1 This Is My Father's World

Scripture Focus:

Psalm 24
"The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he
founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters" (Psalm 24:1-2)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Mattie Davenport Babcock became pastor at the Presbyterian Church in

Lockport, New York, he developed the habit of taking early morning walks, telling
friends, "I'm going out to see my Father's world." The beauty around him during
those walks inspired this familiar hymn which was not released until after Babcock's
death.

The doctrine of Creation is foundational to all Christian thinking. If God is not the
Creator, if He does not sovereignly control the whole universe, then we have no
reason to believe He has the power to provide eternal life for us. Every time we
watch a sunset or see mountains, prairies, trees, and flowers that came from the
hand of the loving Creator, we should worship Him in our hearts.

The third verse of this worship hymn calls us to the recognition that there is more to
come:

This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget.

That tho’ the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world. The battle is not done;
Jesus who died shall be satisfied, and earth and heaven be one.

INSIGHT: The God who made the world knows us, loves us, and will care for us
through every minute of this day.

2 A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

Scripture Focus:

Psalm 46
"The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come and see the
works of the Lord" (Psalm 46:7-8).
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Samuel Coleridge said, "Martin Luther did as much for the Reformation by his
hymns as he did by his translation of the Bible." A bit of an overstatement perhaps,
but the impact of hymns like this can't be taken lightly. This great hymn brings
courage to Christians all around the world. Its first line in the German text (Ein
Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott) is inscribed on Luther's tomb at Wittenburg.

Psalm 46:7 offers a joyful response from the people of Israel upon hearing the first
six verses sung by the director of music and quite possibly a Hebrew choir. Few
would question the assumption that Luther drew his hymn from the seventh verse of
this psalm, which you and I can affirm today as we remind ourselves that the God of
Creation is with us every moment.

A mighty Fortress is our God, a Bulwark never failing.

Our helper He amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great and armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not His equal.

INSIGHT: Let's take great comfort today in Luther's victorious words: "God's truth
abideth still. His kingdom is forever."

3 Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

Scripture Focus:

Isaiah 58:11-14
"Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise. . . . For this God is our God for ever
and ever; he will be our guide even to the end" (Psalm 48:1, 14).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was born William Williams, the son of a wealthy Welsh farmer on February 11,
1717. Williams wanted to be a doctor, but God challenged him to enter the ministry.
The Church of England denied him ordination because of his evangelical views, so
he became a popular preacher for the Calvinistic Methodist Church and traveled
around Wales for 45 years. Williams wrote over 800 hymns in Welsh and another
100 in English, but this is the only one commonly known to us today.

What a wonderful message both hymn and Scripture text provide. The Heavenly
Father cares for His people throughout their lives. God never leaves us and never
forsakes us. He doesn't require us to wander or depend on our own judgment but
serves as our guide "even to the end."

When I tread the verge of Jordan, bid my anxious fears subside;

Death of death and hell’s destruction, land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises
I will ever give to Thee, I will ever give to Thee.

INSIGHT: The people of the Lord have relied on His guidance from Israel in the
desert to the cyberspace age of our time. You can count on it for the tasks of this
day.

4 How Firm a Foundation

Scripture Focus:

Psalm 119:89-96
"Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. . . . I will never forget
your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life" (Psalm 119:89, 93).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This hymn, most likely written by Robert Keene, was a favorite of General Robert E.
Lee, who chose it to be sung at his funeral. It was first published in 1787 under the
title, "Exceeding Great and Precious Promises." On Christmas Eve, 1898, an entire
corps of the United States Army, both northern and southern, encamped in the
Quemados hills near Havana, struck up the tune. We generally sing it to a
traditional American melody that may date back to 1832.

Christians understand the connection between God's Word and God's people. Our
text emphasizes that God's Word is eternal, whether promised directly to Old
Testament prophets, spoken by Jesus or Paul, or written in the Bible we have in our
hands today. We are not surprised, therefore, when congregations rise to sing with
vigor and conviction.

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned repose

I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!

INSIGHT: Our faith in God rests on His unchanging and unshakeable Word. As
someone once remarked, "God said it; I believe it; and that settles it!"

