amazing Grace (Part Two)

Photo by Bill Fairs on Unsplash Amazing grace! how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found Was blind but now I see This hymn’s first verse is so familiar to most Americans, yet it’s so packed with theology that if we just understand the words, it will change...

JTTH: Amazing Grace (Part One)

How Sweet and Aweful is the Place, the first hymn we looked at, is a song that many people probably don’t know (or at least don’t hear very often). So this time we’re turning to a hymn that nearly everyone with a Christian background knows. Amazing Grace was written by John Newton, a pastor in...

JTTH: How Sweet and Aweful is the Place (Part Four)

This is the fourth post in the Journey Through the Hymns series, and we’re still on the first hymn. But I’m really, really going to try to buckle down and wrap this one up this time, I promise. Just bear with me. Okay. Here we go. Let’s look at the final two verses of this...

JTTH: How Sweet and Aweful is the Place (Part Three)

Last time we didn’t get through unpacking this hymn, so I said we’d pick up on the fourth verse. However, I maybe should have clarified that we would only do the fourth verse. Yes, this hymn is taking more time to get through than I originally thought it would, but there’s just so much here...

JTTH: How Sweet and Aweful is the Place (Part Two)

Photo by Arvid Knutsen on Pexels.com Last time, we only looked at the lyrics to this hymn, but now that we’ve gotten our bearings, we’re going to dive a little deeper and get into the words themselves.     Just to warn you, I happen to be one of those people who can’t get on with life...

JTTH: How Sweet and Aweful is the Place (Part One)

This hymn is one of my favorite songs ever. Actually, it probably is my favorite. I actually didn’t hear it until I was around twelve or thirteen, but ever since then I listen to it whenever I can (which is why I’m glad we sing it a lot at my church). It was penned by...

Introduction to the Journey Through the Hymns Series

This is the introduction to a new series I'll begin next week.