Sunday Hymn: Jesus, Priceless Treasure

Jesus, priceless treasure,
Source of purest pleasure,
Truest friend to me.
Ah, how long in anguish
Shall my spirit languish,
Yearning, Lord, for Thee?
Thou art mine, O Lamb divine!
I will suffer naught to hide Thee,
Naught I ask beside Thee.

In Thine arms I rest me;
Foes who would molest me
Cannot reach me here.
Though the earth be shaking,
Every heart be quaking,
Jesus calms my fear.
Lightnings flash and thunders crash;
Yet, though sin and hell assail me,
Jesus will not fail me.

Satan, I defy thee;
Death, I now decry thee;
Fear, I bid thee cease.
World, thou shalt not harm me
Nor thy threats alarm me
While I sing of peace.
God’s great power guards every hour;
Earth and all its depths adore Him,
Silent bow before Him.

Evil world, I leave thee;
Thou canst not deceive me,
Thine appeal is vain.
Sin that once did bind me,
Get thee far behind me,
Come not forth again.
Past thy hour, O pride and power;
Sinful life, thy bonds I sever,
Leave thee now forever.

Hence, all thought of sadness!
For the Lord of gladness,
Jesus, enters in.
Those who love the Father,
Though the storms may gather,
Still have peace within;
Yea, whatever we here must bear,
Still in Thee lies purest pleasure,
Jesus, priceless treasure!

— Johann Franck, translat­ed by Catherine Winkworth.

Other hymns, worship songs, sermons etc. posted today:

• Update: Praise the Saviour, Ye Who Know Him at Jam and Books
• And Can It Be That I Should Gain? at threegirldad
• All That Thrills My Soul Is Jesus at Whatever Things
• Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It at Rosemary at Home
• A Shelter in the Time of Storm at Fieldstone Cottage
• Beautiful Sunshine at The Happy Wonderer
• Righteousness to the Believer at Tried With Fire
• Lord’s Day 28, 2011 at The Thirsty Theologian
• Voices From the Past - July 10, 2011 at The Upward Call
• Eccentricity, Criticism, and Courage (Your weekly dose of Spurgeon) at Pyromaniacs
• Update: Psalm 96 at Daily On My Way to Heaven

Have you posted a hymn (or sermon, sermon notes, prayer, etc.) today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by contacting me using the contact form linked above, and I’ll add your post to the list.

Joy Akin to Fear

I wrote yesterday that this week’s chapter in Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen had it’s glorious parts. Here’s the proof:

Religion cannot be made joyful by simply looking on the bright side of God. For a one-sided God is not a real God, and it is the real God alone who can satisfy the longing of our soul. God is love, but is He only love? God is love, but is love God? Seek joy alone, then, seek joy at any cost and you will not find it. How then may it be attained?

The search for joy in religion seems to have ended in disaster. God is found to be enveloped in impenetrable mystery, and in awful righteousness; man is confined in the prison of the world, trying to make the best of his condition, beautifying the prison with tinsel, yet secretly dissatisfied with his bondage, dissatisfied with a merely relative goodness which is no goodness at all, …. unable to forget his heavenly destiny and his heavenly duty, longing for communion with the Holy One. There seems to be no hope; God is separate from sinners; there is no room for joy, but only a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation.

Yet such a God has at least one advantage over the comforting God of modern preaching — He is alive, He is sovereign, He is not bound by His creation or by His creatures, He can perform wonders. Could he even save us if He would? He has saved us — in that message the gospel consists. It could not have been foretold; still less could the manner of it have been foretold. That Birth. that Life, that Death — why was it done just thus and then and there? It all seems so very local, so very particular, so very unphilosophical, so very unlike what might have been expected. Are not our own methods of salvation, men say, better than that?…. Yet what if it were true? …. God’s own Son delivered up for us all, freedom from the world, sought by philosophers of all the ages, offered now freely to every simple soul, things hidden from the wise and prudent revealed unto babes, the long striving over, the impossible accomplished, sin conquered by mysterious grace, communion at length with the Holy God, our Father which art in heaven!

Surely this and this alone is joy. But it is a joy that is akin to fear. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Were we not safer with a God of our own devising — love and only love, a Father and nothing else, one before whom we could stand in our own merit without fear? He who will may be satisfied with such a God. But we, God help us — sinful as we are, we would see Jehovah. Despairing, hoping, trembling, half-doubting and half believing, trusting all to Jesus, we venture into the presence of the very God. And in his presence we live.

Thankful Thursday

It was another busy summer day and I’m tired. I’m thankful for my comfy bed, for windows that open to let in the breeze, and for window screens to keep out the mosquitoes. 

I’m thankful that there wasn’t really a crack in the dam last night. Yes, someone texted me during the power outage and told me that’s what happened. I didn’t believe it and I’m thankful that it wasn’t true. I’m thankful that God gives us people to design and build dams and to run things there. I’m thankful for our electricity, despite our way-too-frequent outages.

I’m thankful that God kept my family safe through another week. 

I’m thankful that God governs his creation graciously. I’m also thankful that God can save. 

Throughout this year I’m planning to post a few thoughts of thanksgiving each Thursday along with Kim at the Upward Call and others.