Shall We Have 'Praise for the Lord'?

Saturday, September 25, 2021

Vol. 220: "He Lives"

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

"I serve a risen savior, He's in the world today. I know that He is living, whatever men may say; I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer; And just the time I need Him He's always near." [Refrain]
"In all the world around me, I see His loving care. And tho' my heart grows weary, I never will despair. I know that He is leading thru all the stormy blast. The day of His appearing will come at last." [Refrain]
"Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, lift up your voice and sing Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King! The hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find. None other is so loving, so good and kind." [Refrain]

Refrain-- "He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way. He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), salvation to impart! You ask me how I know He lives: He lives within my heart."

As always, we begin with our Prime Directive "checkoff list", showing this song to be a psalm of praise to God extolling His power, His character, and also His work, also a hymn teaching about our dependence on God and His willingness to bless, and a spiritual song that is intended to inspire or cultivate feelings of spiritual devotion.

Alfred Ackley was born in Spring Hill, Pennsylvania, in 1887. He showed great potential for music as a child and was tutored by his musician father before he went to study in New York City and at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England. It was here that he played cello and piano, and also showed great promise as a composer.

While in California in 1932, he noticed a young Jewish man attending some evangelistic meetings who was often heard to be saying, "Why should I worship a dead Jew?" On top of this, as he was preparing an Easter Sunday message, he heard a well known liberal preacher from New York on the radio saying, "Good morning. It’s Easter! You know, folks, it really doesn’t make any difference to me if Christ be risen or not. As far as I am concerned, His body could be as dust in some Palestinian tomb. The main thing is, His truth goes marching on!" Although Ackley preached with strength and urgency that morning about the reality of Christ's resurrection, the thoughts of what the young Jewish man and the liberal preacher from New York both said continued to dwell in his angry mind. His wife, sensing his rage, told him it was time for him to do what he did best - write a song - and then he would feel better.

So he began reacquainting himself with Mark's account of the Resurrection of Christ and the words soon began to pour from him. Moments later, he also set the new lyrics to music. With this, he had the answer to the young Jewish man's question of why he should worship a dead Jew: because He is not dead, He Lives!

Let's see how much his reading of Mark helped with this song and test its scriptural integrity:

1--

"I serve a risen savior,

We know that He is risen (Matthew 28:6; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:6) and ascended back to God (Acts 1:9)!

"He's in the world today. I know that He is living, whatever men may say;

Although He is no longer treading this earth physically (Acts 1:9), and does not interact with people as He used to, we know that He does pray for us (John 17) and we can thus see His influence upon us.
See the verses above about the risen Savior, but also consider His appearances and interactions after His ascension (Acts chapters 9, 18, 22, and 23; also Revelation chapters 1-3 and 22).

"I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer; And just the time I need Him He's always near."

Jesus does still speak to us through the Bible (John 16:12-13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 3:15-16), so we can go to Him through His Word to receive encouragement (cheer).

2--

"In all the world around me, I see His loving care.

Again, note the influences of His praying for us as mentioned in the previous verse.

"And tho' my heart grows weary, I never will despair.

There is NO reason for us to despair. Besides all the verses in the Bible behooving us to rejoice, we have assurance that Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33), so we should not be troubled.

"I know that He is leading thru all the stormy blast.

This is likely a poetic parallel to His weathering the storms in His disciples' time (Matthew 8:23-27;14:22-33; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25).

"The day of His appearing will come at last."

We know that He will return someday (Acts 1:11; 1 Corinthians 15; 2 Peter 3:9-13).

Refrain--

"He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Christ Jesus lives today!
"He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way.

As has been pointed out in previous commentaries like these:

If we walk with Him (Ephesians 2:10; 4:1; 5:2), then He is walking with us as well.
As I mentioned earlier, He speaks to us through the Word.

"He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), salvation to impart!

It is with His blood that we have salvation (Hebrews 10).
He bought us with His blood (Acts 20:28).
He even mentioned several times that He came to seek and to save the lost (Matthew 15:24; 18:11; Luke 19:10).

"You ask me how I know He lives: He lives within my heart."

In the past I have faulted this song for closing with this statement: at first, it may sound rather whimsical, similar to how someone in a motion picture may comment on another character who has died-- "He really isn't dead as long as we remember him." Not to mention, some people seem to be able to justify almost anything by saying, "I feel it in my heart!"
As we read in Jeremiah 10:23, however, we see that the way of man is NOT in himself, "...it is not in man to direct his steps" (further examples are throughout the book of Judges, further accentuated with the statement in Judges 17:6 and 21:25 -- "Everyone did what was right in [their] own eyes." That statement is NOT complimentary!).
However, Paul tells us that Jesus does dwell in our hearts through faith (Ephesians 3:17-19) so that we, "being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with ALL the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that [we] may be filled with all the fullness on God[!!]"

3--

"Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian,

I have often lamented about this song and how it seems rather weak and not a very good evangelistic song (mostly for reasons I have pointed out for the refrain listed earlier).
However, when we sing to the Lord, given the Ephesian/Colossian imperative (Eph 5:19; Col. 3:16), we are also teaching and encouraging each other as fellow Christians. And this opening line of the third verse establishes what the target "audience" is for this hymn: Christians!

"...lift up your voice and sing Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King!

We can most certainly agree that Jesus, considering all He has done for us, is most worthy of our praise and adoration.

"The hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find.

Jesus Himself said that whoever asks will receive, whoever seeks will find, and whoever knocks will have the door opened unto them (Matthew 7:7-8).
Like God, as mentioned in Hebrews 11:6, Jesus is a rewarder of them that seek Him.

Most of us in our younger days, when we heard that verse, we thought it meant that if we seek Him, He will reward us with stuff.
Hopefully by now, we know that if you want to reward someone who is diligently seeking something, you should give him what he is diligently seeking..., in this case, Christ.
If we seek primarily after the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then we will be provided with the things we need (food & clothing) (Matthew 6:25-33, emph. v. 33). And He also told us in John 15:7, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."

"None other is so loving, so good and kind."

Reading through the Gospels, one will only begin to see how kind Jesus was (John 20:30,31; 21:25)

As always, I welcome your thoughts…

(Back to Introductory Volume)

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Introductory Volume(0) — Commentary on the Songs from Taylor Publications’ ‘Praise for the Lord’ Hymnal (v-2.0)

(This page has been updated to promote a different means of indexing all the songs that have commentaries attached to them

Through this series of blogs I would like to look through the songs in Taylor Publications’ Praise for the Lord hymnal and make commentary about them. This will include some notes on how well they may fit the descriptions and definitions of "song, hymns, and spiritual songs"* as well as each song's scriptural integrity (should we be singing "It Won't Be Very Long"? or "Jesus is Coming Soon"? and why or why not?). I would like to solicit your thoughts on them and hope you can post your comments at the end of each article.

With THIS entry, I hope to provide links to each individual song, each entry’s volume number referencing the number to that song (e.g.– Vol. 1: “A Beautiful Life”, Vol. 588: “Sinners Jesus will Receive”). Simply click on whatever set of 100 wherein your song choice resides and it will take you to an index of all songs in that group that are available (this is an ongoing project and it may be a while before completion is achieved as there are 990 songs in this hymnal!).

Again, any questions or comments should be posted in the comments section. Thank you.

–bas4d

--updated 6/16/2017

http://phss101-pftl.blogspot.com/p/index-601-700.html

http://phss101-pftl.blogspot.com/p/index-701-800.html

* These definitions are listed in the Syllabus to this "course" and mentioned as the Prime Directive; I shall try to link to this list with every article.

Thursday, May 3, 2018

Vol. 950: Lamb of God

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

"Your only Son no sin to hide, But You have sent Him from Your side To walk upon this guilty sod And to become the Lamb of God.
"Your gift of love they crucified, They laughed and scorned Him as He died, The humble King they named a fraud And sacrificed the Lamb of God.
"I was so lost I should have died, But You have brought me to Your side To be led by Your staff and rod, And to be called a Lamb of God.

Refrain:"O Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God, I love the holy Lamb of God. O wash me in His precious blood, My Jesus Christ the Lamb of God (or ending for the 3rd verse) Till I am just a lamb of God."

Once again, as we begin with our Prime Directive "checkoff list", this definitely seems to be a psalm of praise to God extolling His power as well as His work, a hymn of praise and supplication, and a spiritual song is intended to inspire or cultivate feelings of spiritual devotion.

Twila Paris (1958) is described by hymnary.org as "a contemporary Christian music songwriter, author, vocalist, and pianist." Since 1980, she has released 22 albums, had 33 number one Christian radio singles, and has been named the Gospel Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year three years in a row (1993 - 1995). Some of her more popular songs include "He Is Exalted", "We Bow Down", "We Will Glorify", and the focus of this commentary, "Lamb of God", all of which are found in many hymnals and sung in church settings. According to CCM Singles, she has "helped to pioneer today's praise and worship music and contributed greatly to making this informal style acceptable to normally more conservative churches."