5 Faith Is the Victory

Scripture Focus:

1 John 5:1-5
"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. . . . for everyone
born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world,
even our faith” (1 John 5:1,4).
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Like D.L. Moody, John Henry Yates was a shoe salesman called to serve the Lord.
Born in Batavia, New York in 1837, he received license as a Methodist preacher but
later in life pastored West Bethany Free Will Baptist Church for seven years.
Apparently Yates had an ongoing association with the famous Ira Sankey, and he
wrote a number of poems for which Sankey composed appropriate tunes. This
hymn provides a good example of that team effort.

We rarely know what Scripture passage a poet may have had in mind when
composing a hymn text, but the repeating refrain of this hymn certainly directs our
attention of John's statement, "This is the victory that has overcome the world, even
our faith." John reminds us that "Everyone who believes that Jesus

is the Christ is born of God," affirming the role of faith in salvation as well as its
power for spiritual victory.

His banner over us is love, our sword the Word of God;

We tread the road the saints above with shouts of triumph trod.
By faith, they, like a whirlwind’s breath, swept on o’er every field;
The faith by which they conquered death is still our shining shield.

INSIGHT: May God grant us faith for life eternal and faith for living this day. May we
victoriously press on for Jesus until we join those "saints above."

6 Rock of Ages
Scripture Focus:
Isaiah 26:1-6
"Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord is the Rock eternal" (Isaiah 26:4).
"The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I
take refuge” (Psalm 18:2).
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In 1776 the newly-formed United States declared its independence; in England,

Augustus Montague Toplady was writing hymns. The familiar Rock of Ages actually
first appeared a year earlier in the Gospel Magazine which Toplady published.

Only the first stanza appeared in 1775, and the entire hymn in March of 1776 under
the heading, "A Living and Dying Prayer for the Holiest Believer in the

World." Toplady died three months shy of his thirty-eighth birthday. In 1866 as the
steamer "London" sank in the Bay of Biscayne, the last human sounds heard were
the words of Rock of Ages.

The Old Testament proclaims Rock of Israel. The metaphor is not often used of
Jesus, but in 1 Peter 2:7 we learn that "The stone the builder rejected has become
the capstone." Toplady may have taken a bit of poetic license in the metaphor, but
we cannot fault him for the theology of this hymn.

Not the labors 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.

INSIGHT: God is our foundation, whether the Father or the Son, whether the Rock
of the Old Testament or the Stone of the New. We rest all our faith and hope on our
blessed Rock of Ages.

7 Praise the Savior

Scripture Focus:

Ephesians 1:3-10
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).
"Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thomas Kelly, an Irishman, was born in Queens in 1769. His evangelical preaching
brought him trouble with the Anglican Archbishop, so he became an independent
minister.

Kelly’s hymn writing stretched over 40 years and included at least 765 hymns. This
hymn first appeared in 1806. Some 20 years after Kelly's death, God used it
mightily in the Moody-Sankey campaigns throughout Great Britain.

Hymnbook compilers like to assign Hebrews 13:8 to this hymn, most likely because
of the first line of Kelly's verse. The inspired writer of Hebrews emphasizes that the
same Christ who died and now lives in heaven will always care for His own. Times
may change; we may change; our children may change--but Jesus, never.

Keep us Lord, O keep us cleaving to Thyself, and still believing,

Till the hour of our receiving promised joys with Thee.
Then we shall be where we would be, then we shall be what we should be;
Things that are not now, nor could be, soon shall be our own.

INSIGHT: Thank God for a changeless Christ in a changing world. He provides the
stability in our shaky and often chaotic lives.

8 Fairest Lord Jesus

Scripture Focus:

Psalm 45:1-6
"You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace,
since God has blessed you forever" (Psalm 45:2).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

So few of our popular hymns are anonymous that we pay attention when we find
one. The first three verses of Fairest Lord Jesus rose from the German Catholic
Church in the late seventeenth century. Though the hymn describes the beauty

of God's creation and the perfection of God's Son, it says nothing of the message of
the Gospel. Perhaps that is why Joseph Seiss wrote the fourth verse

nearly 200 years after the original hymn was released.

Jewish teachers applied Psalm 45 to the Messiah, and Christians have no problem
finding a description of Christ in its soaring words of praise. The author of Hebrews
writes of Christ, clinching the Messianic impact of the psalm: "You have loved
righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above
your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy" (Hebrews 1:9).

