1. Hymn: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Author: Robert Robinson (1735-1790)

Tune: NETTLETON, by Asahel Nettleton

(Vocal)

(Music)

1. Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
    Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
    Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
    Call for songs of loudest praise.
    Teach me some melodious sonnet,
    Sung by flaming tongues above.
    Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
    Mount of Thy redeeming love.

2. Here I raise my Ebenezer;
    Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
    And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
    Safely to arrive at home.
    Jesus sought me when a stranger,
    Wandering from the fold of God;
    He, to rescue me from danger,
    Interposed His precious blood.

3. O to grace how great a debtor
    Daily I’m constrained to be!
    Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
    Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
    Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
    Prone to leave the God I love;
    Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
    Seal it for Thy courts above.

4. Devotional: Run With Patience

Run With Patience

by George Matheson (1842-1906)

Let us run with patience (Hebrews 12:1). 

    To run with patience is a very difficult thing. Running is apt to suggest the absence of patience, the eagerness to reach the goal. We commonly associate patience with lying down. We think of it as the angel that guards the couch of the invalid. Yet, I do not think the invalid's patience the hardest to achieve. 

    There is a patience which I believe to be harder - the patience that can run. To lie down in the time of grief, to be quiet under the stroke of adverse fortune, implies a great strength; but I know of something that implies a strength greater still: It is the power to work under a stroke; to have a great weight at your heart and still to run; to have a deep anguish in your spirit and still perform the daily task. It is a Christlike thing! 

    Many of us would nurse our grief without crying if we were allowed to nurse it. The hard thing is that most of us are called to exercise our patience, not in bed, but in the street. We are called to bury our sorrows, not in lethargic quiescence, but in active service - in the exchange, in the workshop, in the hour of social intercourse, in the contribution to another's joy. There is no burial of sorrow so difficult as that; it is the "running with patience." 

    This was Thy patience, O Son of man! It was at once a waiting and a running - a waiting for the goal, and a doing of the lesser work meantime. I see Thee at Cana turning the water into wine lest the marriage feast should be clouded. I see Thee in the desert feeding a multitude with bread just to relieve a temporary want. All, all the time, Thou wert bearing a mighty grief, unshared, unspoken. Men ask for a rainbow in the cloud; but I would ask more from Thee. I would be, in my cloud, myself a rainbow - a minister to others' joy. My patience will be perfect when it can work in the vineyard. 

3. Hymn: Sun Of My Soul, Thou Savior Dear

Sun Of My Soul, Thou Savior Dear

Author: John Keble (1792-1866)

Tune: HURSLEY, by Peter Ritter

(Vocal)

(Music)

1. Sun of my soul, Thou Saviour dear,
    It is not night if Thou be near;
    Oh, may no earth-born cloud arise
    To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes.

2. When the soft dews of kindly sleep
    My weary eyelids gently steep,
    Be my last thought, how sweet to rest
    Forever on my Saviour's breast.

3. Abide with me from morn till eve,
    For without Thee I cannot live,
    Abide with me when night is nigh,
    For without Thee I dare not die.

4. If some poor wandering child of Thine
    Have spurned to-day the voice divine,
    Now, Lord, the gracious work begin;
    Let him no more lie down in sin.

5. Watch by the sick; enrich the poor
    With blessings from Thy boundless store;
    Be every mourner's sleep to-night,
    Like infant's slumbers, pure and light.

6. Come near and bless us when we wake,
    Ere through the world our way we take;
    Till in the ocean of Thy love
    We lose ourselves in heaven above.

2. Hymn: Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Author: Thomas O. Chisholm (1866-1960)

Tune: FAITHFULNESS, by William M. Runyan

(Vocal)

(Music)

1. Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
    There is no shadow of turning with thee;
    Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
    As thou hast been thou forever will be.

Refrain: 

Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness! 

Morning by morning new mercies I see; 

All I have needed thy hand hath provided; 

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!  

2. Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
    Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
    Join with all nature in manifold witness
    To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

3. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
    Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
    Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
    Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

1. Hymn: Far Away In The Depths Of My Spirit Tonight

Far Away In The Depths Of My Spirit Tonight

Author: W. D. Cornell (1858-1930s)

Tune: WONDERFUL PEACE, by W. G. Cooper

(Vocal)

(Music)

1. Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight
    Rolls a melody sweeter than psalm;
    In celestial-like strains it unceasingly falls
    O’er my soul like an infinite calm.

Refrain: 

Peace! Peace! wonderful peace, 

Coming down from the Father above; 

Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray, 

In fathomless billows of love.  

