Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
See Him dying on the tree!
’Tis the Christ by man rejected;
Yes, my soul, ’tis He, ’tis He!
’Tis the long expected prophet,
David’s Son, yet David’s Lord;
Proofs I see sufficient of it:
’Tis a true and faithful Word.
 
Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning,
Was there ever grief like His?
Friends through fear His cause disowning,
Foes insulting his distress:
Many hands were raised to wound Him,
None would interpose to save;
But the deepest stroke that pierced Him
Was the stroke that Justice gave.
 
Ye who think of sin but lightly,
Nor suppose the evil great,
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the Sacrifice appointed!
See Who bears the awful load!
’Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,
Son of Man, and Son of God.
 
Here we have a firm foundation,
Here the refuge of the lost.
Christ the Rock of our salvation,
Christ the Name of which we boast.
Lamb of God for sinners wounded!
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on Him their hope have built.
 
- Thom­as Kel­ly -

 

 
____________________

  

 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. 

Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 

  

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, 

yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 

  

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; 

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,

 and by his wounds we are healed. 

  

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; 

and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

  

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; 

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, 

so he did not open his mouth.

  

Isaiah 53:3-7

   

I am Thine, O Lord (Draw me nearer)

I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.
 
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
 
  Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the pow’r of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.
 
O the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend!
 
There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.
 
- Fanny Crosby -

  

 ___________________

  

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,

having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,

and our bodies washed with pure water. 

Hebrews 10:22
 

敬拜君王 Worship the King Our God

敬拜君王
Worship the King Our God

來敬拜上主－榮耀大君王，
主愛何奇妙，應感謝、頌揚；
祂是我們盾牌，是千古保障，
榮光是祂宮殿，歌聲永嘹亮。

Let’s worship the Lord—our Glorious Great King,
God’s amazing love, worthy of our praise,
He is our strength our shield, our lasting refuge,
Glory is His temple, filled with sound of praise.

神權能、慈愛，我眾當頌讚，
光輝是主袍，穹蒼是主幔！
雷電顯主烈怒作戰車馳騁，
狂風、暴雨、漆黑，隨祂足跡行。

Sovereign love of God, worthy of our praise,
Great light is His robe, sky is His curtain!
His wrath is like thunder, gallops like chariot.
Wind and storm and darkness follow His footsteps.

來敬拜君王，我主，同歌頌主恩，
述說祂的憐憫、慈愛，
來敬拜君王，我神。

Let’s worship the King, our Lord, sing praise to His grace,
Let’s proclaim His great mercy,
Let’s worship the King, our God.

唇舌難描述主愛顧豐厚，
如光輝照射，似空氣滲透，
像泉源從高山向平原傾注，
甘霖、雨露下滴，常滋潤地土。

Lips and tongues cannot describe His great love
Like light shining forth, like air immersing,
Like stream flowing from mountain into valley,
Like rain pouring down and moistening the land.

來敬拜君王，我主，同歌頌主恩，
述說祂的憐憫、慈愛，
來敬拜君王，我神。

Let’s worship the King, our Lord, sing praise to His grace,
Let’s proclaim His great mercy,
Let’s worship the King, our God.

來敬拜君王，我主，同歌頌主恩，
述說祂的憐憫、慈愛，
來敬拜、頌讚！

Let’s worship the King, our Lord, sing praise to His grace,
Let’s proclaim His great mercy,
Let’s worship and praise!

來敬拜君王，我主，同歌頌主恩，
述說祂的憐憫、恩惠，
來敬拜君王，我神。
來敬拜、頌讚，齊來崇拜！

Let’s worship the King, our Lord, sing praise to His grace,
Let’s proclaim His great mercy,
Let’s worship the King, our God.
Let’s worship and praise! The King, our Lord!

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

[Added by the compilers of Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern]

To Christ, who won for sinners grace
By bitter grief and anguish sore,
Be praise from all the ransomed race
Forever and forevermore.

- Isaac Watts -

'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

It was a beautiful sunny day. Louisa M. Stead, her husband, and her daughter Lily, decided to go for a picnic. They went picnicing on Long Island Sound. While having their picnic, the Steads heard a scream. It was from a young boy. Mr. Stead ran to the rescue. Louisa Stead and young Lily watched helplessly as Mr. Stead and the boy drowned. Their troubles were not over yet, however, and without her husband, Mrs. Stead became very poor and destitute.Yet God never left her. He provided for her always and she and her daughter made it through. Louisa learned to trust God, and thus the words to the song 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus.' Shortly after this incident, Lousia and her daughter Lily moved to South Africa where they became missionaries.

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus says the Lord!”

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!

O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.

I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.

