December 23, 2024

Anchor Of Hope

November 11, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Marvelous, Wonderful, Infinite God
Author of all that is good
Faithful Provider and Giver of life
Source of all power and love

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise
Refuge of strength to the end
Righteous Redeemer and mighty to save
He’s the Anchor of Hope for the souls of men

Gracious, Compassionate, Merciful God
Radiant, holy Delight
Beautiful Father, Victorious Son
Source of unchangeable Light

You are Light in the dark,
You are healing for the broken heart
You are Hope, you are Lord,
You are Life, you are Love that endures

Powerful, Constant, Unwavering God
Shepherd who comes for the lost
Rock of salvation, Remarkable Love
Savior Who died on the Cross


Ellie Holcomb, singer/songwriter

*   ~   ♥   ~    ✞    ~   ♥   ~   *

Sometimes, I think, we sing and speak out our praise of our great God in simple, few words… Y’know…”Praise the Lord!  Praise You, Jesus!  I give You praise!  You are worthy of praise!  Praise You!”  These are the words that come from my mouth oh-so-many times; you, too?  But I do believe that many times my praises should be filled with specific expressions of my gratitude and acknowledgement of just Who He is.

We do this when we are relating our praise about others, right? When I am praising any other person on this earth, I don’t simply say–for example, ‘Oh, I just praise Kassia…she’s so good!’ Or, ‘Oh, you should see that Cynda; wow!’  No; I say, ‘Oh, it was so awesome! Can I tell you about how Clella ministered to me when she wrote about giving thanks…?  She shared some very impactful verses.’  Shouldn’t it be likewise, when praising Almighty God, I should be specific about His awesome lovingkindness, His mercy, His grace, His steadfast love!?!  Yes?

The Psalmist—King David— was really, really, really good at this!  Of the 150 individual psalms which form the Book of Psalms in the Bible, more than 80 have been ascribed to David.  David, who God called ‘a man after my own heart,’ wrote phrase after phrase (praise after praise!) filled with praises of His God…and praising Him specifically.  Listen to a few examples of David’s praises.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!
Psalm 107:1

The Lord lives, and blessed be my Rock,
and exalted be the God of my salvation—
The God who gave me vengeance
and subdued peoples under me,
Who delivered me from my enemies;
yes, You exalted me above those who rose against me;
You rescued me from the man of violence.
For this I will praise you, O Lord….
Psalms 18:46-49

Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
Sing the glory of His name; give to Him glorious praise!
Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds!
So great is Your power that Your enemies come cringing to You.
All the earth worships You and sings praises to You;
they sing praises to your name.”
Selah
Psalms 66:1-4

As is written in Psalm 107:2 “Let the redeemed of the Lord {that is you and me!} say so…”  Be specific when you sing or speak or shout your praises to Your loving Father!  And when you are praising Him to others…use words to tell them about how wonderful, loving, faithful, compassionate, merciful, and gracious your heavenly Father is!  As Mrs. Ellie Holcomb has done in this song—she sings out her praises of what He has done and how very good He is!  I love to sing along with her blessing my God and praising and thanking Him!  You, too?

*   ~   ♥   ~    ✞    ~   ♥   ~   *

Oh, Lord, we do so love to praise You—and we have so very many, many, many opportunities to praise You for Your goodness, Your faithfulness, Your kindness, Your love!  Forgive us, Lord, when we have failed to voice the whys of our praises!  We, truly, have so very much to praise and thank You for…may we not be remiss in telling you exactly why!  We love You and adore you, Lord!  Please hear our thankfulness as we pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Filed Under: Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

(He’s The) Anchor Of Hope

August 19, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Marvelous, wonderful, infinite God
Author of all that is good
Faithful Provider and Giver of life
Source of all power and love

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise
Refuge of strength to the end
Righteous Redeemer and mighty to save
He’s the Anchor of Hope for the souls of men

Gracious, compassionate, merciful God
Radiant, holy delight
Beautiful Father, Victorious Son
Source of unchangeable Light

You are Light in the dark
You are healing for the broken heart
You are Hope
You are Lord
You are Life
You are Love that endures

Powerful, constant, unwavering God
Shepherd who comes for the lost
Rock of salvation, remarkable Love
Savior who died on the Cross

Ellie Holcomb
written along with Brown Bannister

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

This…all of this!…is our reason for Hope!  Biblically, hope is an assurance, something we depend on and count on happening. To the world, hope is ‘a wing and a prayer.’