2. What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace,
    Buried deep in the heart of my soul;
    So secure that no power can mine it away,
    While the years of eternity roll.

3. I am resting tonight in this wonderful peace,
    Resting sweetly in Jesus’ control;
    For I’m kept from all danger by night and by day,
    And His glory is flooding my soul.

4. And methinks when I rise to that City of peace,
    Where the Author of peace I shall see,
    That one strain of the song which the ransomed will sing,
    In that heavenly kingdom shall be.

5. Ah! soul, are you here without comfort or rest,
    Marching down the rough pathway of time?
    Make Jesus your friend ere the shadows grow dark;
    Oh, accept this sweet peace so sublime.

1. Hymn: I Could Not Do Without Thee

I Could Not Do Without Thee

Author: Frances R. Havergal (1836-1879)

Modern Tune, by Craig Curry
(Vocal)
(Music)

1. I could not do without Thee, 

    O Saviour of the lost, 

    Whose precious blood redeemed me 

    At such tremendous cost; 

    Thy righteousness, Thy pardon, 

    Thy precious blood, must be 

    My only hope and comfort, 

    My glory and my plea.  

2. I could not do without Thee, 

    I cannot stand alone, 

    I have no strength or goodness, 

    No wisdom of my own; 

    But Thou, beloved Saviour, 

    Art all in all to me, 

    And weakness will be power 

    If leaning hard on Thee.  

3. I could not do without Thee, 

    For, oh, the way is long, 

    And I am often weary, 

    And sight replaces song; 

    How could I do without Thee? 

    I do not know the way; 

    Thou knowest, and Thou leadest, 

    And wilt not let me stray.  

4. I could not do without Thee, 

    O Jesus, Saviour dear; 

    E'en when my eyes are holden, 

    I know that Thou art near. 

    How dreary and how lonely 

    This changeful life would be, 

    Without the sweet communion, 

    The secret rest with Thee!  

5. I could not do without Thee; 

    No other friend can read 

    The spirit's strange deep longings, 

    Interpreting its need; 

    No human heart could enter 

    Each dim recess of mine, 

    And soothe, and hush, and calm it, 

    O blessed Lord, but Thine.  

6. I could not do without Thee, 

    For years are fleeting fast, 

    And soon in solemn loneliness 

    The river must be passed; 

    But Thou wilt never leave me, 

    And though the waves roll high, 

    I know Thou wilt be near me, 

    And whisper, "It is I." 

1. Hymn: Jesus! The Very Thought Of Thee

Jesus! The Very Thought Of Thee

Author: St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)

Tune: ST. AGNES, by John B. Dykes

(Vocal)

(Music)

1. Jesus! the very thought of Thee 

    With sweetness fills my breast; 

    But sweeter far Thy face to see, 

    And in Thy presence rest.  

2. Nor voice can sing, nor heart can frame, 

    Nor can the mem'ry find 

    A sweeter sound than Thy blest Name, 

    O Savior of mankind!  

3. O hope of ev'ry contrite heart, 

    O joy of all the meek! 

    To those who fall, how kind Thou art! 

    How good to those who seek!  

4. But what to those who find? ah, this 

    Nor tongue nor pen can show. 

    The love of Jesus, what it is, 

    None but his loved ones know.  

5. Jesus, our only Joy be Thou, 

    As Thou our Prize wilt be: 

    Jesus, be thou our Glory now, 

    And through eternity!

1. Hymn: Say Not, My Soul

Say Not, My Soul

Author: J. J. Lynch

1. Say not, my soul, ‘From whence  

    Can God relieve my care?’  

    Remember that Omnipotence  

    Hath servants everywhere

2. His help is always sure,
    His methods seldom guessed;
    Delay will make our pleasure pure;
    Surprise will give it zest.  

3. His wisdom is sublime,
    His heart profoundly kind;
    God never is before His time,
    And never is behind.  

4. Hast thou assumed a load
    Which none will bear with thee?
    And art thou bearing it for God,
    And shall He fail to see?  

5. Be comforted at heart,
    Thou art not left alone;
    Now thou the Lord’s companion art
    Soon thou shalt share His throne.

5. Hymn: The Inner Calm

The Inner Calm

Author: Horatius Bonar

1. Calm me, my God, and keep me calm, 

    While these hot breezes blow; 

    Be like the night-dew's cooling balm 

    Upon earth's fevered brow.  

2. Calm me, my God, and keep me calm, 

    Soft resting on Thy breast; 

    Soothe me with holy hymn and psalm, 

    And bid my spirit rest.  