- Louisa M. R. Stead -

I Have Decided to Follow Jesus

Source: Wikipedia

The lyrics are based on the last words of a man in Assam, north-east India, who along with his family was converted to Christianity in the middle of the 19th century through the efforts of a Welsh missionary. Called to renounce his faith by the village chief, the convert declared, "I have decided to follow Jesus." In response to threats to his family, he continued, "Though no one joins me, still I will follow." His wife was killed, and he was executed while singing, "The cross before me, the world behind me." This display of faith is reported to have led to the conversion of the chief and others in the village.

 

I have decided to follow Jesus.
No turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me, I still will follow.
No turning back, no turning back.

The world behind me, the cross before me.
No turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me, still I will follow.
No turning back, no turning back.

My cross I'll carry till I see Jesus.
No turning back, no turning back.

- Sadhu Sundar Singh -

____________________

 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, 

he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, 

but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 

What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, 

and yet lose or forfeit his very self?"

Luke 9:23-25 

 

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee,
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not,
As Thou hast been,Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above;
Join with all nature in manifold witness,
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own great presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside.

- Thomas Chisholm - 

 ____________________

It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, 

because his compassions fail not. 

They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 

Lamentations 3:22-23 (KJV)

你的大能， 你的怜悯，你的慈爱。

We tend to define freedom as doing the things 

that are prohibited by the law of God, 

and having an idea that God is limiting our freedom.
The truth is, God doesn't want us to be enslaved by the things 

prohibited by the law of God, 

so that we can be free from sins and find eternal joy in God alone, 

and we can do that by grace alone, through faith in Christ alone.

前些一段日子，

或者更正确的来说，

前些好一段时间，

内心和身子挣扎一些错误的习惯。

习惯的大衣很难拖下，

所以一直是个借口来继续这个坏习惯。

曾经尝试改掉这坏习惯，

但却改不了。

可能是因为是靠自己的能力，

或者是舍不得这坏习惯。

最近，听了这讲道，

就莫名的没了这坏习惯，

难道这是神迹？

神的大能在运行？

圣灵在动工？

我不肯定，但我会继续祷告，

继续开口称谢

你的大能，

你的怜悯，

你的慈爱。

* * *

敬拜君王

來敬拜上主－榮耀大君王，

主愛何奇妙，應感謝、頌揚；
祂是我們盾牌，是千古保障，

榮光是祂宮殿，歌聲永嘹亮。

神權能、慈愛，我眾當頌讚，

光輝是主袍，穹蒼是主幔！
 雷電顯主烈怒作戰車馳騁，

狂風、暴雨、漆黑，隨祂足跡行。

來敬拜君王，我主，同歌頌主恩，

述說祂的憐憫、慈愛，
來敬拜君王，我神。

唇舌難描述主愛顧豐厚，

如光輝照射，似空氣滲透，
像泉源從高山向平原傾注，

甘霖、雨露下滴，常滋潤地土。

來敬拜君王，我主，同歌頌主恩，

述說祂的憐憫、慈愛，
來敬拜君王，我神。

來敬拜君王，我主，同歌頌主恩，

述說祂的憐憫、慈愛，
來敬拜、頌讚！

來敬拜君王，我主，同歌頌主恩，

述說祂的憐憫、恩惠，
來敬拜君王，我神。

來敬拜、頌讚，齊來崇拜！


Worship the King Our God

 Come lets worship the Lord — the Glorious King,
The Lord's amazing love is worthy of our thanksgiving and praise,
He is our shield, our eternal refuge,
Glory is His temple, filled with sound of praises.

God's soverignty and love is worthy of our praises,
Light is His robe, sky is His curtain!
Thunder is His wrath, like a chariot galloping through.
Wind and storm and darkness follow His footsteps.

Come let us worhsip the King our Lord, let us sing praise to His grace,
Let us proclaim His mercy and love,
Come let us worhsip the King our God.

Lips and tongues cannot describe His abundant love and provision,
Like light shining forth, like air immersing through,
Like stream flowing from mountain into valley,
Like rain pouring down and moisture the land.

Come let us worhsip the King our Lord, let us sing praise to His grace,
Let us proclaim His mercy and love,
Come let us worhsip the King our God.

Come let us worhsip the King our Lord, let us sing praise to His grace,
Let us proclaim His mercy and love,
Come let us worship and praise Him!

Come let us worhsip the King our Lord, let us sing praise to His grace,
Let us proclaim His mercy and grace,
Come let us worhsip the King our God.
Come let us worship and praise Him, worship Him together!

Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou My Vision (Irish: Bí Thusa 'mo Shúile)

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, 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 heavenward, 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 won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O Bright Heaven's sun!;
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

- Dallán Forgaill -

Rock of Ages

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 Thy 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 my eyes shall close in death,

When I rise to worlds unknown,

And behold Thee on Thy throne,

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee.

