There is a Fountain

This hymn contains so much.  Potential for musical creativity, yes, but also such rich theology.   Consider the text:

THERE IS A FOUNTAIN
There is a fountain filled with blood
drawn from Emmanuel's veins;
and sinners plunged beneath that flood
lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains,
lose all their guilty stains;
and sinners plunged beneath that flood
lose all their guilty stains. 

The dying thief rejoiced to see
that fountain in his day;
and there may I, though vile as he,
wash all my sins away.
Wash all my sins away,
wash all my sins away;
and there may I, though vile as he,
wash all my sins away. 

Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood
shall never lose its power
till all the ransomed church of God
be saved, to sin no more.
Be saved, to sin no more,
be saved, to sin no more;
till all the ransomed church of God
be saved, to sin no more. 

E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream
thy flowing wounds supply,
redeeming love has been my theme,
and shall be till I die.
And shall be till I die,
and shall be till I die;
redeeming love has been my theme,
and shall be till I die. 

Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I'll sing thy power to save,
when this poor lisping, stammering tongue
lies silent in the grave.
Lies silent in the grave,
lies silent in the grave;
when this poor lisping, stammering tongue
lies silent in the grave.
[Cowper/Mason]
1731-1800

There’s really not much to say on what’s already been said so well by the writer. Interesting the word choicing from the writer: “the sinner plunged“.  Not “dipped”, not “immersed”, but “plunged”.  The new Webster’s describes this as “to jump enthusiastically and energetically”.  I wonder, do I willingly plunge myself beneath the blood of Christ?

It’s interesting that in Mark’s account of the pre-and-post-crucifixion events, we find Pilate “amazed” twice.  He is amazed at Jesus’ lack of response to persecution (15:5), and he is later amazed that Christ has also died suddenly, rather than undergoing a long, prolonged death (15:44).  Pilate, as the old hymn says “stands amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene”, but, so far as we know, does not see the cleansing power of the beautiful flow of blood that, by the Sovereign hand of God, he himself helped to ensure its coming from Christ’s side.

To stand at the foot of the Cross and be amazed does not cleanse the sinner from his sins, but, rather, the wiling, enthusiastic plunging beneath the blood flow of Christ will cause the sinner “to be saved to sin no more” (Hebrews 9).  May I only stand amazed, but remember that I am a sinner, condemned, unclean, unrighteous, and in deep need of the all-surpassing cleansing power of the beautiful blood flow of our now risen Savior.

No Shadow of Turning

“No Shadow of Turning”.  We played this piece in Wind Ensemble my Junior Year of college, and to say the least, it radically transformed my thinking of the hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness. Click HERE to listen to this great work by David Gillingham.

Shadows have long had a sense of ominous nature to them, whether in Hollywood, literature, or even on the sidewalk when you’re not sure of who’s behind you.  Shadows always are thrown by an object.  This poses a problem with change, as it’s inanimate; however, when personified, this gets rather tricky.  Consider an orange, for an example.  Hold an orange firmly gripped in your hand, stand with your back to the sun, and notice that the orange is nowhere to be seen.  Right.  Actually, you’ll probably notice that the orange has directly affected the very nature of your hand, swelling it to almost twice its normal size as you grip, and therefore, directly changing the shape of your natural shadow.

Now, set the orange on the ground, and step away from it.  The only shadow being cast is that of the orange.  (Some of you might be thinking, “Duh!” at this point, to which you would be correct.)  Duh, indeed!  Your shadow no longer has anything to do with the orange, or vice-versa.

Webster’s defines “faithful” as the following:
[faithful |ˈfāθfəl|adjective] loyal, constant, and steadfast

When Thomas Chisholm wrote “there is no shadow of turning with Thee”, little did he know how greatly it would affect the perspective of a man living in 2010, some eighty years later.  God, in his very nature, is faithful, and has no shadow of turning (see James 1).  Unfaithfulness to his children is not even an option.  The “orange” is nowhere to be seen.  The only shadow that we will ever see cast by the Creator is that which completely and perfectly mirrors his likeness, and not marred or altered by outside influence or forces.  He is completely faithful.

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS
Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
there is no shadow of turning with thee;
thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
as thou hast been thou forever will be.

Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand hath provided;
great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

[words: Thomas O. Chisolm]
[music: William M. Runyan]

What great confidence we can have in the Creator God who does not change, is completely faithful, and has given us every eternal hope through Christ Jesus!  Great is His faithfulness, indeed!