Beautiful Savior! Lord of the nations!

Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
Now and forevermore be Thine!

INSIGHT: In a society that loves wickedness and hates righteousness, we can look
forward to the time when God reverses those priorities and Jesus holds the scepter
of justice.

9 Jesus Paid It All

Scripture Focus:

Romans 6:21-26
"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and
proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been
paid for" (Isaiah 40:1-2).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

One Sunday morning Elvina Hall sat in church listening to a pastoral prayer. For
some reason, her concentration began to waver. She began to write a poem that
she gave to her pastor after the service that day.

How many people have heard the Gospel by singing her poem? How many
Christians have been reminded of their own unworthiness through these wonderful
words? There is great comfort in knowing that our sins have been cared for by
Jesus on the Cross and we bear the penalty no more, ever again, after we place
our trust in Him. Paul echoes that message many times in his epistles, perhaps
never more directly than in Romans 6 where we find one of the great Gospel verses
of the Bible: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

For nothing good have I whereby Thy grace to claim.

I’ll wash my garments white in the blood of Calvary’s Lamb.
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe; sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
INSIGHT: Once again today, thank the Heavenly Father for sending His beloved

Son to pay the price for our sin and give us eternal life.

10 Christ Arose
Scripture Focus:

1 Corinthians 15:20-28
"If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have
fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:19-20).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Only occasionally do we find hymns for which the same person wrote text and tune,
but such is the case with this favorite Easter song. Robert Lowery picked up the
great theme of the Resurrection chapter as he begins with the phrase, "Low in the
grave He lay," often used as the title. But he doesn't leave us in suspense very
long, for he tells us Jesus was just "waiting the coming day." And the wonderful
transition repeated in every verse identifies Jesus both as Savior and Lord.

Could anything have kept Jesus in the grave that day? Absolutely not. Peter told the
crowds at Pentecost that "God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the
agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him" (Acts
2:24). From Creation to Resurrection, God's great power and grace are shown
throughout the Bible.

Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o’er His foes;
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

INSIGHT: Jesus paid for our sins at the Cross. That was atonement. But we are
justified by the Resurrection, declared righteous before a holy God because Jesus
"tore the bars away."

11 Hallelujah, What a Savior!

Scripture Focus:

Isaiah 53:1-9
"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" (Isaiah 53:6).
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The name P.P. Bliss stamped on a hymn is like sterling stamped on silver. Bliss was
born on a farm near Ashtabula, Ohio in 1838. In 1864 he sold his first song and 10
years later he traveled with Major D.W. Whittle in revival meetings throughout the
Midwest and South. Two years later, at the age of 38, he died trying to rescue his
wife from a fire resultingfrom a train wreck. But he left behind such great hymns as
Wonderful Words of Life, The Light of the World Is Jesus, and what many consider
to be his best, Hallelujah, What a Savior!

In five verses Bliss takes us from the cross to the throne, from death to life, and
along the way, clearly proclaims the Gospel of substitutionary atonement -- Jesus
died for me. It is not sufficient to believe that Christ died for the world; we must
acknowledge that He paid sin's penalty for each of us individually.

Guilty, vile and helpless we;

Spotless Lamb of God was He.
“Full atonement”-can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

INSIGHT: Singing, like Scripture reading, should be a constant reminder of God's

grace and love toward us. We cannot sing Gospel words like these too often.

12 All Hail the Power

Scripture Focus:

Philippians 2:6-11
"At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under
the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Though 18 years younger, Edward Perronet became a close friend of Charles

Wesley, and through Wesley's influence became a preacher in the evangelical
movement.

Though numerous texts throughout the New Testament could serve as a foundation
for this hymn, I have chosen the dramatic hymn from Philippians 2. Here Paul tells
us about the suffering servant of God who "became obedient to death -- even death
on a cross!" (v. 8). But that was only the beginning of His ministry. One day He will
reign over all the earth and then "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . .
and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father." How grateful we should be that we don't have to wait until that final day to
bring praise and worship to the name of our Lord Jesus!

Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race,

Ye ransomed from the fall
Hail Him who saves you by His grace,
And crown Him Lord of all.

INSIGHT: Let this be a day of praise and rejoicing to our wonderful Lord and
coming King. Sing or say the words of this hymn often throughout the day.

