November 24, 2024

Come Thou Fount

September 21, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Come, Thou Fount of ev’ry blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it, mount of Thy redeeming love

Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by Thy help I come
And I hope by Thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, o take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above

Jesus sought me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, o take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above

O to grace, how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be
Let Thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, o take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above
Seal it for Thy courts above

Mormon Tabernacle Choir/Orchestra
Lyrics by Robert Robinson / Tune: ’Nettleton’ by Asahel Nettleton,
This arrangement by Mack Wilberg

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Recently I have been struggling with a situation. I keep turning it over and over in my mind, unable to see how it can be resolved. One day last week, while pondering this issue once again, God placed this song in my heart. I kept coming back to the phrase “…tune my heart to sing Thy grace…”.

Finally it clicked.  The light bulb went on.  My responsibility is not to resolve this situation.  My responsibility is to fix my heart on God and praise Him.  He will deal with the rest.  Look at the following verses:

Rejoice in the Lord, O you [uncompromisingly] righteous
[you upright in right standing with God];
for praise is becoming and appropriate for those who are upright [in heart].
Psalm 33:1 AMP

The righteous one rejoices in the Lord and takes refuge in Him;
all those who are upright in heart will offer praise.
Psalm 64:10 HCSB

So that we who first hoped in Christ [who first put our confidence in Him
have been destined and appointed to] live for the praise of His glory!
so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.
Ephesians 1:12 AMP & HCSB

Not once in any of these verses does it say it is up to me to resolve my issues.  Not once!  But it does reiterate over and over again that my purpose is to praise and rejoice in the Lord.  Sounds so simple, doesn’t it?  Yet don’t we all struggle with this?  I am prone to wander and to take the burden on myself.  I don’t know about y’all, but I am a “fixer.”  Maybe that stems from being a wife and mother.  But nowhere in the above Scriptures does it say it is my responsibility to fix things. In fact, the following passages indicate that it is not my place to fix anything on my own.

Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you;
Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you.
Psalm 55:22a AMP & NLT

Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our burdens and carries us day by day,
even the God Who is our salvation!
Psalm 68:19

Doesn’t that lift your spirits and make your heart smile?  God bears our burdens. He is in control.  All we need to do is fix our wandering hearts on Him and sing His praises.  He will handle the rest.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Sing this verse with me as we make it our heartfelt prayer:

“O to grace, how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be
Let Thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, o take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above
Seal it for Thy courts above”

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

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

July 27, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Come, Thou Fount of ev’ry blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace.
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it, mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by Thy help I come,
And I hope by Thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.

Jesus sought me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God.
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.

O to grace, how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Lyrics: Robert Robinson / Tune: ’Nettleton’ Asahel Nettleton,
This arrangement by Mack Wilberg

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Recently I have been struggling with a situation. I keep turning it over and over in my mind, unable to see how it can be resolved. One day last week, while pondering this issue once again, God placed this song in my heart. I kept coming back to the phrase “…tune my heart to sing Thy grace…”.

Finally it clicked.  The light bulb went on.  My responsibility is not to resolve this situation.  My responsibility is to fix my heart on God and praise Him.  He will deal with the rest.  Look at the following verses:

Rejoice in the Lord, O you [uncompromisingly] righteous
[you upright in right standing with God];
for praise is becoming and appropriate for those who are upright [in heart].
Psalm 33:1 AMP

The righteous one rejoices in the Lord and takes refuge in Him;
all those who are upright in heart will offer praise.
Psalm 64:10 HCSB

So that we who first hoped in Christ [who first put our confidence in Him
have been destined and appointed to] live for the praise of His glory!
so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.
Ephesians 1:12 AMP & HCSB

Not once in any of these verses does it say it is up to me to resolve my issues.  Not once!  But it does reiterate over and over again that my purpose is to praise and rejoice in the Lord.  Sounds so simple, doesn’t it?  Yet we all struggle with this, don’t we?  I am prone to wander and to take the burden on myself.  I don’t know about y’all, but I am a “fixer.”  Maybe that stems from being a wife and mother.  But nowhere in the above verses does it say it is my responsibility to fix things. In fact, the following verses indicate that it is not my place to fix anything on my own.

Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you;
Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you.
Psalm 55:22a AMP & NLT

Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our burdens and carries us day by day,
even the God Who is our salvation!
Psalm 68:19

Doesn’t that lift your spirits and make your heart smile?  God bears our burdens. He is in control.  All we need to do is fix our wandering hearts on Him and sing His praises.  He will handle the rest.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Sing this verse with me as we make it our heartfelt prayer:

“O to grace, how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.
Seal it for Thy courts above.”