- Augustus Montague Toplady -

Jehovah Tsidkenu

Jehovah Tsidkenu "The Lord Our Righteousness"

The watchword of the Reformers—

I once was a stranger to grace and to God,

I knew not my danger, and felt not my load;

Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree,

Jehovah Tsidkenu was nothing to me.

I oft read with pleasure, to soothe or engage,

Isaiah's wild measure and John's simple page;

But e'en when they pictured the blood-sprinkled tree

Jehovah Tsidkenu seemed nothing to me.

Like tears from the daughters of Zion that roll,

I wept when the waters went over His soul;

Yet thought not that my sins had nailed to the tree

Jehovah Tsidkenu—'twas nothing to me.

When free grace awoke me, by light from on high,

Then legal fears shook me, I trembled to die;

No refuge, no safety in self could I see—

Jehovah Tsidkenu my Savior must be.

My terrors all vanished before the sweet name;

My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came

To drink at the fountain, life-giving and free—

Jehovah Tsidkenu is all things to me.

Jehovah Tsidkenu! my treasure and boast,

Jehovah Tsidkenu! I ne'er can be lost;

In thee I shall conquer by flood and by field—

My cable, my anchor, my breastplate and shield!

Even treading the valley, the shadow of death,

This "watchword" shall rally my faltering breath;

For while from life's fever my God sets me free,

Jehovah Tsidkenu my death-song shall be.

- Robert Murray McCheyne -

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,

Source: http://www.christianity.com/ChurchHistory/11630313/

Robert Robinson was just a small boy when his dad died. In 18th century England, there was little in the way of a social welfare system and this meant that he had to go to work while still very young. Without a father to guide and steady him, he fell in with bad companions.

One day his gang of rowdies harassed a drunken gypsy. Pouring liquor into her, they demanded she tell their fortunes for free. Pointing her finger at Robert she told him he would live to see his children and grandchildren. This struck a tender spot in his heart. "If I'm going to live to see my children and grandchildren," he thought, "I'll have to change my way of living. I can't keep on like I'm going now."

He decided to go hear the Methodist preacher George Whitefield. To cover his "weak" urge, he suggested that the boys go with him and heckle the gathering. Whitefield preached on the text: "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Matthew 3:7). Robert left in dread, under a deep sense of sin that lasted for three years.

Finally, at the age of twenty, he made peace with God and immediately set out to become a Methodist preacher himself. Two years later, in 1757, he wrote a hymn which expressed his joy in his new faith:

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

This was printed the next year. At first people thought that Selina Hastings, the Countess of Huntingdon, a strong Methodist had written this. Eventually it was learned that Robert was the writer. In the last stanza, Robert had written:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love
Take my heart, O take and seal it
Seal it for thy courts above.

Prone to wander Robert was. He left the Methodists and became a Baptist. Later on, having become a close friend of Joseph Priestly, he was accused of becoming a Unitarian. Priestly and other Unitarians denied the full divinity of Christ. However, in a sermon he preached after he supposedly became a Unitarian, Robinson clearly declared that Jesus was God, and added, "Christ in Himself is a person infinitely lovely as both God and man."

Robert died on this day, June 9, 1790. Had he left the God he loved? A widely-told, but unverifiable, story says that one day as he was riding in a stagecoach a lady asked him what he thought of the hymn she was humming. He responded, "Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then."

* * *

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh,
till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

- Robert Robinson -

____________________

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. 

He named it Ebenezer, saying, 

"Thus far has the LORD helped us." 

1 Samuel 7:12

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

- Horatio Spafford -

Tell Me the Old, Old Story

Many times I wonder why I still alive, spiritually and physically. Sometime I got a similar feeling with Paul, when he was writing a letter to the church in Philippi.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me.
Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!
I am torn between the two:
I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;
but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
(Philippians 1:21-24)

Many times I fall into the dilemma between the two also. All believers do desire to return to their true home, because we are like travelers, traveling in this foreign world. After being banged by a car and still survive, I feel a calling from Him.

Though I surrendered myself to Jesus Christ, but there is something that I still haven't do, there is something that I still need to do, that is to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (cf. Acts 1:8), and go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that commanded by God (cf. Matthew 28:19-20). The reason I still living now, is to proclaim the good news, to proclaim the gospel.

This is a hymn, from a poem written by Catherine Hankey (1893-1911). She wrote it when she became very ill and lay in bed.

Tell Me the Old, Old Story

Tell me the story slowly, that I may take it in -
That wonderful redemption, God's remedy of sin.
Tell me the story often, for I forget so soon;
The early dew of morning has passed away at noon.

We need to tell others the old, old story of Jesus and His love. They need some good news.

____________________

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,
but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body,
I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
(Galatians 2:20)