Joshua Stewardson read a puritan prayer for us this past Sunday from Valley of Vision.
O God of Unsearchable Greatness.
Before thee I am nothing but vanity, iniquity, perishing;
Sin has forfeited thy favour,
stripped me of they image,
banished me from thy presence,
exposed me to the curse of thy law;
I cannot deliver myself, and am in despair.
But a resource is found in thee,
for without my desert or desire.
Thou didst devise an everlasting plan,
honourable to thy perfections,
and which angels desired to look into.
And the Word which announces all the glory of this goodness
is nigh me, invites me, beseeches me.
May I, a convinced and self-despairing sinner.
Find Jesus as the power unto salvation,
his death the centre of all relief,
the source of all gospel-blessings.
He me to repair to that cross,
be crucified to the world by it,
and in it find deepest humiliation,
motives to patience and self-denial,
grace for active benevolence.
Faith to grasp eternal life,
hope to life up my head,
love to bind me for ever
to him who died and rose for me.
May his shed blood make me
more thankful for thy mercies,
more humble under thy correction,
more zealous in thy service,
more watchful against temptation,
more contented in my circumstances,
more useful to others.
10,000 Reasons
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
We sang a new song together Sunday named 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman. It was from a new album just released with the same name. Below is a devotional he wrote for the song and a couple links if you are interested in his album.
“For all Your goodness l will keep on singing… Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find,”
A music producer once commented that in the world of pop you can only really write four kinds of song: “l love you”, “l hate you”, “Go away” and “Come back”! That’s an amusing and yet astute observatìon. But gladly, when it comes to writing songs towards the God of all eternity, we have a whole different color palate to work with. When I talk about the reasons for God’s worth and say there are ‘ten thousand reasons for my heart to find that’s actually a huge, poetic understatement. The reasons for the praise of God are so wide and wonderful that we could sing from now until forever and never run out of ideas as to why He is quite so worthy.
Think about the world of nature for a moment. As of now, scientists have described over 1.7 million species of animal, plant and algae on earth. Mammals make up one of the smallest groups – with less than 6000 members known. For insects on the other hand, we’re aware of about 1 million different species. And in all categories, there are more species becoming known every year. ln fact, in some places like the depths of the ocean we’ve hardly even begun to explore, and there are countless more species to find and identify. But let’s stick for a moment to those 1.7 million species we know of so far. I think we could safely say that every kind of plant, animal or other living thing created by God is a reason for His praise. So we’ve hardly begun and we’ve found 1.7 million reasons why we might respond to Him. Next, look up at the stars – scientists are now saying there are more stars in the known universe than there are grains of sands on all of the world’s beaches and deserts. So, right there we have billions and billions more reasons to utter up an offering of praise. Next, we look to our own lives – the countless blessings weaved into our everyday existences, and the miracle of life itself. We thìnk about families and social circles, and provision in our lives. And we praise, and praise, and praise again. Perhaps that’s why at the end of Psalm 30 the worshippers say:
“ . . . my heart may sing to You and not he silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.” (Psaln 30:12)
The psalmist knows of a multitude of reasons why we should worship God. And he knows of not one reason why he should refrain from doing so. He can’t think of a single motive why he should remain silent. The same must be true for our own lives. The worship of Jesus should be vibrant, creative and colorful as we unfold our hearts in praise. There will be an eternity of reasons to adore and revere Him.
Tags: music, songs
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