Sunday's Hymn: I LoveThy Kingdom, Lord

I love thy Kingdom, Lord,
The house of thine abode,
The church our blest Redeemer saved
With his own precious blood.

I love thy church, O God:
Her walls before thee stand,
Dear as the apple of thine eye,
And graven on thy hand.

For her my tears shall fall,
For her my prayers ascend;
To her my cares and toils be giv’n,
Till toils and cares shall end.

Beyond my highest joy
I prize her heav’nly ways,
Her sweet communion, solemn vows,
Her hymns of love and praise.

Jesus, thou Friend Divine,
Our Saviour and our King,
Thy hand from ev’ry snare and foe
Shall great deliv’rance bring.

Sure as thy truth shall last,
To Zion shall be giv’n
The brightest glories earth can yield,
And brighter bliss of heav’n.

—Timothy Dwight 

Synod 2012 of the United Reformed Churches in North America

The description calls this “deep and old baptist singing.” See what you think.

Other hymns, worship songs, prayers, sermons excerpts, or quotes posted today:

• Sound Aloud Our Highest Praises at Conjubilant With Song
• All the Way My Savior Leads Me at The Happy Wonderer
• Pleading for and with youth at The Upward Call
• Jesus Is My Brother - A Prayer of Martin Luther at Trevin Wax
• Your weekly dose of Spurgeon: The forgiving spirit at Pyromaniacs
• “Be of Good Cheer” at Theology for Girls

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.

Susanna Used Her Noggin, and So Should You

Yes, I actually posted at Out of the Ordinary today. 

In his book The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything, Fred Sanders gives a few glimpses into the personal devotional journal of Susanna Wesley (mother of John and Charles Wesley and seventeen more children, nine of whom died as infants) who, at the time she wrote the quote that follows, was “a full-time homeschooling mother.” In the journal entry the quote comes from, Susanna is engaging the thought of none other than the philosopher Aristotle, who taught that “the world eternally existed along with God.”

Read the rest.

Sunday's Hymn: How Sweet and Awful Is the Place

How sweet and awful is the place
With Christ within the doors,
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores.

While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry, with thankful tongues,
“Lord, why was I a guest?

“Why was I made to hear thy voice,
And enter while there’s room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?”

‘Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly drew us in;
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin.

Pity the nations, O our God,
Constrain the earth to come;
Send thy victorious Word abroad,
And bring the strangers home.

We long to see thy churches full,
That all the chosen race
May, with one voice and heart and soul,
Sing thy redeeming grace.

—Isaac Watts

Other hymns, worship songs, prayers, sermons excerpts, or quotes posted today:

• Come, O Come Thou Quickening Spirit at Conjubilant With Song
• Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory at The Happy Wonderer
• Prayer for a blessing at The Upward Call
• Fountain of Love, Fill Our Souls at Trevin Wax
• Your weekly dose of Spurgeon: Checks upon the Church at Pyromaniacs
• Balancing Public and Private Worship at Theology for Girls

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.