Well, let's see if any of that "informal" style has adversely affected the scriptural integrity of this hymn:

"Your only Son no sin to hide,

Some might argue about the use of the Greek word "monogenes", whether or not it refers to Jesus being "begotten" of God, but He is most certainly unique in His Sonship (John 3:16; "A Study of Monogenes").
He was also unique in that He was the only one in all of human history to be without sin (Hebrews 4:14-15)

But You have sent Him from Your side

(John 3:16)

To walk upon this guilty sod

Paul does an extraordinary job of showing us our place when we are compared to God. He quotes one Psalm after another in Romans 3:10-18 and sums it up by stating that ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)

And to become the Lamb of God.

(John 1:29-30)

"Your gift of love they crucified,

(Matthew 27:26, Mark 15:15, Luke 23:25, John 19:16)

They laughed and scorned Him as He died,

(Matthew 27:38-44, Mark 15:27-32, Luke 23:35-39)
Earlier verses in all three accounts also show how He was mocked BEFORE He was on the cross!

The humble King they named a fraud

They accused Him of proclaiming Himself to be an earthly king, possibly taking the place of Caesar (Luke 23:2, John 19:12)

And sacrificed the Lamb of God.

Although their intent was to crucify Him, it was a sacrifice for our sins (1 Corinthians 5:7)

"I was so lost I should have died,

As was quoted from Paul, all HAVE sinned and fall short of God's glory (Romans 3:23).
The price for sin is death (Romans 6:23), and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22)

But You have brought me to Your side, To be led by Your staff and rod,

This is an allusion to the 23rd Psalm, particularly verse 4.

And to become a lamb of God.

See notes about the refrain's alternate ending ("...Till I am just a lamb of God.")

Refrain:

"O Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God, I love the holy Lamb of God.
O wash me in His precious blood, My Jesus Christ the Lamb of God."

As we have seen earlier, Jesus is the Lamb of God (John 1:29-30).

[alternate ending for final refrain]: O wash me in His precious blood, Till I am just a lamb of God."

He is the door for the sheep (John 10:7-17)

Simply because it is more informal than some hymns may sound does not make it less of a hymn of praise, so long as it does not become so informal as to denote a lack of respect for the Almighty and His Gift of His Holy Lamb.

As always, I welcome your thoughts on this....

--bas4d

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Work cited:

"A Study of Mongenes", Reflections Regarding Responsible Reformation, #26, http://www.zianet.com/maxey/reflx26.htm, by Al Maxey, 28 March, 2003.
"Artist Profile: Twila Paris," CCMSingles, http://www.newreleasetoday.com/artistdetail.php?artist_id=962, 4 March, 2016.
"GMA Dove Award for Vocalist of the Year," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMA_Dove_Award_for_Vocalist_of_the_Year, 4 December, 2017.
"Twila Paris White," en. wikipedia.org, https://hymnary.org/person/Paris_T.

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

Friday, April 13, 2018

Vol. 726: "We Saw Thee Not"

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

"We saw Thee not when Thou didst come To this poor world of sin and death; Nor yet beheld Thy cottage home, In that despised Nazareth; But we believe Thy footsteps trod Its streets and plains, Thou Son of God; But we believe Thy footsteps trod Its streets and plains, Thou Son of God.
"We saw Thee not when lifted high Amid that wild and savage crew; Nor heard we that imploring cry, "Forgive, they know not what they do!" But we believe the deed was done, That shook the earth and veiled the sun; But we believe the deed was done, That shook the earth and veiled the sun.
"We gazed not in the open tomb Where once Thy mangled body lay; Nor saw Thee in that "upper room," Nor met Thee on the open way; But we believe that angels said, "Why seek the Living with the dead?" But we believe that angels said, "Why seek the Living with the dead?"
"We walked not with the chosen few Who saw Thee from the earth ascend; Who raised to heaven their wandering view, Then low to earth all prostrate bend; But we believe that human eyes Beheld that journey to the skies; But we believe that human eyes Beheld that journey to the skies."

