Sunday's Hymn: Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart

Rejoice ye pure in heart;
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing;
Your glorious banner wave on high,
The cross of Christ your King.

Refrain

Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice,
Give thanks and sing.

Bright youth and snow crowned age,
Strong men and maidens meek,
Raise high your free, exultant song,
God’s wondrous praises speak.

Yes onward, onward still
With hymn, and chant and song,
Through gate, and porch and columned aisle,
The hallowed pathways throng.

With all the angel choirs,
With all the saints of earth,
Pour out the strains of joy and bliss,
True rapture, noblest mirth.

Your clear hosannas raise;
And alleluias loud;
Whilst answering echoes upward float,
Like wreaths of incense cloud.

With voice as full and strong
As ocean’s surging praise,
Send forth the hymns our fathers loved,
The psalms of ancient days.

Yes, on through life’s long path,
Still chanting as ye go;
From youth to age, by night and day,
In gladness and in woe.

Still lift your standard high,
Still march in firm array,
As warriors through the darkness toil,
Till dawns the golden day.

At last the march shall end;
The wearied ones shall rest;
The pilgrims find their heavenly home,
Jerusalem the blessed.

Then on, ye pure in heart!
Rejoice, give thanks and sing!
Your glorious banner wave on high,
The cross of Christ your King.

Praise Him who reigns on high,
The Lord whom we adore,
The Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
One God forevermore.

—Ed­ward H. Plump­tre

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

• I Could Not Do Without Thee at Whatever Things
• Great God, How Infinite Art Thou! at Hiraeth
• Still, My Soul Be Still at Rosemary at Home
• My God and Father, Day by Day at Fieldstone Cottage
• Rejoice, Ye Saints, in Every State at Tried With Fire
• Lord’s Day 33, 2011 at The Thirsty Theologian
• Voices From the Past - August 14, 2011 at The Upward Call
• Update: Your weekly dose of Spurgeon at Pyromaniacs: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. It’s the devil who changes with the times.

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.

Round the Sphere Again: Three on the Trinity

No Single Verse
states the whole doctrine, and yet it’s the key to the whole Bible (Justin Taylor quoting Fred Sanders).

No Misleading Analogies
Carl Trueman on teaching the Trinity to kids:

Young children do not generally think in abstractions; thus a lot of theological content simply passes them by; but the teacher can instill in them knowledge of a form of sound words which subsequent intellectual growth under the preaching of the word will flesh out.  The danger is that young minds can be taken captive early on by bad pictures; and these bad pictures then distort what they hear preached and taught as they grow up.

(Reformation21 Blog)

Not From Anathanasius
A concise history of the Athanasian creed.

This creed is an example of how the church, throughout history, has a concern for the great truths of the faith. The Athanasian Creed was not merely an add-on to the appendix of a church constitution. Instead, the church connected the theology of the Creed to the daily life of faith. As such, the Athanasian Creed provides us with a beautiful example of the interplay between theology and worship.

(The Resurgence)

A Forensic Declaration

From 40 Questions About Christians and Biblical Law, by Thomas R. Schreiner, in the section on justification, on the Old Testament background for the righteousness of God:

It is … instructive to note that righteousness in the Old Testament is often forensic in nature. For instance, Deuteronomy 25:1 presupposes that judges will “acquit the innocent and condemn the guilty” (my translation). Clearly, the judges do not make a person righteous or guilty but declare whether the person under trial is innocent or guilty. God himself says that he “will not acquit the wicked” (Exod. 23:7), which means that he will not declare the wicked to be in the right. Similarly, Proverbs 17:13 declares, “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.” …. What is evident here is that judges do not make someone righteous or wicked. They render a forensic declaration based on the reality that is before them. Unrighteous judges “acquit the guilty for a bribe” (Isa. 5:23; cf. 2 Sam. 15:4). God’s righteousness as a judge is explained in Solomon’s prayer as “condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness” (1 Kings 8:32).

Schreiner goes on to list several more places in Job and Isaiah that show the forensic character of righteousness, concluding that while the word righteousness can carry a few different meanings in the Old Testament, frequently referring to God’s “saving righteousness by which he delivers his people because of his steadfast love,”  it “is often forensic, addressing whether the defendant is innocent or guilty before the divine judge.”