I hope you had a refreshing weekend. The last several days have been thought provoking for me, handling challenges and seeking God’s wisdom for decisions which have to be made. Because of that more pressing need, I haven’t been able to continue my thoughts from last week about the topic of Joy and, in particular, joy in the midst of suffering. Hoping to pick that thought back up in the next day or two, I wanted to leave you with some lyrics written in the eighteenth century by Augustus Toplady. Sovereign Grace ministries has put these words to a modern tune and it is a great song of encouragement about living in confidence towards the promises of God (here’s a snippet of it from Youtube). We will be learning this song as a congregation at Meadow so feel free to familiarize yourself with the lyrics and the tune if you are one of the flock there. My hope is that it encourages you today. Check back in tomorrow and let’s talk about Joy in suffering.
IMMOVABLE OUR HOPE REMAINS
Immovable our hope remainsThough shifting sands before us lie
The One who washed away our stains
Shall bear us safely to the skies
The floods may rise, the winds may beat
Torrential rains descend
Yet God His own will not forget
He’ll love and keep us till the end
You’ll love and keep us till the end This is eternal life: to know
The living God and Christ, the Son
The Savior will not let us go
Until His saving work is done
Our debt was great, as was our need
But now the price is paid
Who can behold Immanuel bleed
And doubt His willingness to save?
We trust Your willingness to save The Lord acquits, who can condemn?
Though Satan’s accusations fly
His pow’r can never reach our names
To blot them from the Book of Life
The Son has surely made us free
His Word forever stands
And all our joy is knowing we
Are graven on His wounded hands
We’re graven on Your wounded hands Built into Christ, secure we stand
For with His Spirit we’ve been sealed
By grace we’ll see the promised land
Where every sorrow shall be healed
To God who gave His only Son
To Jesus Christ, our Lord
To God the Spirit, Three-in-one
Be songs of praise forevermore
We’ll sing Your praise forevermore