Sunday's Hymn: Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.

—Au­gus­tus M. Top­la­dy

1. Fernando Ortega (Toplady).
   
2. Choir (Redhead 76).

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

• Update: Jesus, My Great High Priest at Fieldstone Cottage
• Wait, My Soul, Upon the Lord at Rosemary at Home
• The Solid Rock at Lisa Writes
• Rock of Ages at Gospel Grace
• Creator Blest, One Glance of Thine at Conjubilant With Song
• O Church of God, Arise at The Happy Wonderer
• Lord’s Day 39 at Tried With Fire 
• A Sunday Psalm: The Treasury of David - Psalm 6:3-4 at Theology for Girls
• Lord’s Day 30, 2012 at The Thirsty Theologian
• Faith Alone - July 22, 2012 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.

Round the Sphere Again: Suggestions for Readers

What to Read
Two lists:

• A bunch of books on the Bible (Kevin DeYoung).
• Recommended books from speakers at the 2012 Gospel Coalition National Women’s Conference (Justin Taylor). All excellent recommendations, but I’m a little surprised D. A. Carson’s The God Who Is There doesn’t show up anywhere.

One review: 

• Luma Simms recommends an e-book on evangelism, The Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson.

What You Didn’t Read
I’ve not read Pilgrim’s Progress. Nope, never. I’ve tried, but apparently allegory isn’t my thing. It doesn’t help that my mother tried to read Pilgrim’s Progress to me as a child and I was unimpressed. 

See: I just followed this advice from Aaron Armstrong. 

Thankful Thursday

First, I want to acknowledge the wonderful summer weather we had today and that we will have for the next few days, if the weather report is to be believed. Finally, summer is here: The sky is bright blue; it’s hot, but not too hot; the daylight hours are still long. I’m so thankful. 

I’m also thankful that God is eternal. He’s always been and always will be, and that means he will always exist to fulfill his promises to us.

And isn’t being eternal in the sense of transcending time an important part of God’s ability to control time—to create it and declare what occurs in it? That we have seasons and days and nights, that babies grow, that we mature, is dependent on God’s eternality. That God planned salvation before the foundation of the world and brings it about in history is dependent on his eternality, too. The God who works all things for our good is not subject to time, but controls and uses it to bring about his perfect will. All the more reason to be thankful that God is eternal.