(Words by Anne Richter, Altered by John H. Gurney; Music by Knowles Shaw)

Once again, as we begin with our Prime Directive "checkoff list", this definitely seems to be a psalm of praise to God extolling His work, but I think we could also call it a spiritual song that is intended to inspire or cultivate feelings of spiritual devotion as every verse is antithetically punctuated with "But we believe...".

This song was originally written by Mrs. Anne Richter in the early 19th century under the title "We Have Not Seen Thy Footsteps Tread." It was altered from its original eight-verse form by John H. Gurney into the current four-verse version that is commonly sung in the United States and the United Kingdom today. The music we typically sing for this song was composed by Knowles Shaw who wrote many other famous hymns including "I Am the Vine" and "Bringing in the Sheaves".

The song goes through some of the accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus from His arrival and His residence in Nazareth to His final ascension before Pentecost. As I wish to reprint the original eight-verse version of this hymn, I will briefly go through some points in the current version:

"We saw Thee not when Thou didst come To this poor world of sin and death; (Matthew and Luke both go into more detail about Jesus' arrival on this planet)

"Nor yet beheld Thy cottage home, In that despised Nazareth; But we believe Thy footsteps trod Its streets and plains, Thou Son of God...."(although we have good evidence that Jesus grew up in Nazareth [Matthew 2:19-23] which was "a despised" town [John 1:45-46], we really don't know what kind of house the Lord grew up in. Although Dictionary.com shows some definitions of cottage that seem somewhat less than humble, we can likely agree that the abode of His family likely was humble, which is probably the idea Mrs. Richter and Mr. Gurney were trying to convey.

"We saw Thee not when lifted high Amid that wild and savage crew; (Jesus indicated that this was going to happen, that He would be lifted up from the earth on a cross [John 3:14-15; 12:27-33], and so He was [Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:33; John 19:18]. And to describe them as a "wild and savage crew" may have been too complimentary [Matthew 27:39-44; Mark 15:29-32; Luke 23:35-39])

"Nor heard we that imploring cry, 'Forgive, they know not what they do!' [Luke 23:34]
"But we believe the deed was done, That shook the earth and veiled the sun. [Matt 27:45-54; Mark 15:33-39; Luke 23:44-47]

"We gazed not in the open tomb Where once Thy mangled body lay; [Luke 24:2-3; John 20:3-9]

"Nor saw Thee in that 'upper room,' (Luke indicates that Cleopas and his friend went to meet the disciples in Jerusalem [Luke 24:33-35] after their encounter with the resurrected Christ; John further points out that the disciples were in a place where the doors could be locked [John 20:19]; and Luke, in his second account, indicates that the disciples were staying in an upper room [Acts 1:12-13]; it's not certain that this was the exact same place they stayed before, but could be a good assumption.
"Nor met Thee on the open way; (this is the incident with Cleopas and his friend [Mark 16:12; Luke 24:13-27])
"But we believe that angels said, 'Why seek the Living with the dead?' (although each Gospel account shows communication with the women who were the first to find Jesus' tomb empty, only in the account in Luke 24:5-8 do we see the angels asking this question.)

"We walked not with the chosen few Who saw Thee from the earth ascend; Who raised to heaven their wandering view, Then low to earth all prostrate bend (Luke's second account does not make any indication of this showing of respect by the disciples as He rose from this earth [Acts 1:6-11]; it sounds nice, and fits the rhyme scheme of the rest of the verse, obviously some artistic license; the rest of the account is accurate, including their witness of Jesus' departure in the next line->); But we believe that human eyes Beheld that journey to the skies."

Now as I promised, here's the original song by Mrs. Richter. Compare and see what you think:

1. We have not seen Thy footsteps tread This wild and sinful earth of ours, Nor heard Thy voice restore the dead Again to life’s reviving powers: But we believe—for all things are The gifts of Thine Almighty care.

2. We have not seen the billowy sea Grow calm and still at Thy command, Nor the dim orbs again to see, Beneath the healing of Thine hand: But we believe the Fount of light Again could give those eyeballs sight.

3. We did not see Thee tread the wave; We did not hear the voice from heaven, Which once with awful warning gave That God’s own Son for us was given. But we believe—oh! strengthen Thou The faith which to Thy name we owe.

4. We did not see the armed throng Steal to the garden’s midnight shade, And watch the palm-tree’s boughs among, Then quail beneath Thy glance afraid: But we believe—Almighty love Alone could such dark moments prove.

