Morning, November 2
“I am the Lord, I change not.”
Malachi 3:6
Charles Spurgeon
It is well for us that, amidst all the variableness of life, there is One whom change cannot affect; One whose heart can never alter, and on whose brow mutability can make no furrows. All things else have changed—all things are changing. The sun itself grows dim with age; the world is waxing old; the folding up of the worn-out vesture has commenced; the heavens and earth must soon pass away; they shall perish, they shall wax old as doth a garment; but there is One who only hath immortality, of whose years there is no end, and in whose person there is no change. The delight which the mariner feels, when, after having been tossed about for many a day, he steps again upon the solid shore, is the satisfaction of a Christian when, amidst all the changes of this troublous life, he rests the foot of his faith upon this truth—“I am the Lord, I change not.”
The stability which the anchor gives the ship when it has at last obtained a hold-fast, is like that which the Christian’s hope affords him when it fixes itself upon this glorious truth. With God “is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” What ever his attributes were of old, they are now; his power, his wisdom, his justice, his truth, are alike unchanged. He has ever been the refuge of his people, their stronghold in the day of trouble, and he is their sure Helper still. He is unchanged in his love. He has loved his people with “an everlasting love”; he loves them now as much as ever he did, and when all earthly things shall have melted in the last conflagration, his love will still wear the dew of its youth. Precious is the assurance that he changes not! The wheel of providence revolves, but its axle is eternal love.
“Death and change are busy ever,
Man decays, and ages move;
But his mercy waneth never;
God is wisdom, God is love.”
Amazing Grace - Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions
November 2
HOLY GOD, WE PRAISE THY NAME
From the Te Deum, c. 4th century, Attributed to Ignace Franz, 1719–1790
English Translation by Clarence Walworth, 1820–1900
In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise Your name forever. (Psalm 44:8)
Much of the origin of this noble expression of praise and worship is lost in obscurity. Through the centuries the “Te Deum” has been one of the supreme triumphal expressions of praise used by the Christian Church.
The original setting of “Te Deum Laudamus” was likely composed by Bishop Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, Italy, in a.d. 387, and an important leader in the development of early church music. Paraphrases of this fourth century “Te Deum” have been written in many languages, including this text in German, from which it was later translated into English by an American Catholic priest, Clarence A. Walworth. The hymn is still an important part of the morning service liturgy in Anglican churches and it is sung frequently in all Protestant churches.
The fourth stanza is one of the strongest hymn affirmations of the doctrine of the Triune Godhead. The Trinity was an important controversy in the early church. Arius, c. a.d. 250–336, was a proponent of the doctrine of Arianism, which maintained that “if the Father was God, then the Son was a creature of the Father”—a middle Being between God and the world—a divine Being but not to be worshiped as God. At the Council of Alexandria (a.d. 321) and later at the Council of Nicaea (a.d. 325), this teaching was thoroughly branded as heresy. However, this controversy on the person and deity of Christ has continued even to the present time in the teachings of various cults.
Holy God, we praise Thy name—Lord of all, we bow before Thee! All on earth Thy scepter claim; all in heav’n above adore Thee: Infinite Thy vast domain, everlasting is Thy reign.
Hark, the loud celestial hymn angel choirs above are raising; cherubim and seraphim, in unceasing chorus praising, fill the heav’ns with sweet accord—Holy, holy, holy Lord!
Lo, the apostolic train joins Thy sacred name to hallow; prophets swell the glad refrain and the white-robed martyrs follow; and, from morn to set of sun, thru the Church the song goes on.
Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit, three we name Thee; while in essence only one, undivided God we claim Thee, and adoring bend the knee, while we sing our praise to Thee.
For Today: Numbers 14:21; 1 Chronicles 29:11; Psalm 107:8; Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 15:3
Take time to worship and praise the triune Godhead. Use these words to help— p 330
Evening, November 2
“Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.”
Psalm 119:53
Charles Spurgeon
My soul, feelest thou this holy shuddering at the sins of others? for otherwise thou lackest inward holiness. David’s cheeks were wet with rivers of waters because of prevailing unholiness; Jeremiah desired eyes like fountains that he might lament the iniquities of Israel, and Lot was vexed with the conversation of the men of Sodom. Those upon whom the mark was set in Ezekiel’s vision, were those who sighed and cried for the abominations of Jerusalem. It cannot but grieve gracious souls to see what pains men take to go to hell. They know the evil of sin experimentally, and they are alarmed to see others flying like moths into its blaze. Sin makes the righteous shudder, because it violates a holy law, which it is to every man’s highest interest to keep; it pulls down the pillars of the commonwealth. Sin in others horrifies a believer, because it puts him in mind of the baseness of his own heart: when he sees a transgressor he cries with the saint mentioned by Bernard, “He fell to-day, and I may fall to-morrow.” Sin to a believer is horrible, because it crucified the Saviour; he sees in every iniquity the nails and spear. How can a saved soul behold that cursed kill-Christ sin without abhorrence? Say, my heart, dost thou sensibly join in all this? It is an awful thing to insult God to his face. The good God deserves better treatment, the great God claims it, the just God will have it, or repay his adversary to his face. An awakened heart trembles at the audacity of sin, and stands alarmed at the contemplation of its punishment. How monstrous a thing is rebellion! How direful a doom is prepared for the ungodly! My soul, never laugh at sin’s fooleries, lest thou come to smile at sin itself. It is thine enemy, and thy Lord’s enemy—view it with detestation, for so only canst thou evidence the possession of holiness, without which no man can see the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment