SEASON'S GREETINGS!

Christmas, of course, is when the phrase “Season's Greetings” penetrates our culture. I know what people are trying to say, like: “The weather outside is awful, but all those gifts under the tree make things awesome.” So what sort of greetings are appropriate for spring? Please, not “the Easter bunny's comin' tonight.” For me, spring's first smiles are the warm days and earth awakening. The first crocus. Puttin' away the snow boots. Pruning the roses. Looking upward, to the blue sky, and thinking, Oh, God, all this You created. I cannot imagine Your smile as Your plan of beauty emerged.

To borrow from King Solomon and his famous “love ode”:

See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone,

Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come. (Song of Solomon 2:11)

Yes, I know, he wasn't giving a weather report for the six o'clock news. Instead, his hormones were bubbling for a certain young lady whose love he craved. But maybe there's a lesson here beneath his poetry.

This winter, two friends lost their husbands. I've been down that lonely road, and while I can offer hugs and words of care, it's a journey we must take in our own way, leaning heavily into Jesus. “Lover of My Soul.”

If that last phrase stirred up some old memories of a hymn, you're right. It goes back to about 1740 when Charles Wesley penned those words shortly after accepting Jesus as His Lord and Savior. Its verses tell of seeking courage and comfort in Jesus when trials come. When the winter of hard times fades. When we can begin to see what God can do with our sorrows and disappointments. Stop for a minute and reflect or sing along about “Jesus, Lover of My Soul”: Bing Videos

The crocus blossom that faithfully pops up every spring by my front sidewalk reminds me of that. When we put away our snow boots and Christmas carols, we didn't put away all our reasons to sing and praise God. This is Easter month! Even as we can rejoice in flowers re-emerging, we can be astounded again by the beauty of this truth: He is risen, just as He said. And just as the angel triumphantly announced to the women who came to anoint a decaying body, and were shocked by the most amazing news ever.

Surely, “the season of singing has come” and we don't need to wait for “Easter Sunday” to proclaim that: Christ the Lord has risen today...Alleluia

Join these singers on You Tube: Bing Videos

LOVE DIVINE

How and when 18^th century hymn-writing “phenom” Charles Wesley wrote “Love Divine, All Loves, Excelling”--we'll never know. But the odds are that he was saddled up on his old, reliable horse, traveling between towns. That's how he reportedly wrote most of his thousands of hymn texts. Nobody knows the real number, but the best guess is 3,000-6,000. He kept a little card on his pocket to jot lyrics as they came to him along the road. When he didn't have a “jotting card” along, he'd slide off his horse at a home or inn at the next town and ask for pencil and paper--as soon as possible!

We don't know if “Love Divine” was actually  written on horseback. But we do know that Charles and his famous preaching brother John (together they rewrote spiritual history with the founding of “Methodism”) had life-changing conversions that altered the trajectory of their lives.

The men's father, Rev. Samuel Wesley, also wrote devotional poetry used for hymns like “Behold the Savior of Mankind.” (1) Reportedly, that manuscript was saved by a gust of wind that blew it out of the family home which had caught on fire. But father Samuel's fame didn't go far from the parishes he pastored. Besides, with nineteen children under his roof, life was busy. (His wife, Susanna, found a way to pray with so many little ones around. She'd sit down, throw her generous apron over her head, and that was the children's clue to leave mama alone for a while.)

Charles Wesley, despite his prodigious output, was not history's most prolific hymn-writer. The title has been given blind American lyricist Fanny Crosby (1920-1915), said to have written more than 9,000 hymn lyrics. But that number has been questioned as “low” as she often used one of her 200-plus pseudonyms.

Still, he had a remarkable gift for linking poetry to music—a gift many say was released in abundance when he and brother John (who became founder of Methodism), had a transforming spiritual experience through the influence of Moravian missionaries. Among his thousands of hymns, these are among the better known: “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”(2) (3), “And Can It Be That I Should Gain?”, “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” “Christ the Lord Is Ris'n Today,” “Soldiers of Christ, Arise,” “Rejoice, the Lord is King,” and “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.”

It's worth noting that “love” and “lover” appear in the titles/opening words of some of these well-known hymns. Our culture may have commercialized “love” with the hearts, candy, and flowers associated with “Valentine's Day.” But the love of God goes way and beyond all that. The apostle John, who in late life wrote the epistle that couldn't give enough praise to the love of God, exclaimed:

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1)

What can I possibly add to that statement? Amen, and amen.

1. Hymns of the Faith: Behold the Savior of Mankind - Holy Sojourners

2. Bing Videos

3. This You-tube records “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” at Westminster Abbey, with the late Queen Elizabeth and her son now-King Charles singing in the congregation: Bing Videos

 

Making 'Psense' of Psalms--Psalm 107: Redeemed

"Redemption" is often described as a bridge over the
gulf separating a sinful man and a holy God. The
"bridge" is Christ's death on the cross for our sins.

Part of a continuing series on selected psalms.

A doctor’s mistake blinded her in infancy, but Fanny Crosby grew up determined to live well in spite of her disability. Besides being a teacher to the blind, she distinguished herself as a poet and lyricist. From her spiritual depth and a phenomenal memory came nearly a thousand hymn lyrics, many still sung today. One was “Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!” It beings:

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through his infinite mercy, His child, and forever, I am.
This hymn’s key word, “redeemed,” brings to mind the key verses of Psalm 107:
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say this—those he redeemed from the hand of the foe…. (vv. 1-2a)
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. (vv. 8, 15, 21, 31)

Reading Psalm 107 as “Lessons for the Redeemed” helps open up its lessons. It was probably written after a Jewish remnant returned to Jerusalem after 70 years in captivity, about 400 years before the birth of Christ. They were “redeemed” from humiliating exile (“the hand of the foe,” v. 2), with some returning to their homeland. This psalm consists of four pictures of people experiencing loss (home, freedom, health, courage), all followed by a reminder to praise God. A fifth picture exalts God’s power through nature to bless or discipline.

PICTURE #1: WANDERERS (vv. 4-9)

Think of the changes seventy years can bring. For us, that would go back to 1944 and World War 2. Then put yourself in ancient times, well over a thousand miles from your homeland, your feet and maybe a donkey your only transportation through desert wastelands. Would you be able to find your way back? Would you have the strength to make it? This section pictures the refugees on a long, arduous journey from Babylon to their former “Promised Land” near the Mediterranean, seeking to regain their identity as God’s people. The section also portrays people today who’ve turned their backs on God, and suffered the consequences of their decisions. Think of those addicted to alcohol or drugs, success, possessions, entertainment excesses (TV, movies, internet, music, books), illicit sexual pleasure, and anything else that takes first place ahead of God. The psalm’s “refugees” cried out to God (v. 6), and He delivered them. He does the same for us, sometimes allowing us to wander in the deserts until we’re parched for more of Him. The stanza ends: “For he satisfied the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things” (v. 9). That verse has an echo in the final stanza of the old hymn, “Come, thou fount of every blessing”:
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart; Lord, take and seal it; Seal it for Thy courts above.

PICTURE #2: PRISONERS (VV. 10-16)
When carted off to Babylon, the Jews lost the freedoms they’d enjoyed in their homeland. The “prison” of exile left them suffering, subjected to bitter labor (v. 12) and helpless. Today, “spiritual prisoners” walk around with feet shackled by poor choices, bitter spirits, fears, and the heaviest chain of all: separation from God. One who keenly felt that imprisoned “spirit” was Charles Wesley. Born into a minister’s home, he still needed to make his own decision to follow Christ. He gave us a memorable picture of salvation in his 1738 hymn, “And Can It Be,” whose third vcrse describes spiritual chains coming off:
Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eyes diffused a quickening ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light:
My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee!
Amazing love! How can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me!
 

PICTURE #3: THE AFFLICTED (VV. 17-22)

“Rebellious ways” led to serious illness for those mentioned in this stanza. Food had no appeal to them, and they nearly died. In our times, it could match the severely depressed, drug addicts and anorectics, who eat poorly, if at all. It could also embrace the “sin-sickness” (unbelief, hatred, rebellion) that keeps the afflicted from seeking the healing forgiveness of Christ. We need to remember that Christ’s ministry on earth included healing the diseased and the sin-sick souls: “He Himself took on our infirmities and bore our sicknesses” (Matt. 8:17). He still stands ready to heal the spirits of those who turn from their rebellion and seek Him.

PICTURE #4: THE STORM-TOSSED (VV. 23-32)

The Jews were not known as sea-faring people, yet the Bible includes many stories of great sea storms. Jonah (tossed overboard to the throat of a whale) was one. The apostle Paul’s shipwreck in the Mediterranean was another. The Gospels tell of two storms involving Christ in the Sea of Galilee. In one, Jesus was asleep in the disciples’ boat when a squall blew up. Another time, He walked on water to His disciples’ boat as they battled a furious storm. Psalm 107 describes a storm so horrific that even seasoned sailors thought they wouldn’t survive. They cried out to God and “He stilled the storm to a whisper” (Psalm 107:28)—just as Christ did in the Gospels. Then, God “guided them to their desired haven.” This section is for those who have lost their hope—as verse 17 says, “at wit’s end.” It offers hope for those whose circumstances are so disastrous that they see no way through them. But God is still with them, ready to guide them to their “desired haven” (v. 30). Henry Gilmore took that image and turned it into a hymn published in 1890:
My soul in sad exile was out on life’s sea,
So burdened with sin and distressed,
Till I heard a sweet voice, saying, “Make Me your choice”;
And I entered the “Haven of Rest.”

PICTURE #5: GOD’S POWER AND WISDOM

Rather than describing the suffering, the psalm’s fifth picture is of God who is wise and powerful. He can allow sin to have its consequences: rivers turning to deserts, springs to dry ground, fruitful land to salt wastes. He can reverse that, too. Some say this stanza pictures the Millennium, when the wasted, wounded earth will enjoy fruitfulness and vigor under Christ’s perfect rule. It also pictures life now, when good people suffer. Because we live in a fallen world, we cannot expect perfect, carefree lives. But suffering can have a positive consequence by strengthening our spiritual character, if we allow those hard times to press us closer to God’s heart. The opposite is also true: those who turn their suffering into complaints and bitterness will distance themselves from God. Thus the psalm ends:
Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the LORD. (v. 43)
In His great wisdom, God can bring good out of all the calamities sketched with broad strokes in Psalm 107.  If you’ve lost your way, freedom, health, or courage, He waits to help—as your Redeemer.

Next: Psalm 116