5. We did not see the darkness veil With sudden gloom the noon-day skies; Nor the fierce soldier’s cheek grow pale; And priestly mockery veil their eyes; When the proud Roman owned the power Of heaven, ’twas in that awful hour.

6. We did not hear the footsteps fall Within that lonely garden ground, Of the all-wakeful sentinel, Slow tracing there his watchful round; But we believe—the Holy One Bursting that tomb, in glory shone.

7. We were not with the chosen few Who saw Thee through the clouds ascend, Who gazed, and wished to follow too, Then on the earth all prostrate bend; But we believe that mortal eyes Beheld the journey to the skies.

8. Chase every shade of doubt away; Light of the World! in mercy shine; Illume with faith our erring way,We would no worship own but Thine. Bring us to heaven’s peaceful shore, And make us Thine forevermore!

As always, I welcome your thoughts and comments on this....

--bas4d

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Vol. 273: "I Know the Lord Will Find a Way"

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

"I know the Lord will find a way for me; I know the Lord will find a way for me; If I walk in heaven's light, Shun the wrong and do the right, I know the Lord will find a way for me.
"The Lord has said, 'Go preach the Word to all the world;' The Lord has said, 'Go preach the Word to all the world;' If I walk in heaven's light, Shun the wrong and do the right, I know the Lord will find a way for me.
"Won't it be grand to hear Him say, 'Well done'; Won't it be grand to hear Him say, 'Well done'; If I walk in heaven's light, Shun the wrong and do the right, Won't it be grand to hear Him say, 'Well done'."

Once again, as we begin with our Prime Directive "checkoff list", this seems to be a psalm of praise to God extolling His work, but also a hymn that teaches us about our dependence on God as well as His willingness to bless.

All the information I have found on authorship simply indicates that this is a traditional folk hymn/melody (at least Praise for the Lord indicates it to have been arranged by Palmer E. Wheeler). If any other information is available, please forward it to me so I can update this commentary at a later time.

This hymn has just a few recurring lyrics throughout, so rather than displaying the lyrics in outline form, I will comment on each phrase:

"I know the Lord will find a way for me."

Besides being the title to the song, it introduces the first verse (being sung twice) and concludes the first and second verses.
A question that has come up about this song could be phrased, "The Lord will find a way for me to what end? What way is He going to find for me?"
A brother and I have had discussions on this and we've narrowed it down to possibly meaning one of the following:

"I know the Lord will find a way for me" to be saved and go to heaven.
"I know the Lord will find a way for me" to escape temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Hopefully we can flesh that out better as we study the remaining phrases from this song and we'll revisit this phrase towards the end of this commentary.

"The Lord has said, 'Go preach the Word to all the world.'"

We know THIS is true, it is well documented (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-47; Acts 1:8).
This phrase introduces the second verse and is sung two times in a row.

"Won't it be grand to hear Him say, 'Well done'."

This phrase introduces the third verse (sung twice) and closes it as well.
This is an allusion to Jesus' parable of the talents in Matthew 25 (and the minas in Luke 19).
In both accounts, a ruler distributes his wealth to some of his stewards while he goes away on some other business.
When he returns, he settles accounts with them.

There are some stewards who return not only the original wealth with which they were entrusted but additional wealth which they had procured using his money. To them, he says, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord."
But in both accounts, there is one steward who is fearful of his master, but only so much so that he hides the money entrusted to him (in one account, he buries the talent in the ground; in the other, he hides the mina in a napkin[!]). Also in both accounts, the master refers to him as a wicked servant, withdraws the funds entrusted to him and gives them to the servant who had gained the most for the master. And in Matthew's account, that "wicked and lazy servant" is ordered to be "cast...into outer darkness" where "[t]here will be weeping and gnashing of teeth"!

Interestingly enough, Matthew's writings go further as Jesus describes what is going to happen at "the end of the age". He describes a scene where the "sheep" and the "goats" have been separated, one group on the right, the other on the left. To those sheep on the right, He will say, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world[!]"
All of these accounts bear witness that it will be grand to hear Him say, "Well done"!

"If I walk in heaven's light, Shun the wrong and do the right,"

Let's take that apart piece by piece:

"If I walk in heaven's light...." There are many passages of scripture that refer to this:

John 8:12, where Jesus says, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
Paul has some interesting points about this in his letter to the Ephesians: "At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light…, and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible" (Ephesians 5:8-13).
John in his first letter also brings up an exceptional point about the reward we have of walking in the light: "[I]f we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:8).

