Pursuing Joy

“Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.”
Psalms 147:1 ESV

During this past Lord’s Day morning worship, we sang “O Great God” by Bob Kauflin, Director of Worship Development for Sovereign Grace Ministries.  The past few days, verse two has rung out in my ears.  What amazing grace God has poured out on His children.  So amazing that we would still be lost without it, groping in the darkness for any glimmer of hope or peace in the things of this world and shunning heaven’s joys.  O Great God indeed!!  He has given us life in Jesus through the Spirit!

I was blinded by my sin
Had no ears to hear Your voice
Did not know Your love within
Had no taste for heaven’s joys
Then Your Spirit gave me life
Opened up Your Word to me
Through the gospel of Your Son
Gave me endless hope and peace

You can find the song, which was recorded on The Valley of Vision album, here.

“Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.”
Psalms 147:1 ESV

A great song for Palm Sunday and one that helps me meditate upon the cross is Go To Dark Gethsemane.  It was written by James Montgomery, but I heard it on Indelible Grace’s Wake Thy Slumbering Children album and it is sung by Sandra McCracken.  This will receive much play time this holy week in our house.  Gethsemane is one of the darkest places in the Bible.  A place where the Father places the cup of his full wrath against sin in the hands of his Son.  A place where Jesus begins to see what his bearing our sin truly means… separation from his Father, with whom He has had perfect love infinitely.  But I love how the song ends, “Christ is risen!”  Amen, and our sins have been washed away.

Go To Dark Gethsemane

Go to dark Gethsemane, ye that feel the tempter’s power;
Your Redeemer’s conflict see, watch with Him one bitter hour,
Turn not from His griefs away; learn of Jesus Christ to pray.

See Him at the judgment hall, beaten, bound, reviled, arraigned;
O the wormwood and the gall! O the pangs His soul sustained!
Shun not suffering, shame, or loss; learn of Christ to bear the cross.

Calvary’s mournful mountain climb; there, adoring at His feet,
Mark that miracle of time, God’s own sacrifice complete.
“It is finished!” hear Him cry; learn of Jesus Christ to die.

Early hasten to the tomb where they laid His breathless clay;
All is solitude and gloom. Who has taken Him away?
Christ is risen! He meets our eyes; Savior, teach us so to rise.

“Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.”
Psalms 147:1 ESV

Aaron Shust’s My Savior My God has also been on continually repeat in the playlist since the Desiring God Pastor’s Conference in February.  It is a song about how Jesus came to save sinful men and how unbelievable that is… “that He who lives to be my King, once died to be my Savior”.  It is too wonderful to fathom, too awesome to understand, but in this we hope.  “Hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him there is plentiful redemption.” (Psalm 130:7)

There is another reason this song stirs my affections and it comes from the line, “My Savior loves, My Savior lives, My Savior’s always there for me”.  John Piper posted on Twitter this morning, “No sweeter words. “I am with you always to the end of the age.” Today, every minute. Tomorrow, every minute. Forever.”  Amen!  Our Savior is always there, no matter what providence has brought!  Listen, and I pray your soul is stirred to love Jesus more and more!

Click here to see him playing the song.

My Savior My God

I am not skilled to understand
What God has willed, what God has planned
I only know at His right hand
Stands one who is my Savior

I take Him at His word and deed
Christ died to save me; this I read
And in my heart I find a need
Of Him to be my savior

That He would leave His place on high
And come for sinful man to die
You count it strange, so once did I
Before I knew my Savior

Chorus
My Savior loves, My Savior lives
My Savior’s always there for me
My God: He was, my God; He is
My God is always gonna be

Yes, living, dying, let me bring
My strength, my solace from this spring;
That He who lives to be my King
Once died to be my Savior

That He would leave His place on high
And come for sinful man to die
You count it strange, so once did I
Before I knew my Savior

“Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.”
Psalms 147:1 ESV

I have been going through a time when the Lord has been using lyrics and songs, along with Scripture, to stir my cold affections.  I’m sure you have been through a time like that in your life.  If you haven’t, my hope is that the words would raise your affections for Christ.  He is worthy of our praise and lifting my eyes up and praising the Lord has helped shift my focus from self.  So over the next few days, I will share some songs that I hope we can sing together on our pilgrimage.

