Sunday's Hymn: O Safe to the Rock That Is Higher Than I

O safe to the Rock that is higher than I
My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly;
So sinful, so weary, thine, thine would I be;
Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in thee.

Refrain

Hiding in thee, hiding in thee—
Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in thee.

In the calm of the noontide, in sorrow’s lone hour,
In times when temptation casts o’er me its power,
In the tempests of life, on its wide, heaving sea,
Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in thee.

How oft in the conflict, when pressed by the foe,
I have fled to my refuge and breathed out my woe!
How often when trials like sea-billows roll,
Have I hidden in thee, O thou Rock of my soul!

 —William O. Cushing

 Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

• Is He Worthy? at The Happy Wonderer
• What Constitutes a Glorious Day? at The Outspoken Tulip
• The Word of the Lord Abides Forever at Tried With Fire
• Lord’s Day 35, 2019 at The Thirsty Theologian

Sunday's Hymn: Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts

Jesus, thou Joy of loving hearts,
Thou Fount of life, thou Light of men,
From the best bliss that earth imparts
We turn unfilled to thee again.

Thy truth unchanged hath ever stood;
Thou savest those that on thee call;
To them that seek thee thou art good,
To them that find thee all in all.

We taste thee, O thou living Bread,
And long to feast upon thee still;
We drink of thee, the Fountainhead,
And thirst our souls from thee to fill.

Our restless spirits yearn for thee,
Where’er our changeful lot is cast;
Glad when thy gracious smile we see,
Blest when our faith can hold thee fast.

O Jesus, ever with us stay,
Make all our moments calm and bright;
Chase the dark night of sin away,
Shed o’er the world thy holy light.

—Ber­nard of Clair­vaux

 Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

• Still Undecided? at The Happy Wonderer
• Jesus Asks Us to Do It at The Outspoken Tulip
• Waiting upon the Lord at Tried With Fire
• Lord’s Day 32, 2019 at The Thirsty Theologian

Selected Reading

I read these recently and recommend them to you.

Theology

Hell Is Not Separation from God
No, “the real terror awaiting the unrepentant is God himself and his inescapable presence forever with his face turned against them.” It is “being excluded from God’s presence as the source of all blessedness, but not from God’s omnipresent lordship.” —Michael Horton

Eternal Life, Now and Then
In Christ, the blessedness of the age to come is ours today.

The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything
Yes, really!

Three Ways To Teach Teens to Think Theologically
“Teenagers are quickly becoming adults. Starving them from Truth and gorging them on games isn’t helpful in the long run. We can’t pacify them with watered-down, youth-sized versions of biblical teaching and counsel and expect them to develop adult-sized appetites down the road. Teenagers, when charitably given the opportunity, can exceed our expectations and grow in spiritual maturity.”—Lindsey Carlson

The Church

Loving the Church, For Better or Worse
“Yes, there is a dark side to the church as there is to all things in this fallen world. The church is not perfect. It has her share of malcontents and killjoys, her energy-sapping attention-getters and despondent hearts. Adullam’s cave has nothing on some churches I have seen, but none of this robs me of my love for the church..” —Derek Thomas

Prayer

A Fresh Look at Prayer
Amy Hall recommends a “wonderful little book on prayer by Michael Reeves.” I’m interested and I thought you might be, too.