13 To God Be the Glory

Scripture Focus:

Psalm 29
"Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe
to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness"
(Psalm 29:1-2).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fanny Jane Crosby was blinded for life at the age of six. She began writing songs
two years later and went on to become a concert singer, organist, and harpist. She
married Alexander VanAlstyne (also a blind musician) and they both taught at the
New York City School for the Blind. Fanny began to write hymns when she was 44
years of age. For the next half century she produced over 8,000 hymn texts.

Interestingly, this hymn was first introduced in Great Britain by Sankey and Moody
and first published there as well in 1875. Its popularity, however, most likely springs
from its use in the Billy Graham Harringay Crusade in 1954.

The first two verses in Psalm 29 call angels to worship the name of the Lord. They
responded and so should we, joining and proclaiming, "Great things He hath done!"

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood!

To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

INSIGHT: The earth cannot hear the Lord's voice unless it takes sound through His
people. Our praise reaches upward and outward to glorify His name and exalt His
greatness.

14 Battle Hymn
Scripture Focus:

Psalm 76
"I have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will proclaim the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, `You are my Son; today I have become your Father'" (Psalm 2:6-7).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was December of 1861 and the times were dark and cold. Julia Ward Howe, a
leading humanitarian and pioneer in women's suffrage, visited the federal
battlefields on the Potomac. Somewhere along the way she heard the troops
singing the old folk song, "John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave" and
wondered whether there might be more fitting words put to this fine tune. At the
urging of her pastor, she wrote the words that have become popular as a patriotic
hymn.

When singing this historic hymn, we should not think only of the Civil War, the
abolition of slavery, or even the freedom of all people under God. The regular
repetition of the last line lifts our eyes to God's overall rulership of His world and
Christ's ultimate kingdom. Even in times of great difficulty we can know and sing,
"Our God is marching on."

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me;
As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free,
While God is marching on.

INSIGHT: When you feel discouraged about national or international events,

remember the words of the Lord: "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill"
(Psalm 2:6).

15 My Jesus, I Love Thee

Scripture Focus:

1 John 4:13-21
"We love because he first loved us. . . . Dear children, let us not love with words or
tongue but with actions and in truth" (1 John 4:19; 3:18).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Imagine a hymn written by a teenager and sung by Christians for 125 years! That

describes this song penned by William Featherstone most likely when he was 16
years of age. That great Christian statesman of New England, Dr. A.J.

Gordon, wrote the tune after finding the words in the London Hymnbook, published
in 1864.

Our Scripture reading appears in a context entitled by the New International Version
editors, "God's Love and Ours." The Apostle John wrote often of love, both in his
Gospel and his epistles. Perhaps no other section offers greater detailed instruction
in Christian loving than 1 John 4.

The point John makes should drive our attitudes and behavior: "We love because
he first loved us." And not just love for Jesus, as the hymn affirms, but also love for
each other.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,

I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.

INSIGHT: No matter how difficult or unfriendly people may seem, we are able to
love them because God's Spirit will produce Jesus' love in us.
16 I Am His and He Is Mine
Scripture Focus:

1 John 3:16-20
"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For . . . your life is now
hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will
appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:2-4).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

George Wade Robinson was born in 1838 in Cork, Ireland. After studying at Trinity
College-Dublin and taking additional work in London, he became a Congregational
minister. This hymn was written sometime before 1876, but it usually carries that
date because it first appeared that year in Hymns of Consecration and Faith,
published by James Mountain, composer of the tune.

This meaningful hymn leads us to look all around us for the creative hand and
loving care of our Savior. When all things have been made new in our hearts, we
have the opportunity to see the freshness and beauty of God's natural revelation.
Jesus often tried to get His disciples to understand their relationship with the Father
through Him. Robinson has captured that relationship and its spiritual bounty in all
four verses. Here is the last:

His forever, only His! Who the Lord and me shall part?
Ah, with what a rest of bliss Christ can fill the loving heart!
Heav’n and earth may fade and flee, first-born light in gloom decline;
But while God and I shall be, I am His, and He is mine.

INSIGHT: Through spiritual death and resurrection, God has united us with Jesus
and therefore with the Father. What a glorious reality!

