Sunday's Hymn

Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move;
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art;
And make me love Thee as I ought to love.

I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,
No sudden rending of the veil of clay,
No angel visitant, no opening skies;
But take the dimness of my soul away.

Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh;
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear.
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh,
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.

Hast Thou not bid me love Thee, God and King?
All, all Thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind.
I see Thy cross; there teach my heart to cling:
O let me seek Thee, and O let me find!

Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love,
One holy passion filling all my frame;
The kindling of the heaven descended Dove,
My heart an altar, and Thy love the flame.

—George Croly

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

• The Power of the Holy Ghost at The Happy Wonderer
• Lord’s Day 21, 2010 at The Thirsty Theologian
• ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus at Whatever Is Good
• Under the Care of My God at Field Stone Cottage
• There Is No Night There at Hiraeth
• Above the Starry Spheres at Conjubilant with Song
• Object of My First Desire at Whatever Things
• Heart Aflame - May 23, 2010 at The Upward Call

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.

My Place 3

Line drying, May 19, 2010

Of all domestic tasks, hanging the laundry is the one that brings me the most satisfaction. First there’s the lugging of the basket of heavy, wet laundry up the steps and out the door. I like using my muscles and that uses every one of them. And then, there they are, hanging clean and bright, like coloured flags in the wind, all in order, sheets with sheets, big towels, then smaller ones, and finally the wash cloths. No perfumed fabric softener can compare with the smell of laundry freshly dried in the pristine Yukon air.

My home is on an old Canadian Air Force base, and each house once had a grey painted wooden stoop to reach the clotheslines-on-pulleys that ran from the front of the house to a big iron T-post at the edge of the street. There are a few of us who still use our front-door-to-street clotheslines, but more and more they are disappearing, strung in the backyard instead, or maybe disappearing altogether as the electric clothes dryer permanently takes its place, and children grow up never smelling fresh air dried clothing.

Draw Me a Diagram: 1 Corinthians 1

Did you learn to diagram sentences in school? It’s not something taught much anymore, but it’s a good way to learn grammar. Diagrams and charts can be a used for Bible study, too. I’d say that arcing, like what people do at BibleArc, is making a diagram.

I like arcing; I’ve arced my way through the gospel of John. But even before I learned to arc, I occasionally did simple diagrams of parallel statements within a passage help me understand more about how specific biblical words were used.

A few years ago, I did a series of post on the way Paul used the word called. In my study, I made a chart to help me understand how Paul used called in 1 Corinthians 1. The parallel statements are in verses 18:

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

and 23-24:

…but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Lining up the parallel statements we get this*:

the word of the cross/
the preaching of Christ crucified

folly to those who are perishing/
a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles

but to us who are being saved/
but to those who are called

the power of God/
the power of God and the wisdom of God

From this, I concluded that being called (see third pair of parallel statements) is closely associated with being saved. To quote the old post:

Paul statements equate being called with being saved. It is “those who are called” who are “us who are being saved.” This is a call that saves. This is a particular call, then, rather than a universal one, and a call with the power to save.

God’s call, as Paul uses the word here, is a call that always leads to salvation.

Next up, I want to show you the same kind of diagramming (or charting) done to two questions from Romans 9. But I’ll save that for another day.

*Reproducing the actual chart was beyond my capabilities back then. It still might be; we’ll find out.