An Uncomfortable Prayer

“BE THOU MY VISION”

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
[words: attributed to Dallan Forgaill, 8th century / music: SLANE (irish folk tune)]

As I was preparing to lead our corporate time of worship this past weekend, I questioned whether or not it would be a good idea to sing this hymn.  It’s been longer than I can remember since I sang it, either at our present local body or the church we came from in L.A.  Perhaps with good reason.  I questioned whether people would get mad for asking them to sing, first of all, text which is by no means contemporary in presentation or nature, let alone its poignant phrases such as “naught be all else to me, save that Thou art”, and “heart of my own heart, whatever befall, still be my vision…”  Surely this was bound to be a disaster.  After all, as I was preparing, I questioned whether I should even be leading it as I could recall several times over the past day that I had been more enamored with my earthly possessions than the person of Christ.

We sang it anyway.   Personally, verse two thrust my own thinking into a ball of flames, only to come crashing to the ground in  heap of self-abosrbed ashes: “Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always.  Thou and Thou only, first in my heart, High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.”   The fear of man, rather than my fear of God, had almost dominated my preparation, my worship.  It could just be me, but I would venture out on a limb to say that more often than not, we need this second verse to transform our hearts when we approach a time of worship:  to those of us who question whether we can sing on key or raise our hands, I say sing loud and raise high. Whose praise are you heeding?  To those of us who wonder if we’re a distraction as we lift our hands on stage in churches as worship leaders, I ask again, whose praise are you heeding?  To those of us who give because it is more a duty than a joy, I ask, who is your inheritance?  It is eternal or transient?

As a husband, it’s really easy to find that comfort can be found in the amount of $$ in my checking account.  In some sense, it’s a novelty still that there’s more now than there was when I was an undergraduate bachelor.  Which doesn’t necessarily have to be much.  Anyhow… Inherently, this is good.  It indicates that I’m providing for my family, making sure that Carley has some sense of earthly security if something were to happen to me.  And yet, if I “heed” (literally “to take great, extended notice of” [websters]) those riches for more than the temporary value than they’re actually worth, I’m stepping into dangerous territory of idol-creation.  As soon as that idols’ up, it’s going to be a lot easier to worship it than if it were never given the opportunity to be created in the first place.  So, with the hymn writer, I declare: “Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise”.

I hope that the rest of my life marks me to be a man who places Christ, not just at the forefront of my sights, but as my vision itself.   May I find that my affection for him cannot be competed with by any earthly pain or pleasure.

O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
‘Tis an ocean vast of blessing, ’tis a haven sweet of rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!
[text: samuel a. francis / music: thomas j. williams / tune: EBENEZER

"...vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!"  Free.  Free for me, but not for the Lamb of God.  I've been thinking a lot about this hymn, probably because I'm setting it for my old friend Jared Kline (on the saxophone).... I can't quite get past the "free".  How does one capture "free"?  Not just musically, but otherwise.  We live in a day in age where hardly anything is free.  Probably one of the few things being the silly downloads on iTunes (silly, most of the time).  If it's free, it's usually because few people care about it.  It's of small significance.  Funny how the deep, deep love of Jesus that was so freely manifested on the Cross isn't really free... for one.

If something ends up being free, and in the truest sense of the word, it costs someone something, somewhere down the road.  Usually at the supplier's end.  Such is the case with the free love of God.  Romans 5 tells us:

"But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.  [romans 5:15-18]

And so, it seems backwards, in some odd sense.  It seems that sin cost a price.  That price cost the buyer, which there was none.  No one bid high enough.  So, that price cost the supplier, the Giver.  That price cost everything.  Because it cost everything… it became free.  This inexplicable, eternal, incredible freedom, truly is “love of every love the best”.  Its transcendence goes past space and time, and “lifts me up to glory… lifts me up to Thee”.

This freedom that we have in Christ truly is “vast, unmeasured, boundless, free”!

I’ve decided to start blogging again…

and among all the New Year’s resolutions that I’m sure are out there in these first couple days of January, I thought that I’d do something that wasn’t a resolution…. this blog is not a resolution.  Partially because resolutions are usually left undone, incomplete, and usually are self-focused.  So this blog isn’t a resolution.  It’s a goal.

I’ve had a couple of people asking me if I would ever start blogging again… also, Carley and I watched Julie and Julia over Christmas break, and I was reminded how funny blogging can be to an extent.  And impactful for both the writer and the reader (if anyone reads it).  I wasn’t sure what I would blog about until a couple of days ago.  Then the obvious came to mind.  Music.

So, I’ve decided that I’m going to blog about Music.  One of my greatest passions.  I’ll write about hymnody (I’m going to try to read through a new hymn every day this year), my writing excursions and what may come of that, and who knows what else may come about.  We’ll see.

Here’s to blogging in a new decade.  We’ll see what happens.  I’ll write more later today about a hymn… once I find one.  At least this is a start.