17 God of Our Fathers

Scripture Focus:

Hebrews 11:1-6
"Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we
share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all
entrusted to the saints” (Jude 3).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 1876, the 100-year anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it seemed
appropriate to commission a hymn for the occasion, and officials chose Daniel
Crane Roberts, the rector of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church in Brandon, Vermont.
His work became the official hymn for the centennial celebration. Though the words
were sung to the tune, "Russian Hymn," as late as 1892, the current tune, National
Hymn, was composed by George W. Warren, the organist of St. Thomas.
Apparently, this tune occurred publicly for the first time in the Protestant Episcopal
Hymnal in 1894.

This hymn’s immediate nationwide recognition has placed it in virtually every

hymnbook of our time. Its theme captures the truth of that "faith once for all
entrusted to the saints." Its prayer still cries out for recognition in today's secular
world.

Thy love divine hath led us in the past;

In this free land by Thee our lot is cast;
Be Thou our Ruler, Guardian, Guide, and Stay,
Thy Word our law, Thy paths our chosen way.

INSIGHT: May God grant revival in our land and cause our leaders to look again to
the God of our fathers. May patriotism be cloaked in piety and flag-waving
surrendered to faith.

18 Trust and Obey

Scripture Focus:

John 14:23-27
"In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. . . . I will
declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you” (Psalm
22:4,22).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Almost every hymnbook I have ever used contains this hymn written by John
Sammis in the late nineteenth century. Daniel B. Towner, a friend of Sammis, was
singing in Brockton, Massachusetts at a Moody crusade. During a testimony service
he heard a young man say, "I'm not quite sure -- but I'm going to trust, and I'm going
to obey." Towner jotted down the words and sent them to Sammis, who wrote the
chorus first and then added the five verses. Towner wrote the tune and the hymn
was published in 1887.

Psalm 22 is a prayer of David under attack by his enemies. The attack was
unprovoked and David wonders why God has not yet delivered him. David takes
courage in remembering that God was "the praise of Israel" and wants to follow the
example of his forefathers by trusting and obeying the Holy One.

Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,

But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief nor a loss, not a frown nor a cross,
But is blest if we trust and obey.

INSIGHT: God does not ask us to be calm and victorious in all the problems of life;
He only asks us to trust and obey.

19 Lord, Speak to Me
Scripture Focus:

2 Timothy 2:1-7
"And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust
to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others" (2 Timothy 2:2).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fanny Crosby was 16 when Frances Ridley Havergal was born in England. The
daughter of a pastor, Frances could read at the age of three and wrote poetry when
she was seven. Though a variety of health problems hindered her formal education,
she developed fluency in eight or nine languages, including Hebrew and Greek.
She never married, living with her father until his death in 1873. Frances died just
six years later at the age of 43, leaving behind Like a River Glorious, Who Is on the
Lord’s Side, and I Gave my Life for Thee.

The words of this hymn first appeared in a little tract entitled, "A Worker's Prayer."
The flowing tune is an adaptation of one of Robert Schumann's piano works
composed before Havergal's birth.

These insightful words of a young Christian woman live on to inspire us today. We

are channels of God's blessing as He speaks through us to others whom we can
influence toward spiritual formation.
O use me, Lord, use even me, just as Thou wilt and when and where;
Until Thy blessed face I see, Thy rest, Thy joy, Thy glory share.

INSIGHT: Paul's words to Timothy in today's key verse remind us to offer ourselves
as teachers and mentors for those who need to grow in the faith.

20 My Faith
Scripture Focus:

1 Peter 1:3-9
"Even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an
inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the
salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Set to a beautiful Norwegian folk melody, this hymn proclaims the Gospel more
clearly than most of the hymns in any hymnbook. We know virtually nothing about
Lidie Edmunds or the circumstances surrounding the writing of this hymn. It first
appeared in Songs of Joy and Gladness No. 2 in the year 1891, and the tune is the
name of a town in Norway.

Every trusting Christian rests in the essential idea that there is no way to God apart
from the cross. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and nothing less than faith
in His death and resurrection provide the way to eternal life. Not faith in faith, but
faith in Jesus. All the verses of this wonderful hymn drip the sweet nectar of the
Gospel, and I have found it particularly effective for use during communion
services.

My faith has found a resting place, not in device nor creed;

I trust the Ever-living One, His wounds for me shall plead.
I need no other argument, I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me.