This first song has been going strong in the playlist since we went to the Desiring God Pastor’s Conference in the beginning of February.  “You Are God Alone (Not A god)” was written by Billy Foote, who also wrote “You Are My King (Amazing Love)” and “Sing To The King”.  Phillips, Craig and Dean have sung one of the most popular versions, which can be viewed here.  One of my favorites lines is “And right now, In the good times and bad, You are on Your throne, You are God alone”.  Take a few moments, and along with Psalm 86, revel in the character of God!

You Are God Alone (Not A God)
Verse 1
You are not a god created
By human hands
You are not a god dependent
On any mortal man
You are not a god in need of
Anything we can give
By Your plan
That’s just the way it is

Verse 2
You’re the only God whose power
None can contend
You’re the only God
Whose name and praise will never end
You’re the only God who’s worthy
Of ev’rything we can give
You are God
That’s just the way it is

Chorus
You are God alone
From before time began
You were on Your throne
You were God alone
And right now
In the good times and bad
You are on Your throne
You are God alone
You’re unchangeable
You’re unshakable
You’re unstoppable
That’s what You are

CCLI License No. 432316

Today is the one year anniversary of Pastor Dan Cummings’ death.  Death is a reality of life because of sin (Romans 6:23) and it is appointed for man to die once (Hebrews 9:27). But the good news of the gospel is that though sin entered the world and death through sin, there is an abundance of grace and a free gift of righteousness through Jesus Christ.  It is through Jesus Christ’s perfect life and death on the cross that sinners find justification by His blood and reconciliation with God.  And it is this truth that leads Paul to say in Romans 5:21, “so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  For the person who puts their faith alone by grace alone in Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins, death is not eternal.  As John Owen wrote, “the Father and his Son intended by the death of Christ to redeem, purge, sanctify, purify, deliver from death”… in Jesus, the death of death has come.  [The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (Book II, Chapter III)]

This reminds me of a song from the album Come Weary Saints (which is on sale this month at Sovereign Grace).  The lyrics are below:

It Is Not Death To Die

It is not death to die
To leave this weary road
And join the saints who dwell on high
Who’ve found their home with God
It is not death to close
The eyes long dimmed by tears
And wake in joy before Your throne
Delivered from our fears

CHORUS:
O Jesus, conquering the grave
Your precious blood has power to save
Those who trust in You
Will in Your mercy find
That it is not death to die

It is not death to fling
Aside this earthly dust
And rise with strong and noble wing
To live among the just
It is not death to hear
The key unlock the door
That sets us free from mortal years
To praise You evermore

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.

O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free
thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
from depths of hell thy people save,
and give them victory over the grave.

O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
our spirits by thine advent here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

My wife loves Christmas music.  As soon as those certain radio stations switch over on November 1st to non-stop seasonal music, the station is dialed in.  And it is not that I do not enjoy music about the birth of our Savior or the Advent season, but if I am going to listen to the same 20 songs for two months straight, I need a little variety.  Here are my five favorite albums that might help spice up your playlist…

Behold The Lamb Of God, Andrew Peterson

This is probably my new favorite of Advent 2009. This is why (in his own words):

What makes this bunch of songs unique is that I wanted to remind (or teach) the audience that the story of Christmas doesn’t begin with the birth of Jesus. Many people tend to forget or have never even learned that the entire Bible is about Jesus, not just the New Testament. So the musical begins with Moses and the symbolic story of the Passover (Passover Us) and works its way through the kings and the prophets with their many prophecies about the coming Messiah (So Long, Moses) to the awful four hundred years of silence before God told Mary she’d be having a baby (Deliver Us). After the song called Matthew’s Begats, which lists the genealogy of Jesus, the story picks up in more familiar territory with Mary and Joseph and the actual birth (It Came To Pass, Labor of Love). The final song is called Behold, the Lamb of God, which ties together the Passover and the beauty and scope of the story.