3. Calm me, my God, and keep me calm, 

    Let Thine outstretched wing 

    Be like the shade of Elim's palm 

    Beside her desert-spring.  

4. Yes, keep me calm, though loud and rude 

    The sounds my ear that greet, 

    Calm in the closet's solitude, 

    Calm in the bustling street;  

5. Calm in the hour of buoyant health, 

    Calm in the hour of pain; 

    Calm in my poverty or wealth, 

    Calm in my loss or gain;  

6. Calm in the sufferance of wrong, 

    Like Him who bore my shame, 

    Calm 'mid the threatening, taunting throng, 

    Who hate Thy holy Name;  

7. Calm when the great world's news with power    

    My listening spirit stir; 

    Let not the tidings of the hour    

    E'er find too fond an ear. 

8. Calm as the ray of sun or star 

    Which storms assail in vain; 

    Moving unruffled through earth's war, 

    The eternal calm to gain. 

4. Devotional: God Of Every Detail

God Of Every Detail

by Charles R. Swindoll

Numbers 27:12–23; Deuteronomy 34:9

    I am always amazed to hear how the Lord uses His Word in the lives of His people. I don't know your circumstances. I don't know how God intends to use this episode from the life of Moses in your own life.  

    It may be that these words fall on a very hungry heart. Or perhaps you have been strengthened and encouraged with the thought that you're very special to God, that none of His children are insignificant. Or maybe you're engaged in the awesome task of finding a man or a woman for a position that carries a great weight of responsibility, and you've been reminded that you are dependent, more than ever, on God to locate His Joshua. Or perhaps you are that Joshua, and you've been asked to accept a responsibility broader than you ever dreamed.  

    Whatever your circumstances, I want to remind you that our heavenly Father cares about areas of your life that would seem insignificant to a distant deity. He's never too busy to hear your hurts, to wipe away your tears, to whisper words of encouragement, and to put His big shoulder under your load. He's the God who cares about the details.  

    As I write these words, I'm praying that our sovereign God might be a very personal comfort to you this week. I pray especially for you who are wrestling with loneliness and discouragement. Even though you're surrounded by people, deep within there's an ache. Friend, God can meet your need as only He can, even as He did in the heart of Moses just a few hours before the great man's death.  

    If you're God's Joshua, you don't need to worry that you'll be forgotten. You don't need to worry that the shadow of your predecessor will eclipse you and your ministry in the years to come. In fact, you don't need to worry about anything. If you're God's Joshua, you're right where you ought to be. Remind yourself that He is sovereign. He has everything under His control. He will have His way in His time, for His glory, which includes your life, your position, and your future. Worrying over any of that is a waste. He's got every detail covered—every one. 

    Think of it this way: there's no such thing as God's being almost sovereign. We don’t have a God who’s almost sovereign. He's got EVERY detail covered.

3. Hymn: Be Thou Content

Be Thou Content

Author: Paul Gerhardt

1. Be thou content; be still before
    His face, at whose right hand doth reign
    Fulness of joy for evermore,
    Without whom all thy toil is vain.
    He is thy living spring, thy sun, whose rays
    Make glad with life and light thy dreary days.
    Be thou content.

2. In Him is comfort, light and grace,
    And changeless love beyond our thought;
    The sorest pang, the worst disgrace,
    If He is there, shall harm thee not.
    He can lift off thy cross, and loose thy bands,
    And calm thy fears, nay, death is in His hands.
    Be thou content.

3. Or art thou friendless and alone,
    Hast none in whom thou canst confide?
    God careth for thee, lonely one,
    Comfort and help will He provide.
    He sees thy sorrows and thy hidden grief,
    He knoweth when to send thee quick relief;
    Be thou content.
 
4. Thy heart's unspoken pain He knows,
    Thy secret signs He hears full well,
    What to none else thou dar'st disclose,
    To Him thou mayst with boldness tell;
    He is not far away, but ever nigh,
    And answereth willingly the poor man's cry.
    Be thou content.

5. Be not o'er-mastered by thy pain,
    But cling to God, thou shalt not fall;
    The floods sweep over thee in vain,
    Thou yet shalt rise above them all;
    For when thy trial seems to hard to bear,
    Lo! God, thy King, hath granted all thy prayer:
    Be thou content.

6. Why art thou full of anxious fear
    How thou shalt be sustained and fed?
    He who hath made and placed thee here,
    Will give the needful daily bread;
    Canst thou not trust His rich and bounteous hand,
    Who feeds all living things on sea and land?
    Be thou content.

7. He who doth teach the little birds
    To find their meat in field and wood,
    Who gives the countless flocks and herds
    Each day their needful drink and food,
    Thy hunger too will surely satisfy,
    And all thy wants in His good time supply.
    Be thou content.

8. Sayst thou, I know not how or where,
    No help I see where'er I turn;
    When of all else we most despair,
    The riches of God's love we learn;
    When thou and I His hand no longer trace,
    He leads us forth into a pleasant place.
    Be thou content.

9. Though long His promised aid delay,
    At last it will be surely sent:
    Though thy heart sink in sore dismay,
    The trial for thy good is meant.
    What we have won with pains we hold more fast,
    What tarrieth long is sweeter at the last.
    Be thou content.

10. Lay not to heart whate'er of ill
      Thy foes may falsely speak of thee,
      Let man defame thee as he will,
      God hears, and judges righteously.
      Why shouldst thou fear, if God be on thy side,
      Man's cruel anger, or malicious pride?
      Be thou content.

11. We know for us a rest remains,
      When God will give us sweet release
      From earth and all our mortal chains,
      And turn our sufferings into peace.
      Sooner or later death will surely come
      To end our sorrows, and to take us home:
      Be thou content.

12. Home to the chosen ones, who here
      Served their Lord faithfully and well,
      Who died in peace, without a fear,
      And there in peace for ever dwell;
      The Everlasting is their joy and stay,
      The Eternal Word Himself to them doth say,
      Be thou content!

2. Devotional: Stop Mourning Over The Past

Stop Mourning Over The Past 

by William MacDonald 

How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, 

seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel. (1 Samuel 16:1)

    There comes a time in life when we must stop mourning over the past and get on with the work of the present.  

    God had rejected Saul from being king. The action was final, irreversible. But Samuel had difficulty in accepting it. He had been closely associated with Saul and he now wept to see his hopes disappointed. He continued to mourn a loss that would never be retrieved. God said, in effect, "Quit mourning. Go out and anoint Saul's successor. My program has not failed. I have a better man than Saul to step onto the stage of Israel's history."  

    We would like to think that Samuel not only learned the lesson for himself but that he passed it on to David, who took Saul's place as king. At any rate, David showed that he had learned the lesson well. As long as his baby was dying, he fasted and mourned, hoping that God would spare the child. But when the infant died, he bathed, changed his clothes, went to the Tabernacle to worship, then ate a meal. To those who questioned his realism, he said, "Now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him but he shall not return to me" (2 Sam. 12:23).  

    This has a voice for us in our Christian life and service. Sometime it may happen that a ministry might be wrenched away from us and given to someone else. We grieve over the death of an avenue of service.  

    It may be that a friendship or a partnership is severed, and that, as a result, life seems empty and flat. Or that we have been cruelly disappointed by someone who was very dear to us. We mourn the death of a valued relationship.  

    Or it may be that some lifelong dream is shattered or some ambition is frustrated. We mourn the death of a noble aspiration or vision.  

    There is nothing wrong about mourning, but it should not be prolonged to the extent that it cripples our effectiveness in meeting the challenges of the hour. E. Stanley Jones said he made it a point to "recover within the hour" from the grief and blows of life. An hour may not be long enough for most of us, but we must not be forever inconsolable over circumstances that cannot be changed.

1. Hymn: 'Tis To Us No Cause Of Sorrow

'Tis To Us No Cause Of Sorrow

Author: Thomas Kelly

1. 'Tis to us no cause of sorrow,
    That we cannot tell today,
    What it is will come tomorrow;
    'Tis enough that we can say,  
    "He, whom we our Father call,  
    Knows the future, knows it all."

2. Happy they, who, all committing
    To their Father's care and love,
    Let him choose what most is fitting,
    And of all he does approve;  
    They are free from anxious care,  
    Blessed in this his people are.

3. Teach us, O our God and Father,
    Teach us to obey thee thus;
    Be thy choice our portion, rather
    Than what might seem good to us;  
    'Tis not meet we should refuse  
    Aught that thou, our God, shalt choose.

4. Future things with thee are present,
    All to come thine eye can see;
    Safe it is for us, and pleasant,
    Future things to trust to thee;  
    Then thy people happy are,  
    When on thee they cast their care.

5. Hymn: With Tearful Eyes I Look Around

With Tearful Eyes I Look Around

Author: Charlotte Elliott

1. With tearful eyes I look around;
    Life seems a dark and stormy sea;
    Yet, midst the gloom, I hear a sound,
    A heavenly whisper, "Come to Me."