HOPE – verb

  1. To entertain or indulge hope; to cherish a desire of good, or of something welcome, with expectation of obtaining it or belief that it is obtainable; to expect; – usually followed by for.  “But I will hope continually.” – Psalm 71:14
  2. To place confidence; to trust with confident expectation of good; – usually followed by in. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God.” – Psalm 42:11
  3. To desire with expectation, or with belief in the possibility, or prospect of obtaining; to look forward to as a thing that is desirable, with the expectation of obtaining it; to cherish the hopes of.  [Charity] hopeth all things. – 1 Corinthians 13:7

(quoted from Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary)

I would like to encourage you, friends, to grasp this Hope as the Truth!  We are often so good at encouraging others…reminding our brothers and sisters of the Hope they have…speaking to the unsaved and telling them of the Hope they can have.  But speak this Truth to yourself.  Hold to it.  Depend on it.

Your Lord IS your Hope!  He is…

  • the Light in the dark
  • Refuge of strength to the end
  • Healer of your broken heart
  • Rock of salvation
  • Savior Who died on the Cross
  • Anchor of Hope

In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise
the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath,
so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie,
we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement
to take hold of the hope set before us.
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul,
a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,
where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us,
having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:17-20

At the foundation of it all: ‘this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast…’.   A hope that we have had no part in securing, no part in determining, no part in bringing to pass.  But we do have a part—we simply must hold onto this hope—an Anchor of Hope in Christ Jesus our Lord.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

I pray this blessing from 2 Thessalonians 2:16 and 17 for each of you.

“…our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, Who loved us and gave us everlasting consolation and encouragement and well-founded hope through [His] grace, <would> comfort and encourage your hearts and strengthen them [make them steadfast and keep them unswerving] in every good work and word” in Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Filed Under: Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Anchor of Hope

January 29, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

~  Listen while you read, please!  ~

Marvelous, Wonderful, Infinite God; Author of all that is good
Faithful Provider and Giver of life, Source of all power and love

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; Refuge of strength to the end
Righteous Redeemer and mighty to save, He’s the Anchor of Hope for the souls of men

Gracious, Compassionate, Merciful God! Radiant, holy Delight
Beautiful Father, Victorious Son—Source of unchangeable Light

You are Light in the dark, You are healing for the broken heart
You are Hope, you are Lord, You are Life, you are Love that endures

Powerful, Constant, Unwavering God; Shepherd who comes for the lost
Rock of salvation, Remarkable Love, Savior Who died on the Cross

~  Songwriters: Brown Bannister, Ellie Holcomb / Performed by Ellie Holcomb  ~

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

This…all of this!…is our reason for Hope!  Biblically, hope is an assurance, something we depend and count on happening. To the world, hope is a ‘wing and a prayer.’

HOPE – verb

  1. To entertain or indulge hope; to cherish a desire of good, or of something welcome, with expectation of obtaining it or belief that it is obtainable; to expect; – usually followed by for.  “But I will hope continually.” – Psalm 71:14
  2. To place confidence; to trust with confident expectation of good; – usually followed by in. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God.” – Psalm 42:11
  3. To desire with expectation, or with belief in the possibility, or prospect of obtaining; to look forward to as a thing that is desirable, with the expectation of obtaining it; to cherish the hopes of.  [Charity] hopeth all things. – 1 Corinthians 13:7

I would like to encourage you, friends, to grasp this Hope as your Truth!  We are often so good at encouraging others…reminding our brothers and sisters of the Hope they have…speaking to the unsaved and telling them of the Hope they can have.  But speak this Truth to yourself.  Hold to it.  Depend on it.

Your Lord IS Your Hope—He is

  • the Light in the dark
  • Refuge of strength to the end
  • Healer of your broken heart
  • Rock of salvation
  • Savior Who died on the Cross
  • Anchor of Hope

In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise
the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath,
so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie,
we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul,
a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,
where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us,
having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:17-20

At the foundation of it all “this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast…” A hope that we have had no part in securing, no part in determining, no part in bringing to pass. A hope simply to hold onto—an Anchor of Hope in Christ Jesus our Lord.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

I pray, for each of you that “…our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, Who loved us and gave us everlasting consolation and encouragement and well-founded hope through [His] grace, <would> comfort and encourage your hearts and strengthen them [make them steadfast and keep them unswerving] in every good work and word” in Jesus’ Name. Amen. (2 Thessalonians 2:16 and 17)

Filed Under: Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , , ,