Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song,
The joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue;
Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,
Hath won my affections, and bound my soul fast.
Without Thy sweet mercy I could not live here;
Sin would reduce me to utter despair;
But, through Thy free goodness, my spirits revive,
And He that first made me still keeps me alive.
Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart,
Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart;
Dissolved by Thy goodness, I fall to the ground,
And weep to the praise of the mercy I’ve found.
Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I own,
And the covenant love of Thy crucified Son;
All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine
Seals mercy, and pardon, and righteousness mine.
All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine
Seals mercy, and pardon, and righteousness mine.
The joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue;
Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,
Hath won my affections, and bound my soul fast.
Without Thy sweet mercy I could not live here;
Sin would reduce me to utter despair;
But, through Thy free goodness, my spirits revive,
And He that first made me still keeps me alive.
Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart,
Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart;
Dissolved by Thy goodness, I fall to the ground,
And weep to the praise of the mercy I’ve found.
Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I own,
And the covenant love of Thy crucified Son;
All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine
Seals mercy, and pardon, and righteousness mine.
All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine
Seals mercy, and pardon, and righteousness mine.
John Stocker (published works in 1776)
I love that the gospel is so intimate. It isn't impersonal. Its truths aren't distant. They invade our souls and weave us into the very family of God. The gospel saves and redefines people. God had mercy enough to rescue and woo sinners. He pulls us from the sin we crave and transforms us so that we can approach and love a holy God.
God calls us to love him, to strive for him, to desire him. Yet in his mercy, he decreases the temptations of this life by making it hard and unattractive. As we strive for God, we fall, we stumble, we struggle, but we move forward. We run toward the fullness of the love that we have merely glanced. A love that holds together our frail hearts when those dear to us slip away or hurt. A love that reminds us of our place in eternity when our place in this life feels shameful and unfulfilling. A love that binds wounds and heals blows. A love that grabs our convictions and turns them into fruit. A love that anchors us to the very character of God. A love that defines us.
I treasure this hymn because it progresses through the many interactions we have with a loving God. God woos us. As we learn about his glory, his goodness, his mercy, we fall head over heels for the one worthy of owning all of our love.
Yet, we are not faithful lovers. We stumble. Regular faltering surrounds us. But sin no longer defines us before God!! Jesus' death purchased us. Now, we are defined by grace. Sin becomes a reminder of his love. As sin is revealed, we are presented with an opportunity run to the cross afresh. We can savor forgiveness, again.
God’s love is a match for our hard hearts. I love that line because it is so true. When I am tempted to feel like my heart is stagnate, I can look back to the multitude of times he has softened my will and changed my very desires. I know his finger can crack a stony heart in a spilt second, because I have felt the weight of his nudges. He is more than a match for my sin because he has already conquered my sin!!
Then, he tells me that I, a sinner worthy of hell and ruination, own Christ. I am God's child. I own a share of his love, his inheritance his mercy. He saves me, he preserves me, he changes me and is holding a great reward. The reward is himself!! Not jewels or gold, but the access that belongs only to the Son, is freely giving to the filthiest of sinners. Now we taste the hint of this reward, it creeps into our hearts and leaves a craving for more, but one day we shall see and drank deeply of God.
“All these (Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Sarah) died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them from afar, and having acknowledge that they were strangers and exiles on earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land from which they had gone out, they would have had an opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God was not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”
Hebrews 11:13-16
God is making a place for us better than this life ever could be. This truth is so gratifying when it grabs hold of your soul, but so empty when it remains tucked in the corner of your mind. I need to realize daily that God is drawing me to him. All this chaos will pass away and when it is gone, I don’t want to have wasted days and days looking back to that which I left. I don’t want to be fixated on this empty world. I want to be fixated on Christ who is calling me home. I want to live each day as an opportunity to worship the lover of my soul.
I love that the gospel is so intimate. It isn't impersonal. Its truths aren't distant. They invade our souls and weave us into the very family of God. The gospel saves and redefines people. God had mercy enough to rescue and woo sinners. He pulls us from the sin we crave and transforms us so that we can approach and love a holy God.
God calls us to love him, to strive for him, to desire him. Yet in his mercy, he decreases the temptations of this life by making it hard and unattractive. As we strive for God, we fall, we stumble, we struggle, but we move forward. We run toward the fullness of the love that we have merely glanced. A love that holds together our frail hearts when those dear to us slip away or hurt. A love that reminds us of our place in eternity when our place in this life feels shameful and unfulfilling. A love that binds wounds and heals blows. A love that grabs our convictions and turns them into fruit. A love that anchors us to the very character of God. A love that defines us.
I treasure this hymn because it progresses through the many interactions we have with a loving God. God woos us. As we learn about his glory, his goodness, his mercy, we fall head over heels for the one worthy of owning all of our love.
Yet, we are not faithful lovers. We stumble. Regular faltering surrounds us. But sin no longer defines us before God!! Jesus' death purchased us. Now, we are defined by grace. Sin becomes a reminder of his love. As sin is revealed, we are presented with an opportunity run to the cross afresh. We can savor forgiveness, again.
God’s love is a match for our hard hearts. I love that line because it is so true. When I am tempted to feel like my heart is stagnate, I can look back to the multitude of times he has softened my will and changed my very desires. I know his finger can crack a stony heart in a spilt second, because I have felt the weight of his nudges. He is more than a match for my sin because he has already conquered my sin!!
Then, he tells me that I, a sinner worthy of hell and ruination, own Christ. I am God's child. I own a share of his love, his inheritance his mercy. He saves me, he preserves me, he changes me and is holding a great reward. The reward is himself!! Not jewels or gold, but the access that belongs only to the Son, is freely giving to the filthiest of sinners. Now we taste the hint of this reward, it creeps into our hearts and leaves a craving for more, but one day we shall see and drank deeply of God.
“All these (Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Sarah) died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them from afar, and having acknowledge that they were strangers and exiles on earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land from which they had gone out, they would have had an opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God was not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”
Hebrews 11:13-16
God is making a place for us better than this life ever could be. This truth is so gratifying when it grabs hold of your soul, but so empty when it remains tucked in the corner of your mind. I need to realize daily that God is drawing me to him. All this chaos will pass away and when it is gone, I don’t want to have wasted days and days looking back to that which I left. I don’t want to be fixated on this empty world. I want to be fixated on Christ who is calling me home. I want to live each day as an opportunity to worship the lover of my soul.
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