Taking some time each morning to glean from God’s Holy Word and Spurgeon, it seems, that very old words from hymns loudly speak, in language poetic, rich, and . . . timely.
“Great God, I love thy sacred word/ What light and joy its leaves afford!/Thy precepts guide my doubtful way/Thy fear forbids my feet to stray.
Thy threatenings wake my slumbering eyes/ And warn me where my danger lies;/ They show me all my guilt and shame/ And make me prize the Savior’s name.
May this blest volume ever lie/ Close to my heart and near my eye;/ Till life’s last hour my thoughts engage/ And be my chosen heritage.”
So, in the morning, early and dark, I went digging for treasure that Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible had sparked.
I found old words written that made me rejoice in the Lord. The Church Hymn Book from 1867, full of costly treasures, all can afford.
“God in the gospel of his Son/ Makes his eternal counsels known;/ Where love in all its glory shines/ And truth is drawn in fairest lines.
Here sinners of an humble frame/ May taste his grace and learn his name./ May read in characters of blood/ The wisdom, power, and grace of God.
Here faith reveals to mortal eyes/ A brighter world beyond the skies;/ Here shines the light which guides our way/ From earth to realms of endless day.
Oh, grant us grace, almighty Lord/
To read and mark thy holy word,/ Its truths with meekness to receive/ And by its holy precepts live.”
Before the words were read this morning, I awoke with struggles and stresses stirring. But God’s breathed out message, and these long lost words, have proved to revive and set me again, on a straight and narrow course.
Let’s open His Word. Let’s sing the old songs. Oh God, help us humble ourselves, be teachable, and with joy, carry on!