INSIGHT: What more can we say to Lidie Edmunds' words than, "Thank You, Lord
Jesus"?
21 It Is Well With My Soul
Scripture Focus:

Psalm 103
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you
were called to peace. And be thankful" (Colossians 3:15). "Peace I leave with you;
my peace I give you” (John 14:27).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Spafford family -- Horatio, his wife and four daughters - were scheduled to
travel to Europe in November of 1873. Delayed by business, Mr. Spafford stayed in
Chicago while the rest of the family sailed aboard the Ville du Havre, which collided
with an English sailing ship and sunk in the Atlantic. All four daughters drowned.
Mrs. Spafford cabled her husband two words -- "Saved alone." Mr. Spafford sailed
immediately, asking the captain of the ship to show him the area where his
daughters had drowned. There, at the scene of the tragedy, he wrote this hymn.

We can’t imagine the words being sung to any other tune, but three years passed
between the writing of the text and the composition of the tune by Philip P. Bliss.
Spafford's wonderful lyrics call us to display the reality of Christ's peace in our lives
despite the struggles and tragedies we may have to face.

When peace like a river attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll,
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
“It is well, it is well with my soul.”

INSIGHT: When circumstances and surroundings offer us no peace whatsoever, in

those dark moments we can allow the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts.

22 Showers of Blessing
Scripture Focus:

Ephesians 1:3-10
"I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in
season; there will be showers of blessing" (Ezekiel 34:26).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Many great hymns have come out of revivals and evangelistic efforts around the
world. In the late nineteenth century evangelist Daniel Whittle proclaimed the
Gospel around North America accompanied by his music director, James
McGranaham.

We don’t know the particular context in which this hymn was written, but clearly it
springs from God's promise in Ezekiel. This prophet of the Exile, also a priest,
ministered to his fellow exiles. A major focus of his ministry was explaining that God
was still in charge, though everything looked bleak.

What a wonderful theme for our day! God does not just bless us, He pours
blessings on us. His grace to us is like "the sound of abundance of rain." And we
don't have to be in a revival tent to receive it; the Israelites were captives in an alien
land.

There shall be showers of blessing: O that today they might fall,

Now as to God we’re confessing, now, as on Jesus we call!
Showers of blessing, showers of blessing we need:
Mercy drops ‘round us are falling, but for the showers we plead.

INSIGHT: Look for the showers today. Expect God to pour blessing on your life in
ways that He knows you need it.

23 Love Divine
Scripture Focus:

1 John 4:7-12
"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God
showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we
might live through him” (1 John 4:8-9).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Few if any hymn writers can be credited with the volume of lyrics or the theological
accuracy displayed by Charles Wesley. With his brother John, he traveled in
evangelistic work throughout the British Isles, and from their ministry God produced
the Great Awakening which brought spiritual, economic, and political change to
Great Britain. Charles Wesley wrote more than 6,500 hymns and published 64
different collections of hymns.
This hymn, written in 1746, carried the original title, "Jesus, Show Us Thy
Salvation." It was first made public a year later.

Today’s Scripture reading reminds us that God showed His love by giving His Son
to die for our sins and gives us good advice: "If we love one another, God lives in us
and His love is made complete in us" (v. 12).

Finish then Thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation, perfectly restored in Thee:
Changed from glory into glory, till in heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise.

INSIGHT: Wesley's words, "Fix in us Thy humble dwelling," can become a living
reality in your life today. Let the Lord show love through you.

24 Glory For Me
Scripture Focus:

1 Thess. 4:13-18
"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the
voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will
rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

They called Ed Card "Old Glory Face." The superintendent of the Sunshine Rescue
Mission in St. Louis seemed always on the verge of exploding with the joy of the
Lord. When he preached, he would often shout "Glory!" and his prayers frequently
ended with the words, "And that will be glory for me!"

When hymnist Charles Gabriel learned about Card's life and ministry, he was
inspired to write both the words and music of this Gospel song. It first appeared in
the hymnbook Make His Praise Glorious published in 1900. During the next couple
of decades, the Billy Sunday Crusades used the song widely.