"Shun the wrong and do the right,": "shun the wrong" can be rephrased as "turn away from evil."

David tells us in the 37th Psalm, "Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever" (Psalm 37:27,28).
King Solomon has some good things to say about turning from evil:

Only a fool would avoid turning from evil (Proverbs 13:19; 14:16).
One turns away from evil by fearing the Lord (Proverbs 16:6).

Peter even quotes David from another Psalm: "Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good ["shun the wrong and do the right"!]; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer" (1 Peter 3:10-12; Psalm 34:12-16).

Therefore, we know it is good to "walk in heaven's light" (where we will be seeking to please the Lord AND be cleansed from sin) as well as to turn away from evil and do good.

"I know the Lord will find a way for me."

Another problem I have with this phrase is that it seems to limit God. There is not a rogue particle in this universe that the Lord does not know about, and nothing that can take Him by surprise. So, although it sounds like we have confidence in Him that He "will find a way for me," what is He searching for? What is it He cannot find yet?
Therefore, I would propose that when the song is sung, the following changes should be considered:

"I know the Lord has made the way for me" [to be saved and go to heaven].
"I know the Lord will make the way for me" [to escape temptation].

This brings us back to the question with which we began this commentary: a way for what?

The first two verses give this as a condition: "If I walk in heaven's light, Shun the wrong and do the right, I know the Lord will find a way for me."

Side note: "[preaching] the Word to all the world" is a command by the Lord as the second verse says. And if we seek to please Him, as we do by walking as children of light (Ephesians 5:8,10), then we will keep His commands (John 14:15, 21).
Therefore, by preaching the Word, we are walking in the light and doing right.

In the third verse, besides asking the rhetorical question, it answers by giving a similar condition: "If I walk in heaven's light, Shun the wrong and do the right, Won't it be grand to hear Him say, 'Well done'."
We are given two statements of conditional probability: if A, then B. if A, then C.

A: "If I walk in heaven's light, Shun the wrong and do the right,"
B: "I know the Lord will find a way for me"
C: "Won't it be grand to hear Him say, 'Well done'" [I will receive my reward!]
Taking it logically, if A then B (A -> B) and if A then C (A -> C), then B must be C. Therefore, "the Lord will find a way" for me to go to heaven (to be saved) where it will "be grand to hear Him say, 'Well done'."

Therefore, I posit that this song says "I know the Lord will find a way for me" to be saved and go to my reward in heaven!

As I have stated before, however, the phrasing makes it sound like the Lord is actively searching for a way for me to be saved and join Him in heaven. That way has been provided through Jesus and what He did on the cross. As there is salvation found in no other name than Christ's (Acts 4:8-12, emphasis on verse 12), God is not looking for any other way for us to be saved!

As such, I recommend that when this song is sung, it would behoove us to reword the main phrase and title of the song to say, "I know the Lord has made the way for me." Even if one takes the position of the brother whom I mentioned earlier, who believes this refers to being provided with a way of escape from temptation, I would venture that, since time is nothing to the Almighty (2 Peter 3:8), who's to say that the means of escape wasn't already made (or known about ahead of time) by Him?

As always, I welcome your thoughts and comments on this....

--bas4d

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

Friday, June 16, 2017

Vol. 621: Ten Thousand Angels

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

"They bound the hands of Jesus, in the garden where He prayed; They led him thro' the streets in shame. They spat upon the Savior so pure and free from sin; They said, 'Crucify Him; He's to blame.'
"Upon His precious head they placed a crown of thorns; They laughed and said, 'Behold the King.' They struck Him and they cursed Him and mocked His holy name. All alone He suffered ev'rything.
"When they nailed Him to the Cross, His mother stood nearby; He said, 'Woman, behold thy son!' He cried, 'I thirst' for water, but they gave Him none to drink, Then the sinful work of man was done.
"To the howling mob He yielded; He did not for mercy cry. The Cross of shame He took alone. And when He cried 'It's finished,' He gave Himself to die; Salvation's wondrous plan was done.

Refrain:"He could have called ten thousand angels To destroy the world (the world) and set Him free. He could have called ten thousand angels, But He died alone, (alone), for you and me."

As we once again begin with our Prime Directive "checkoff list", we can see that this is a psalm of praise to God (more specifically God the Son, the Messiah Jesus) giving high praise for His work in dying on the cross (along with all the preparation up to that point), as well as high praise for His power ("He could have called ten thousand [twelve legions of] angels") and the humble quality of His character (since He did NOT call those angels down to save Him but "died alone for you and me").

