Sunday Hymn: Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my vi­sion, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleep­ing, Thy pre­sence my light.

Be Thou my wis­dom, and Thou my true word;
I ev­er with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Fa­ther, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwell­ing, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my bat­tle shield, sword for the fight;, 
Be Thou my dig­ni­ty, Thou my de­light;
Thou my soul’s shel­ter, Thou my high tow­er:
Raise Thou me heav’n­ward, O pow­er of my pow­er.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s emp­ty praise,
Thou mine in­her­it­ance, now and al­ways:
Thou and Thou on­ly, first in my heart,
High King of Heav­en, my trea­sure Thou art.

High King of Heav­en, my vic­to­ry on,
May I reach Heav’n’s joys, O bright Heav­en’s sun!
Heart of my own heart, what­ev­er be­fall,
Still be my vi­sion, O Rul­er of all.

— Attributed to Dal­lán For­gaill, c. 560 – 640

Theological Term of the Week: Redemptive History

redemptive history
God’s plan for history, which is unfolding with the ultimate purpose of uniting all things in Christ; the unified story of the Bible; also called history of salvation.

• From scripture:

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27 ESV)

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things….” (Luke 24:44-48 ESV)

• From Overview of the Bible: A Survey of the History of Salvation by Vern Poythress:

The Bible also makes it clear that God has a unified plan for all of history. His ultimate purpose, “a plan for the fullness of time,” is “to unite all things in him [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph. 1:10), “to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:12). God had this plan even from the beginning: “remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient  times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’” (Isa. 46:9–10). “When the fullness of time had come,” when the moment was appropriate in God’s plan, “God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Gal. 4:4–5).

The work of Christ on earth, and especially his crucifixion and resurrection, is the climax of history; it is the great turning point at which God actually accomplished the salvation toward which history had been moving throughout the OT. The present era looks back on Christ’s completed work but also looks forward to the consummation of his work when Christ will come again and when there will appear “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13; see Rev. 21:1–22:5).

Learn more:

1. ESV Global Study Bible: Overview of the Bible
2. Vern Poythress: Overview of the Bible: A Survey of the History of Salvation
3. Justin Taylor: Goldsworthy: The Main Chapters of the Biblical Storyline
4. Nick Batzig: The Blessed Repetition of Redemptive History

Related terms:

• biblical hermeneutics
• covenant
• decree(s) of God
• typology

Filed under Reformed Theology

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Sunday Hymn: All Creatures of Our God and King

All crea­tures of our God and king
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Al­le­luia!
Thou burn­ing sun with gold­en beam,
Thou sil­ver moon with soft­er gleam!

Refrain

O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Al­le­luia! Al­le­luia!

Thou rush­ing wind that art so strong
Ye clouds that sail in Heav­en along,
O praise Him! Al­le­luia!
Thou ris­ing moon, in praise re­joice,
Ye lights of ev­en­ing, find a voice!

Thou flow­ing water, pure and clear,
Make mu­sic for thy Lord to hear,
O praise Him! Al­le­luia!
Thou fire so mas­ter­ful and bright,
That giv­est man both warmth and light.

And all ye men of ten­der heart,
Forgiving oth­ers, take your part,
O sing ye! Al­le­luia!
Ye who long pain and sor­row bear,
Praise God and on Him cast your care!

And thou most kind and gen­tle death,
Waiting to hush our lat­est breath,
O praise Him! Al­le­luia!
Thou lead­est home the child of God,
And Christ our Lord the way hath trod.

Let all things their cre­at­or bless,
And wor­ship Him in hum­ble­ness,
O praise Him! Al­le­luia!
Praise, praise the Fa­ther, praise the Son,
And praise the Spir­it, Three in One!

— St. Francis of Assisi, circa 1225, translated by William H. Draper