Gabriel focuses on the coming of the Lord and our joy with Him in heaven. Of
course there is glory from knowing Christ now in salvation and walking with Him
here on earth, but His song emphasizes that heaven is the ultimate glory because
Jesus is there.
When all my labors and trials are o’er,
And I am safe on that beautiful shore,
Just to be near the dear Lord I adore
Will through the ages be glory for me.

INSIGHT: The glory of the Lord's coming should bring eager expectation to our
hearts. Let's faithfully follow Paul's exhortation to "encourage one another with
these words" (v. 18).

25 Title to Heaven
Scripture Focus:

John 14:1-7
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's
house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you" (John 14:1-2).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some of the most singable hymns we use were set to existing folk melodies which
people already knew and loved. We sing these words by Isaac Watts to the tune
Pisgah, an early American folk song heard most commonly in the South. It
appeared in the book Kentucky Harmony in 1816 and three years later in
Tennessee Harmony. The hymn clearly focuses on heaven, and Watts originally
titled it, "The Hopes of Heaven Our Support under Trials on Earth." Imagine trying
to sing that!

Though not exacting in its theology, this hymn certainly carries the sentiment of
being finished with this world's trials and ready for heavenly rest. As we sing or hum
it we can grasp the Lord's words to His disciples from our key verse for today. One
hymnist calls this song a "Golden hymn which has made Isaac Watts a benefactor
to every prisoner of hope."

When I can read my title clear to mansions in the skies,

I’ll bid farewell to every fear and wipe my weeping eyes;
And wipe my weeping eyes, and wipe my weeping eyes,
I’ll bid farewell to every fear and wipe my weeping eyes.

INSIGHT: Praise the Heavenly Father who gives strength for today and hope for life
eternal. Praise Him for that "title" of life granting us entrance to heaven.
26 Sweet By-and-By
Scripture Focus:

Revelation 21:22-27
"The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God
gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp” (Revelation 21:23).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the year 1867, Joseph Webster visited his good friend Sanford Bennett, troubled
by one of his many bouts with gloom. Bennett was a lyricist and Webster a
composer, and they would often encourage one another. This day it was Bennett's
turn, and the conversation could have gone like this:

“What’s the matter now, Joseph?”

“Oh, nothing-it’ll be all right by and by.”

“By and by? Why don’t we write a song about the sweet by and by?"

Within a short time both the words and music were finished and two of their friends
invited in so the impromptu quartet could test the song on the spot.

Sweet By-and-By offers more of an emotional than a theological lift. Heaven's

reality is not minimized because we think about its splendor, but its centerpiece is
not streets of gold but the presence of the King.

To our bountiful Father above we will offer our tribute of praise,

For the glorious gift of His love and the blessings that hallow our days.
In the sweet by-and-by we shall meet on that beautiful shore.

INSIGHT: Like Joseph Webster and Sanford Bennett, we too can be cheered by the
very thought of that "land that is fairer than day."

27 The Sands of Time

Scripture Focus:

Matthew 25:1-13
"The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits
and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice” (John
3:29).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Samuel Rutherford was born in Scotland in 1600. As a young adult he became a

pastor and was arrested when Scottish Calvinism was banished. During the next
two years he wrote 220 letters. After his release, his strong covenanter stance
pitted him against the Catholic hierarchy of his country. Indeed, he would have lost
his head on the block had he not been seriously ill in 1661. Among his final words
he uttered the phrase, "Glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's land."

In 1857, Anne Ross Cousin, a Scottish pastor’s wife, wrote the hymn using
fragments of his sentences.

Our relationship in the church as the bride to Christ our bridegroom finds
expression in Scripture. Our text comes from the words of John the Baptist on the
day people told him that his disciples were defecting to Jesus. We may join John in
remembering that Jesus "must become greater; I must become less" (v. 30).

The sands of time are sinking, the dawn of heaven breaks;

The summer morn I’ve sighed for, the fair, sweet morn awaits.
Dark, dark hath been the midnight, but dayspring is at hand,
And glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel’s land.

INSIGHT: What a wedding day it will be when we join with our Lord to be in His
presence forever -- and we may not have very long to wait.

