1 O sacred Head, now wounded,
with grief and shame weighed down,
now scornfully surrounded
with thorns, Thine only crown.
O sacred Head, what glory,
what bliss till now was Thine!
Yet, though despised and gory,
I joy to call Thee mine.
The Elixir.
George Herbert, The Temple, 1633
Teach me, my God and King,
In all things thee to see,
And what I do in any thing,
To do it as for thee:
Grammar matters. Twice in his book Daniel is addressed with an appositive phrase: once by King Darius and a second time by the angel Gabriel. They are important clues to who Daniel was at bottom.
David wrote the 37th Psalm in a time when Israel was feeling the pressure of a world that had turned it’s back on God. As King, he wrote to encourage God’s people as they sang and worshiped on the Sabbath. He calls upon them not to get angry, be anxious, or try to hide. Instead, to respond by delighting in the Lord, trusting Him, always seeking to live faithfully for the world to see.
In 1752, a young Robert Robinson attended an evangelical meeting to heckle the believers and make fun of the proceedings. Instead, he listened in awe to the words of the great preacher George Whitefield, and in 1755, at the age of twenty, Robinson responded to the call he felt three years earlier and became a Christian. Another three years later, when preparing a sermon for his church in Norfolk, England, he penned the words that have become one of the church’s most-loved hymns: “Come, thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace.” (www.hymnary.org)
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’ll raise my Ebenezer,
Hither, by Thy help, I’m come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wand’ring from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
Oh, 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.
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant1 of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Lk. 1:38 ESV)
If one popular song were chosen to characterize the American ideal of rugged individualism, it might be Frank Sinatra’s “My way.”
I’ve lived a life that’s full
I’ve traveled each and every highway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way
We teach our children from a very young age to dream big: “You can be anything you want.” We advertise the Army to our young men and women, “Be all you can be!”
Against that backdrop, I recall Dr. Brannan as a Naval chaplain telling us, “The Bible’s model for success is seen most clearly in one young girl’s prayer, ‘Let it be to me according to your word.’” It is this utter abandonment of one’s own will and total submission to the will of God that marks success in God’s eyes. And Chaplain Brannan urged us all the time to pray those same words and allow God to shape our souls to become good and faithful servants.
Now that is countercultural!
In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul answers questions that he had received about marriage. He begins by accepting that marriage is a gift given to us by God. It is good if both husband and wife fulfill their God-given duties to each other. But later his comments are surprising. He says a person is better off unmarried than married. He argues that in a good marriage the man’s focus is on how he may please his wife. And the woman also now turns to how she may please her husband.
But Paul isn’t saying that marriage is bad. He is clear later when he says: “This I say for your own benefit, not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.” (1 Cor. 7:35) His concern is not marriage but living lives in which devotion to God may be marginalized as our focus turns to other priorities.
There is an easily missed truth here. Consider this question: is it possible that things that are good—not sin in any sense—can become a negative in our lives?
Jesus is clear in Mat. 6:33, that the kingdom and righteousness of God is our priority in life. In Hebrews 12:2 we are called to live keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. Jesus himself calls us to abide in Him (John 15:4).
Sin isn’t Paul’s concern here. Instead, the danger is being distracted, not by what is evil, but by something that is good yet detracts from our devotion to Jesus. We may still be Church-goers, even read the bible. But our focus has drifted to something other than Him.
This passage moved me to look back through the years and ask myself if a good thing ever undermined my focus on Christ. The answer was painful. Sailing and racing boats, woodworking, even studying theology as an intellectual challenge! Each had my focus for a period, and I see now distracted me from a deepening devotion to Christ.
Marriage can bring great joy in life. It is neither bad nor sinful. It is good to love your wife as Christ loved the Church. But in Christ, the two become one. If together as one they are devoted to Him, there is no distraction to be avoided. But Paul is right; we need to be cautious that a great hobby or interest in something good does not take Jesus’ place in our lives.
Is your devotion to Christ undivided?
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31 ESV)
In this day of self-centered living and pleasure-oriented lifestyle, the total commitment to God of body, mind, and possessions portrayed in this text is difficult for many Christians to achieve. Even though we realize that we have nothing we have not received and that we are only stewards of the good gifts God has entrusted to us, we often fail to apply this basic truth to our daily lives. (Kenneth W. Osbeck, Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1996, p. 256).
Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise,
let them flow in endless praise.
Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee,
swift and beautiful for thee.
Take my voice and let me sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
filled with messages from thee,
filled with messages from thee.
Take my silver and my gold;
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
every power as thou shalt choose,
every power as thou shalt choose.
Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne,
it shall be thy royal throne.
Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee,
ever, only, all for thee.
–Frances Ridley Havergal, 1874
David wrote Psalm 63 in “the wilderness of Judah,” probably not on the run from Saul, but on the run from Absalom, his own son whom he loved. Imagine it. The kingdom was not only leaderless in that moment but a hot mess right down to David’s own household. So, in full geopolitical crisis mode, David wrote,
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life (Ps. 23:6 ESV)
David spent the first half of his life pursued by enemies. Saul hunted him relentlessly. The Philistines would have their pound of flesh too. Later, David’s son, Absalom, pursued him. Read more
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