2. It tells me of a place of rest;
    It tells me where my soul may flee:
    O to the weary, faint, oppressed,
    How sweet the bidding, "Come to Me."

3. When the poor heart with anguish learns
    That earthly props resigned must be,
    And from each broken cistern turns,
    It hears the accents, "Come to Me."

4. When against sin I strive in vain,
    And cannot from its yoke get free,
    Sinking beneath the heavy chain,
    The words arrest me, "Come to Me."

5. When nature shudders, loath to part
    From all I love, enjoy, and see;
    When a faint chill steals o'er my heart,
    A sweet voice utters, "Come to Me.

6. "Come, for all else must fail and die;
    Earth is no resting-place for thee,
    Heavenward direct thy weeping eye,
    I am thy Portion; come to Me."

7. O voice of mercy! voice of love!
    In conflict, grief, and agony,
    Support me, cheer me from above,
    And gently whisper, "Come to Me."

4. Hymn: Still Will We Trust

Still Will We Trust

Author: William H. Burleigh

1. Still will we trust, though earth seem dark and dreary,
    And the heart faint beneath His chastening rod;
    Though rough and steep our pathway, worn and weary,
    Still will we trust in God!

2. Our eyes see dimly till by faith anointed,
    And our blind choosing brings us grief and pain;
    Through Him alone who hath our way appointed,
    We find our peace again.

3. Choose for us, God! Nor let our weak preferring
    Cheat our poor souls of good Thou has designed;
    Choose for us, God! Thy wisdom is unerring,
    And we are fools and blind.

4. So from our sky the night shall furl her shadows,
    And day pour gladness through his golden gates,
    Our rough path lead to flower-enameled meadows,
    Where joy our coming waits.

5. Let us press on, in patient self denial,
    Accept the hardship, shrink not from the loss;
    Our portion lies beyond the hour of trial,
    Our crown beyond the cross.

3. Devotional: Desert Riches

Desert Riches

Edited by Miles J. Stanford

And He said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart,
into a desert place, and rest a while" (Mark 6:31).

    In the early days of our lonely pilgrimage, the desert is nothing but burning heat and barren sand. As we “keep on keeping on,” we see our desert become full of springs and blossom as the rose.  

    “Has the Father led you into the desert? Has He plucked from under your feet all that you depended upon? Then a glorious experience is yours. See if this be not a way whereby God will glorify you! Do not complain about what you have lost, and do not yearn to have it back again, for then you are like Israel who wished to turn back to Egypt. God leads on, and instead of the flesh-pots He gives you bread from heaven, and instead of water from the Nile, water from the Rock. But you must put your trust in Him also in the desert, and through the days of darkness and difficulty. This is possible, however, only for those who have lost their self-assurance in the desert whereto God beckons His children.”  

    “Are there sorrows that sorely test our hearts? Be assured that our Father intends every one of them to be a road for us to Christ; so that we may reach Him and know Him in some character of His love and power, that otherwise our souls had not known.” -C.A.C.

2. Devotional: A Wonderful Guarantee

A Wonderful Guarantee 

by C. H. Spurgeon 

I will strengthen thee. (Isaiah 41:10)      

    When called to serve or to suffer, we take stock of our strength, and we find it to be less than we thought and less than we need. But let not our heart sink within us while we have such a word as this to fall back upon, for it guarantees us all that we can possibly need. God has strength omnipotent; that strength He can communicate to us; and His promise is that He will do so. He will be the food of our souls and the health of our hearts; and thus He will give us strength. There is no telling how much power God can put into a man. When divine strength comes, human weakness is no more a hindrance.         

    Do we not remember seasons of labor and trial in which we received such special strength that we wondered at ourselves? In the midst of danger we were calm, under bereavement we were resigned, in slander we were self-contained, and in sickness we were patient. The fact is that God gives unexpected strength when unusual trials come upon us, We rise out of our feeble selves. Cowards play the man, foolish ones have wisdom given them, and the silent receive in the selfsame hour what they shall speak, My own weakness makes me shrink, but God's promise makes me brave. LORD, strengthen me "according to thy word."

1. December 2015 Archive Index

December 2015 Archive Index

1. Hymn: To Heav'n I Lift My Waiting Eyes

2. Hymn: The Watch by Night

3. Devotional: Sustained

4. Devotional: A Quiet Heart

5. Devotional: Evening Brightens Into Day

6. Devotional: Attitude

7. Hymn: Workman Of God! O Lose Not Heart

8. Devotional: Suffer Patiently