A Hymn

Two lines of this were quoted in Spurgeon's Treasury of David, and I searched online to find the author. I didn't find the author, but I found the whole poem it went with.  Then, I looked in C.H. Spurgeon's Our Own Hymnbook, and found it, under the title of "Jesus, my great High Priest," and with a few other verses.  Apparently it is by Isaac Watts.  Enjoy!

~~~

Join all the glorious names
Of wisdom, love, and power,
That mortals ever knew,
That angels ever bore:
All are too mean to speak His worth,
Too mean to set my Saviour forth.

Great Prophet of my God,
My tongue would bless Thy name;
By Thee the joyful news
Of our salvation came:
The joyful news of sins forgiven,
Of hell subdued, and peace with heaven.

Jesus, my great High Priest,
Offered His blood, and died:
My guilty conscience seeks
No sacrifice beside:
His powerful blood did once atone
And now it pleads before the throne.

My dear Almighty Lord,
My Conqueror and my King!
Thy matchless power and love,
Thy saving grace, I sing:
Thine is the power   oh, may I sit
In willing bonds beneath Thy feet.

Then let my soul arise,
And tread the tempter down;
My Captain leads me forth
To conquest and a crown.
The feeblest saint shall win the day,
Though death and hell obstruct the way.

Should all the hosts of death,
And powers of hell unknown,
Put their most dreadful forms
Of rage and mischief on,
I shall be safe; for Christ displays
Superior power and guardian grace.

~

(Additional verses, which may have been first.)

To this dear Surety's hand
Will I commit my cause;
He answers and fulfills
His Father's broken laws;
Behold my soul at freedom set!
My Surety paid the dreadful debt.

My Advocate appears
For my defense on high;
The Father bows His ears,
And lays His thunder by;
Not all that hell or sin can say
Shall turn His heart, His love away.

Immense compassion reigns
In my Immanuel's heart,
He condescends to act
A Mediator's part:
He is my friend and brother too,
Divinely kind, divinely true.

Isaac Watts, 1709.

Lyrics and Quote from the Treasury of David

Hymn of Gethsemane - quite lovely!

Verse 12. For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head. We lose ourselves when we speak of the sins of our lives. It may astonish any considering man to take notice how many sins he is guilty of any one day; how many sins accompany any one single act; nay, how many bewray themselves in any one religious duty. Whensoever ye do anything forbidden, you omit the duty at that time commanded; and whenever you neglect that which is enjoined, the omission is joined with the acting of something forbidden; so that the sin, whether omission or commission, is always double; nay, the apostle makes every sin tenfold. James 2:10. That which seems one to us, according to the sense of the law, and the account of God, is multiplied by ten. He breaks every command by sinning directly against one, and so sins ten times at once; besides that swarm of sinful circumstances and aggravations which surround every act in such numbers, as atoms use to surround your body in a dusty room; you may more easily number these than those. And though some count these but fractions, incomplete sins, yet even from hence it is more difficult to take an account of their number. And, which is more for astonishment, pick out the best religious duty that ever you performed, and even in that performance you may find such a swarm of sins as cannot be numbered. In the best prayer that ever you put up to God, irreverence, lukewarmness, unbelief, spiritual pride, self seeking, hypocrisy, distractions, etc., and many more, that an enlightened soul grieves and bewails; and yet there are many more that the pure eye of God discerns, than any man does take notice of. -- David Clarkson.

Music to the Glory of God

"Augustine approved of music but added strong caution. 'When it happens that I am more moved by the song than the thing which is sung, I confess that I sin in a manner deserving punishment.' We must beware of these dangers, dear brothers, in our use of music in worship." (The Betrayal: A Novel on John Calvin by Douglas Bond)

This made me say "Wow." I, who like music very much, am sometimes more aware of or moved by the melody and harmony than the words. The two should both be excellent, but the words in worship should be our focus. An elder at church has mentioned that before, but this quote brought it to me in more force.

Hymn

This is a lovely hymn, as are many on this site:
http://songsandhymns.org/hymns/lyrics/ah-holy-jesus-how-hast-thou-offended

I Asked the Lord That I Might Grow

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.

’Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow’rs of ***
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?
“’Tis in this way, the Lord replied,
I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”

-John Newton

Quotes

A good quote I found on another "Clothed with Scarlet" blog:
"We must quit bending the Word to suit our situation. It is we who must be bent to that Word, our necks that must bow under the yoke." -Elisabeth Elliot

I'm not sure who wrote this next one (apparently it's a hymn, maybe anonymous), but Spurgeon quoted it and I like it. God is gracious!

"Rise, my soul! adore and wonder!
Ask, 'O why such love to me?'
Grace hath put me in the number
Of the Saviour's family:
Hallelujah!
Thanks, eternal thanks to Thee."