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

What Do My Words Really Say?

May 11, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

But let all those who take refuge and put their trust in You rejoice;
let them ever sing and shout for joy,
because You make a covering over them and defend them;
let those also who love Your name be joyful in You and be in high spirits.
Psalm 5:11

Though we are not made righteous by our words, our words are evidence of our righteousness.  They give proof to our relationship with Christ.  Psalm 5:11 says the righteous rejoice, they shout with joy.  These are heartfelt, glorious outbursts of enthusiasm and joy.  Yet I tend to be more restrained for fear of offending. However, as Charles Spurgeon puts it “The ungodly are not half so restrained in their blasphemy as we are in our praise.”  Ouch!

Multiple times in the Book of Psalms alone we are told to rejoice:

Psalm 9:2 NIV
I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing the praises of Your name, O Most High

Psalm 32:11 NASB
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;

Psalm 33:1 AMP
Rejoice in the Lord, O you [uncompromisingly] righteous [you upright in right standing with God]; for praise is becoming and appropriate for those who are upright [in heart].

Psalm 64:10 NLT
The godly will rejoice in the Lord

Psalm 68:3 NLT
But let the godly rejoice.

I love that Psalm 33:1 says it …’is becoming and appropriate’ for the upright to rejoice. But do my words really matter?

The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life
Proverbs 10:11

The words of the godly encourage (feed, nourish) many
Proverbs 10:21

…the words of the godly save lives.
Proverbs 12:6

I believe the answer is a resounding YES!  My words are a reflection of my relationship with Christ.  They are verbal evidence, living proof of that relationship.  So, I must ask myself:

  • Do my words exalt God; do they speak of my confidence in Him and His protection?  Or do they reflect the doubt of my circumstances?
  • Do my words consistently reflect the joy I have in Christ?  Or is the joy there only when it is smooth sailing?
  • Am I able to rejoice and praise God in the midst of the storm, taking refuge in Him alone?
  • Do my words enrich and encourage other, pointing the way back to my God?  What do my words really say about my God?

  ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~  *

Father God, thank You so much for Your blessings in my life.  I lift up Your Holy Name.  Let my words be a joyful reflection of Your love, offering a glimpse of what life with You is like.  May my words be consistent and my rejoicing unrestrained.  In Your precious and Holy Name I pray.  Amen, so be it.

 

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

He is Worthy

November 11, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogoToday, my assistant director came into my room and told me, “Ahmee, I need to talk to you. You got a parent complaint today.” I replayed the last few days in my mind to see if I could figure out what I might have done wrong. When I concluded that I had done nothing wrong, I immediately got ready to defend myself.

“What was it?” I said with much contempt and a tense body. She smiled at me and laughed. “I’m just joking! You actually got a compliment!” I didn’t replay the last few days in my mind to see if I could figure out what I did right. In fact, I was ready to end the conversation and was filled with much skepticism.

Isn’t it awful how I was so very ready to defend myself against the negative, but ready to dodge the positive like a dodgeball being thrown?

I’ve always felt uncomfortable with accepting praise—and I don’t mean in a healthy way. When someone compliments me I’ve trained myself to force out an awkward “thank you,” which is much better than the talking down about myself I used to do (and sometimes still do when I forget).

O come, let us sing to the Lord, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great king above all gods.
Psalms 95:1-3

Our God is the Mighty God (Psalm 50:1) and it is natural that as His children we would want to praise Him (Psalm 33:1), but for me praising the Lord doesn’t come so naturally. Not because He doesn’t deserve it (1 Timothy 1:17), and definitely not because I don’t want to, but because praise is something that I am not comfortable with.

I constantly have to stop myself when I am tempted to skip over verses that mention praise, glory, or honor. God deserves these things from me and I’ve decided that instead of rushing through these verses, I will put them into action…not tomorrow or next week…but the moment I read them!

I’d love nothing more than my undivided focus to be on the Lord—praising, thanking, and honoring Him for all His awesomeness!

After all, “…the Lord is a great God, and a great king above all gods.” I’d say that’s pretty worthy of honor, glory, and praise!

* * * * *

Lord, give me a heart that praises and thanks You constantly. Help me to replace my wandering thoughts with praise to You and instead of my complaints to give You double thanksgiving. Let me never forget Your awesomeness or Your lovingkindness or Your  mercy. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,