This song was written by Ray Overholt (1924-2008) who began his music career when, at an early age, living on a farm near Middleville, Michigan, he took two dollars, bought a guitar, and taught himself how to play. By the age of ten he had written a tune called "The Lonesome Cowboy" ("Ray Overholt and His Grand River Boys").

He went on to become a cowboy-country music singer in the Grand Rapids area, even hosting his own "Ray's Roundup" TV show on WOOD-TV. He went on to write more songs, much of his music having been covered by at least 100 artists including Loretta Lynn and Kate Smith ("Ray Overholt").

In 1958, however, at perhaps the pinnacle of his show-business career, he began writing the song we know today as "Ten Thousand Angels". By his own account:

One day I thought to myself: I’ve written secular songs, I’d like to write a song about Christ. I opened the Bible. I knew a little about it from my mom. I began to read how Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane told Peter to put away his sword. Jesus told Peter that He could ask His Father and He would send twelve legions of angels. I didn’t know at the time that would have been more than 72,000 angels (cf: MATT 26:53). I thought a good title for a song would be “He Could Have Called Ten Thousand Angels”.... I wrote the first verse and put it in my guitar case. I then told the club [where I was performing] that I was quitting. I finished the song and sent it to a publishing house, which reluctantly agreed to publish it (C. A. I.).

Now that we are familiar with some of the history behind this song, let's check it's scriptural integrity. As I have been doing for the last few commentaries, I have reprinted the lyrics in outline form so we can hopefully stem some confusion.

"They bound the hands of Jesus, in the garden where He prayed;

Confirmed in John 18 (particularly verse 12).

They led him thro' the streets in shame.

This seems to be a little heavy in artistic license. Three of the Gospels give account that the chief priests and elders were trying NOT to be conspicuous about this: they feared the people (Matthew 26:3-5; Mark 14:1-2; Luke 22:1-2). The only times they would have had to walk Him through the streets would be from Gethsemane to the house of Annas (former high priest), from Annas' house to the house of Caiaphas (then current high priest and son-in-law to Annas), then from Caiaphas' house to Governor Pilate's headquarters (John 18:1-28). The first two trips were at night, the last trip was in the early morning (John 18:28), presumably all times when there wouldn't have been much of a spectacle. Even if you account their journey from the governor's HQ to where King Herod was lodging and then the return trip (Luke 22:5-11), all of this happened before His crucifixion at 9 o'clock in the morning (the third hour, Mark 15:25), and Pilate still had one more interrogation session with Him and the soldiers still had to make THEIR preparations for His walk to the cross.

They spat upon the Savior so pure and free from sin;

This they did at the house of Caiaphas after their interrogation and before sending Him to Governor Pilate (Matthew 26:67-68; Mark 14:65).
The soldiers who took Him into the Governor's HQ, preparing Him for His crucifixion, also spit on Him (Matthew 27:27-30; Mark 15:16-19), but this took place during the events of the second verse.
Considering Jesus truly was (is) "free from sin" (more accurately, He is "without sin", Hebrews 4:15), therein lies the shame: that He had to go through all this for our benefit and salvation (Isaiah 53:4,5).

They said, 'Crucify Him; He's to blame.'

The mob definitely shouted for Him to be crucified (Matthew 27:23; Mark 15:13,14; Luke 23:21,23; John 19:15).
The mob did not directly say, "He's to blame."

This statement seems rather vague to begin with. To blame for what? Actually, this vague quality seems rather parallel to one of the "accusations" brought against Jesus. When Governor Pilate asked what accusation they had against Him, they answered, "If this Man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered Him over to you!" (John 18:29-30)
This could again be more poetic license. Many times song writers will illicit sympathy from the audience by saying that the hero of their ballad was maliciously accused of something of which he was innocent and everybody says "He's to blame!!"
However, there were other "accusations" brought against Jesus that could fit the "He's to blame" motif, such as when they said, "We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to pay tribute to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King" (Luke 23:2). Apparently, according to them, He was the reason they weren't paying their duties to Caesar (would that WE could get away with an excuse like that before the Internal Revenue Service!).

"Upon His precious head they placed a crown of thorns;
They laughed and said, 'Behold the King.'
They struck Him and they cursed Him and mocked His holy name.

