These posts focus our hearts and minds on the One who is worthy

Crown Him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon His throne,
Hark! how the heav’nly anthem drowns
All music but its own;
Awake, my soul, and sing
Of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King
Thro’ all eternity.

Crown Him the Lord of life,
Who triumphed o’er the grave,
and rose victorious in 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.

Crown Him the Lord of peace,
Whose pow’r a scepter sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease,
And all be pray’r and praise:
His reign shall know no end,
and round His pierced feet
Fair flow’rs of paradise extend
Their fragrance ever sweet.

Crown Him the Lord of love;
Behold his hands and side,
Those wounds, yet visible above,
In beauty glorified:
All hail, Redeemer, hail!
For Thou hast died for me:
Thy praise and glory shall not fail
Thro-out eternity.

Matthew Bridges, 1851, and Godfrey Thring, 1871
Read Daniel 7:13-14

This hymn builds on last week’s hymn. It is a little more thorough consideration of what kind of king Jesus will be and why He is fit to rule (and deserves our worship). The bottom line in all of it, though, is that He redeemed us through His death on the cross. It’s only fitting that we sing. “Awake, my soul, and sing/ Of Him who died for thee,/ And hail Him as thy matchless King/ Thro’ all eternity.”

Chorus:
We’re marching to Zion,
Beautiful, beautiful Zion;
We’re marching upward to Zion,
The beautiful city of God.

Come, we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known;
Join in a song with sweet accord,
Join in a song with sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne,
And thus surround the throne.

Let those refuse to sing
Who never knew our God;
But children of the heav’nly King,
But children of the heav’nly King
May speak their joys abroad,
May speak their joys abroad. [Chorus]

The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets
Before we reach the heav’nly fields,
Before we reach the heav’nly fields
Or walk the golden streets,
Or walk the golden streets. [Chorus]

Then let our songs abound,
And ev’ry tear be dry;
We’re marching through Immanuel’s ground,
We’re marching through Immanuel’s ground
To fairer worlds on high,
To fairer worlds on high. [Chorus]

Isaac Watts, 1707
Read Isaiah 2:2-4

Isaac Watts’ hymn points us to the future, to the kingdom when Christ rules and reigns. It is a uniquely joyful hymn. May we share in the hymn-writer’s joy and anticipation.

In the hour of trial,
Jesus, plead for me
lest by base denial
I unworthy be.
When you see me waver,
with a look recall,
nor for fear or favor
ever let me fall.

With forbidden pleasures
should this vain world charm
or its tempting treasures
spread to work me harm,
bring to my remembrance
sad Gethsemane
or, in darker semblance,
cross-crowned Calvary.

Should your mercy send me
sorrow, toil, and woe,
or should pain attend me
on my path below,
grant that I may never
fail your cross to view;
grant that I may ever
cast my care on you.

When my life is ending,
though in grief or pain,
when my body changes
back to dust again,
on your truth relying,
through that mortal strife,
Jesus, take me, dying,
to eternal life.

James Montgomery, 1834
Read Luke 22:54-62

“In the Hour of Trial” is an introspective prayer. It is an admission of fragility and a cry for help. Those situations and prayers may be familiar to us. Often our prayers are for relief from the suffering, essentially that our comfort be restored. But in this hymn, the prayer is when trials and troubles come, don’t let me deny you. Note, too, the third verse, “Should your mercy send me sorrow, toil, and woe.” Do we view our challenges as coming from God’s mercy? Hard times refine us in ways nothing else can. Our attitude when we face them reveals our true attitude toward God. May we have the surrender modeled in the hymn when we face our hour of trial.

Each cooing dove and sighing bough,
That makes the eve so blest to me,
Has something far diviner now,
It bears me back to Galilee.

Each flowery glen and mossy dell,
Where happy birds in song agree,
Through sunny morn the praises tell
Of sights and sounds in Galilee. [Refrain]

And when I read the thrilling lore
Of Him who walked upon the sea,
I long, oh, how I long once more
To follow Him in Galilee. [Refrain]

Refrain
O Galilee, sweet Galilee,
Where Jesus loved so much to be,
O Galilee, blue Galilee,
Come sing thy song again to me.

Robert Morris, 1874
Read Matthew 4:18-25

This hymn invites you to imagine what it would have been like to be on the shores of the sea of when Jesus passed by. Nearly everything the hymnwriter encounters in nature stirs his imagination to those days when Jesus was calling His disciples. Can you imagine Him calling your name and inviting you to leave your ordinary routine to follow Him? We don’t have to imagine that part. Jesus has, in fact, called us by name and invited us to come and follow Him. I hope you answered that call and it lives vividly in your memory. In the spirit of the hymn, what triggers your memories of that day?

Oh, say, can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro’ the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen thro’ the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream.
‘Tis the star-spangled banner; Oh long may it wave
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

And where is that band, who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution;
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation;
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Francis Scott Key, 1814
Read Psalm 33:8-18

June 14 is recognized as Flag Day in the US. In some ways, it’s weird to have patriotic songs in the hymnbook, to incorporate them into the worship of God. It seems idolatrous. But a more careful reading (including the verses we don’t usually sing) shows it’s testimonial. And it is a call to forevermore give praise and thanks to God who oversaw the nation’s founding and preserved it against great odds.

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation;
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation.

God has greatly blessed us. May we live in humility and strive to walk worthy of those great blessings. A God-honoring nation begins with a God-honoring people.

Hark, the voice of Jesus calling,
“Who will go and work today?
Fields are white, and harvests waiting,
Who will bear the sheaves away?”
Loud and long the Master calls us,
Rich reward He offers free;
Who will answer, gladly saying,
“Here am I, send me, send me”?

If you cannot cross the ocean,
And the distant lands explore,
You can find the lost around you,
You can help them at your door;
If you cannot give your thousands,
You can give the widow’s mite;
What you truly give for Jesus
Will be precious in His sight.

Let none hear you idly saying,
“There is nothing I can do,”
While the lost of earth are dying,
And the Master calls for you;
Take the task He gives you gladly;
Let His work your pleasure be;
Answer quickly when He calls you,
“Here am I, send me, send me.”

Daniel March, 1868
Read Isaiah 6:1-13

When Isaiah saw his vision of God in His glory, the only reasonable response was to commit to going and doing whatever God said. I wonder if our failure, reluctance, and resistance to carry out the mission we have is because we don’t have a clear understanding of who God is and who we are before Him. “Take the task He gives you gladly.” It’s the only work that will last.