You can preview the whole album and its lyrics here for free (HT: Justin Taylor)

Glory In The Highest, Shane & Shane

My two favorite Christmas songs launch my favorite Christmas album, O Holy Night and O Come, O Come Emmanuel.  Their original song, Born To Die is a great addition to our Christmas playlist.  There are a couple songs on here that are just plain old fun Christmas tunes and aren’t my most favorite additions to a Christmas album, but the first two songs set my affections ablaze and help me look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith… most of the time with tears welling.

Advent Songs, Sojourn

The emphasis here is on the already/not-yet tension of advent. Advent comes to us in the darkest season of the year — a season when the nights are long, the days are cold, and we look with anticipation for the return of warmth in the spring. The songs have both a dark sense of anticipation and glimpses of light dawning in the face of the Christ child. As we celebrate this season, we celebrate that our Messiah has come, and we look with longing to the day when he comes again. As St. John says, “Amen! Come Lord Jesus.”

On The Incarnation, Daniel Renstrom

This is an excellent mix of old songs and new ones.  One new song, “Rise & Fall”, is my favorite on this album and talks about how Jesus is a “dangerous King”.  He not only brought joy and salvation, but also opposition to other kings and kingdoms.  One reviewer writes, “ The truly great thing about On The Incarnation is that it doesn’t repel you when you are not in a Christmas season mood. It’s a gift from Renstrom that we can hear it outside the season and still enjoy it. I played the album for the kids in the car on the way to Louisville two weeks ago. Four songs in they said, “Are you sure these are Christmas songs?” The answer is yes, in the best sense.”

Silent Night, Mars Hill Church (Seattle)

This is one is for the rockers!  The songs are all classic carols with a little Seattle grunge… I love it! It is a little jolting going from The Nutcracker to Mars Hill, but like I said… I need a little variety in these two months!  If you click the link, you can download ‘What Child Is This?’ for free before buying the album for $5.99.

Enjoy and worship The King!

For most of 2009, Five Points has devoted itself to learning great hymns of the faith by specifically focusing on one hymn per month.  In August, our hymn of the month was It Is Well by Horatio Spafford.  The hymn was written after the events of November 21, 1873, when Spafford’s family was crossing the Atlantic Ocean without him and sunk after hitting another ship.  His wife survived, but his four daughters perished.  When traveling to join his grieving wife, he began to write these words as his ship passed near the spot of the crash:

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Mars Hill Church in Seattle has an aptly named video series, A Rebels Guide To Joy, with an episode on Spafford here.

When living in Louisville, we heard about Sojourn Church and started listening to their worship albums.  One of our favorites is  Over The Grave: The Hymns of Isaac Watts, Volume 1, with “songs inspired by and adapted from his hymns.”  They hope this album “will point us beyond the music and lyrics to see the glorious Savior who inspires them.”  I believe they have accomplished their mission and the music and lyrics are outstanding.  One of my new favorite worship songs is “Warrior”, based on Watts’ version of Psalm 21, a Davidic psalm anticipating the Messiah.  It is, as they describe it, “a most unusual worship song”:

Honor and majesty divine
Around his sacred temple shine
Grace and might so long foretold
In crowns of glory, not of gold

Your hand shall find out every foe
And as a fiery furnace glows
With raging heat and living coals
They will feel your wrath upon their souls

Oh the warrior will conquer all
The world will fall before His feet

Earth and sea will give up their dead
The nations gathered before Him,
A day of glory, a day of dread
No one dares now ignore Him

That is not your typical Christian worship song!  Great Biblical Theology mixed with a good tune… “With raging heat and burning coals, They will feel your wrath upon their souls”.  But our God is a Warrior and one that loves His glory supremely.  That final day will be one where His glory shines forth, but it is a dreaded day indeed for His foes, for there is nothing they can do when He gathers the nations before Him!  I was reminded of this last Lord’s Day evening during our Reformation Day dinner when Brent, giving his short biography on Calvin, spoke about God’s wrath against sin.

This is a great worship album… one that works hard lyrically and musically to glorify our Great God!  You can listen to it here and buy it here.