All of this is well documented (Matthew 27:27-31; Mark 15:16-20; John 19:1-3) although each account says the Roman soldiers mocked Him.

All alone He suffered ev'rything.

Some commentators have stated this to be a false statement because Jesus was not alone, in fact at this point the whole battalion of the governor's soldiers was there with Him in the headquarters (Matthew 27:27)! And yet, even in a crowd of people, one can feel so alone, especially when the rest of the group seems (is) pitted against you.

"When they nailed Him to the Cross, His mother stood nearby;
He said, 'Woman, behold thy son!'

This, too, is well documented (John 19:26).

He cried, 'I thirst' for water, but they gave Him none to drink,

John 19:28 shows that Jesus said, "I thirst." We can only assume that he meant water.

In the Praise for the Lord hymnbook, the lyric is written, "He cried, 'I thirst' for water...", directly quoting Him and implying what He (and most normal people) would have been seeking in a situation like this.

However, John points out in this verse that He made the request to "fulfill the Scripture". In John 19:29, he points out that a jar full of sour wine was nearby; someone got a sponge loaded with it, placed it on a hyssop branch, and gave it to Him to drink.
Apparently, the Scripture to be fulfilled was Psalm 69:21.

However, in other versions of this song (such as the Paperless Hymnal), Jesus is quoted as saying, "I thirst for water."
Some may find this matter to be more trifling, others may make a bigger deal out of this. In the end, it seems certain that the Lord would have preferred water to drink. Whether or not he truly wanted it, he still had a prophecy to finish and this was how He chose to do so.

Then the sinful work of man was done.

It is at this point, in John 19:30, that Jesus said, "It is finished."
One could make the point that the soldiers still had to check the body and not break His legs (John 19:33; Psalm 34:20; Exodus 12:43-48, emphasis on verse 46), He had to be buried (John 19:38ff, Isaiah 53:9); and so on; but in essence, it was over (with the exception of the resurrection!).

"To the howling mob He yielded; He did not for mercy cry.

Again, well documented, He never cried for mercy; in fact there were a few times He could have spoken, possibly even in His own defense, but chose not to do so.

The Cross of shame He took alone.

Although one could make the argument that Simon of Cyrene was compelled to help Him carry the cross (Mark 15:21), but He still bore the brunt of everything that happened as He hung on that cross.

And when He cried 'It's finished,' He gave Himself to die;
Salvation's wondrous plan was done.

Again we can go by a strict interpretation of John 19:30 for this. It is still up to us to respond correctly to this in order to receive His salvation!

Refrain:

"He could have called ten thousand angels To destroy the world (the world) and set Him free.
He could have called ten thousand angels, But He died alone, (alone), for you and me."

As was mentioned by the song's author, Jesus Himself mentioned that He could have called twelve legions of angels (Matthew 26:53).
At the time, Mr. Overholt did not realize that a legion could consist of anywhere from 3,000 to 6,000 people.

That would range 36,000 to 72,000 angels!
Considering how powerful ONE angel is (Numbers 22:22-35; Daniel 6:22) imagine how formidable an entire army of them would be (2 Kings 6:15-17), a comfort to those under their protection, torment and distress to their intended target!

But he felt the lyric sounded good (and there is a certain poetic sense to it).

On a personal note, I have heard this song sung in two different ways: one where all four verses are sung before singing the chorus, the other where the chorus follows every verse. Some songs lend themselves to the first version, such as "Low in the Grave He Lay" [#408 in PftL] ("Up from the grave, He arose" only once!). I tend to believe the second version to be more fitting for this song, because there are many times throughout this event (at any "station of the cross", if you will) where the Lord could have said "I have had enough of this, I want to go HOME!!!" All praise is due Him for His humility in going through all of it for the benefit of all of us, who were still sinners at the time (Romans 5:6-11, emphasis on verse 8[!])!

I must admit that I have had reservations about singing this song in worship before, particularly the third verse. But as I study it more and take a closer look into each Gospel's account of the crucifixion, as we did here, I find it easier to sing in good conscience.

Of course, I welcome your comments or thoughts on this....

-bas4d

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Works Cited

"Ray Overholt", c-2017, West Mich Musical Hysterical Society.
"Ray Overholt and His Grand River Boys", http://www.hillbilly-music.com/artists/story/index.php?id=12856, c-2000-2017, Hillbilly-Music.com, Modesta, CA.
"Samuel S. Wesley and Ray Overholt", Christian Assemblies International.

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(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)