28 Crown Him With Many Crowns

Scripture Focus:

Revelation 5:6-12
"In a loud voice they sang: `Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power
and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’” (Revelation
5:12).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
We pay so little attention to hymn tunes that I want to take occasional opportunities
to highlight them. The title of this hymn tune is “Diademata,” which means crowns.
As is almost always the case, the tune followed the words that came from the pen
of Matthew Bridges. But here we actually have two names, since stanzas 1,2, and 4
were written by Bridges in 1854 and stanza 3 was added by Godfrey Thring 20
years later.

The hymn depicts the Lamb receiving joyous praise of His people in heaven.
Probably Bridges had in mind Revelation 19:12, where the rider on the white horse
has eyes like blazing fire "and on his head are many crowns." This refers to Jesus
because "his name is the Word of God" (v. 13). Some day we will join that choir
praising the Lamb on His throne precisely because of His death and resurrection.

Crown Him the Lord of Life! Who triumphed o’er the grave;
Who rose victorious to the strife for those He came to save.
His glories now we sing who died and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.

INSIGHT: What wonderful joy to learn now how to praise the Lord in expectation
that we will do so throughout all eternity.

29 Come, Christians, Join to Sing

Scripture Focus:

Ephesians 3:14-21
"Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our
salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and
song” (Psalm 95:1-2).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Christian Henry Bateman was born in York, England on August 9, 1813 and served
three different denominations as pastor before going home to heaven in 1889.
Three of his churches were in Scotland, and the Scots embraced his book of
children's hymns released in 1843 with the title, Sacred Melodies for Sabbath
Schools and Families. That's right. This hymn was entitled, Come, Children, Join to
Sing. Changing one word made it available to all ages.

Churches often use our text as a call to worship, and rightly so because that's how
the ancient Hebrews used it. The words would be spoken by a priest or Levite to
the assembled people who first praised God for His greatness (vv. 1-5), and then
acknowledged their worship and obedience before Him (vv. 6-11).

Let’s not assign such praise to only one day of the week. Every day we can sing
"Alleluia! Amen!"

Praise yet our Christ again: Alleluia! Amen!

Life shall not end the strain: Alleluia! Amen!
On Heaven’s blissful shore His goodness we’ll adore,
Singing forevermore: Alleluia! Amen!

INSIGHT: What a wonderful way to begin a day -- singing for joy to the Lord and
bowing down in worship before Him.

30 Praise God
Scripture Focus:

Psalm 150
"Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. . .
.Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord" (Psalm 150:1, 6).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas Ken was born in Berkhampstead in Hertfordshire, England in July of 1637.

In 1662, Charles II appointed him chaplain to Mary, Princess of Wales, and later
Ken became bishop of Bath and Wales. Often before royal chapel, the king would
say, "I must go and hear Ken tell me my faults."

This wonderful doxology, sung so often in thousands upon thousands of Christian

churches, was prepared for one of those royal chapels and is actually the final
stanza of each of three long hymns.

Psalm 150 may be the most concentrated passage of praise in the entire Bible. It
begins and ends with the line, "Praise the Lord." It reminds us to praise God for His
power, His greatness, and to do so with any means we have at hand, particularly
music.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

INSIGHT: Believers who learn to praise continually, complain rarely. Today offer
God your thanks, and delight at all He has done for you.

31 Got Joy?
Scripture Focus:

Isaiah 61
“Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion .. . they will rejoice
in their inheritance . . . and everlasting joy will be theirs” (Isaiah 61:7).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Israel had been mistreated by her conquerors, and needed to be reassured. As

God’s chosen people, things for them were far from ideal. Still, God gave them
promises - promises which Jesus later applied to Himself (see Matthew 4:16-21).

Promised joys are not always available immediately, but everything that God
promises His children will take place. Jesus wants His followers to know everlasting
joy. He was committed to this and voluntarily gave his life on Calvary so that we
might have access to eternal life, plus the joy God has prepared for us in heaven.
Compared to eternity, this day or this year is a tiny blip of time.

The promises in today’s verse include everlasting (unending) joy and rejoicing
instead of disgrace. When we become God's people, claiming His ways as our
ways and allowing Jesus to be the Lord of our lives, we can say, “You will fill me
with joy in your presence” (Psalm 16:11). In the style of a popular commercial, a
fitting question might be . . . “Got joy?”

INSIGHT: Joy is available, but often it's hard to choose it instead of pity or anger.
Ask God to help you find joy in a difficult circumstance.