HYMN

Blest Holy Spirit, sent from Christ in heaven
To those who own Him as their Lord and King,
We praise Thee for the power that we are given
To move us, to Thyself, to laud and sing:
Spirit of Jesus, sent from above,
To shed out freely, within our hearts, God's love.

How low the place that Thou, in grace, hast taken
In humble love to help us praise before
Him who, for us, was once alone, forsaken;
Through Thee we now would worship and adore:
Spirit of Jesus, sent from above,
To shed out freely, within our hearts, God's love.


You'll get a tune at:
http://www.hidwithhim.net/tunes/531g.mid

This must be one of my earliest hymns.

THRONES

(Rev 3: 21)
What worthy accolade can we give
The Overcomer? None; it is beyond us.
But - blessed be His Name - the Father
Has made room for Him on His throne.

He awaits the Father's time, when He
Will take His own throne. There He will reign
One thousand years, the Ruler among men -
Just - as a priest upon a throne.

(1 Cor 15: 20-28)
And when the Son gives up the kingdom
To Him who is God and Father, and is placed
In subjection - will that diminish His glory?
No; it will, rather, glorify subjection.

30/12/09

RISEN!

Death could not long within its clasp confine
The glorious Man who is the Prince of Life;
The Righteous One by His inherent right
Stopped and rolled back the ever‑conquering tide;
The Father's glory in its exultant might
Raised Him who is the Father's chief delight.
Death is no foe in this triumphant time
And he who wielded it is undermined,
His kingdom broken and broken too his pride.
The Lord is risen ‑ who lately man reviled;
The Lord is risen ‑ the Victor in the strife;
The Lord is risen ‑ His conquest has sufficed.

GRAVE

If men appointed His grave with wicked men
God intervened to utilise reserves:
Pilate would wonder on hearing Joseph beg
The holy body after a shameful death.
Under God's hand Joseph prepared the best,
Cared for the body in which God was expressed.
In his own tomb which he had hewn himself
He laid that body with loving tenderness;
Had an acquaintance come to Jerusalem
He would have judged that Joseph must be dead ‑
In principle he would have been correct:
For him remained no prospect on this earth.

THE CROSS

It was for me Christ hung upon the cross;
He made atonement for evil I had wrought
And bore my sins in poverty and loss;
Made sin for me He met God's righteous wrath;
He was my ransom and His own life the cost,
While by His precious blood I have been bought.
He died for me and ‑ oh amazing thought! -
The One who died is in His Person God.
For me He took the curse of broken law,
Reconciled me who otherwise was lost,
Shed precious blood to cleanse from every spot
And lives to be Deliverer and Lord.

MALEFACTOR

Those crucified with Him reproached Him too,
But one soul worked, God‑guided, towards the truth.
"Father, forgive them ‑ they know not what they do"
‑ Was that the word through which change was produced
So that the thief confessed death was his due
While Jesus was in every action good?
That Jesus was the Lord he also knew
And longed to see Christ's kingdom introduced.
The Lord did not delay the joyful news
That paradise followed what he endured:
But more than that He was the Saviour who
Would be with him, his righteousness secured.

CROWNS

What crowns have they awarded to my Lord
And who was it determined such awards?
Firstly the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns
To grace His head while He endured the cross;
Though innocent of hate they moved in scorn
Coarsely disposed merely to jeer and mock.
Threat nor complaint came from the Lord of all
Though by His word their breath could be recalled.
But finally another crown adorns
The One who brought to God more than He lost.
God has ensured He has His just reward ‑
Glory and honour bestowed on Him by God.

JUDGMENT SEAT

Earth has not known a more incongruous scene ‑
The Son of God before a judgment seat;
The Righteous One arraigned by wicked priests;
The glorious Lord apparently demeaned;
The crowd at war against the Prince of Peace;
The Just condemned; the guilty man released;
A governor debased to feebly plead;
His gentile wife owning Christ's righteous deeds
While Jews demand their own Messiah's grief.
Within this scene perfection is replete:
The Lamb of God moves humbly to complete
His sacrifice by which we have been healed.