Hymn Story: Like A River Glorious

Isaiah 66:12

For thus saith the Lord,
Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream:
then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides,
and be dandled upon her knees.

 

When Frances Havergal was vacationing in the south of Wales, 1876, she caught a severe cold, accompanied by inflammation of the lungs. Hearing how ill she was, and that she might die, she replied, "If I am really going, it is too good to be true." Her friends were amazed at how peacefully she received this information. She did survive that illness, and later that year she wrote the hymn "Like a River Glorious" in which she pointed to the source of her perfect peace: "Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed, finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest."

 

Miss Havergal, a devout Bible scholar, echoed Isaiah in "Like a River Glorious" in which God promises "peace like a river." She also incorporated Isaiah 26:3, which states "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." "Like a River Glorious" paints the picture of this peace.

Miss Havergal wrote to another hymn writer who had also written about peace. In her letter, Miss Havergal quoted Romans 5:1 "We have peace with God," adding "It is yours already, purchased for you, made for you, sealed for you, pledged to you – by the word of the Father and the precious blood of Jesus."

The hymn was first published in its present form with the name "Perfect Peace," in Hymns of Consecration and Faith, 1876.

Listen to it here: Like A River Glorious

Hymn Story: The Lord's My Shepherd

Psalm 23

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

 

"The Lord's My Shepherd, I'll Not Want" first appeared in print in the Scottish Psalter of 1650. This Psalter was assembled by the Westminster Assembly, which also gave us the Westminster Confession and the Book of Common Prayer. In it, portions from various sources were combined to create the beautiful hymn we know today.

Though it was well-loved in Scotland, "The Lord's My Shepherd" did not enjoy popularity outside the Church of Scotland for nearly 300 years. It finally appeared in the Methodist Hymnal of 1876 and later the Congregational Hymnal of 1916. But it wasn't included in an Anglican hymnbook until 1965.

The hymn version of Psalm 23 remains faithful to David's psalm. Its popularity in England grew in part because of its use during the 1947 marriage ceremony between Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. Since that time, it's become a well-known hymn, often requested for weddings and funerals today.

Listen to it here: The Lord's My Shepherd

Coram Deo (August 2013)

The new covenant, the covenant of grace, was ratified by the shed blood of Christ upon the cross. At the heart of this covenant is God’s promise of redemption. God has not only promised to redeem all who put their trust in Christ, but has sealed and confirmed that promise with a most holy vow. We serve and worship a God who has pledged Himself to our full redemption. —R.C. Sproul

Walking by faith and not by sight is difficult at times. But that does not excuse us from obeying that call, especially when the Lord has recently shown Himself faithful to His Word. Johanan and other Judahites did not believe God’s Word through Jeremiah even though they had seen the Lord’s promise to devastate Jerusalem come true (Jer. 43:1–7). How much more, then, are we to be held culpable if we fail to believe God now that we have seen His promises come true in Christ Jesus?

When someone hurts or offends us, our reaction is usually to assume the worst possible motive in that person. But one application of the law of love is that we should give others the benefit of the doubt. How have you been doing in your relationships? Strive to assume the best possible motive in others.

"When we view the church as a family, we then begin to see the purpose and blessing of church discipline. Just as fathers and mothers who dearly love their children must take the time to correct and encourage them, pastors and elders who love the Lord and the Lord's people must take the time to correct and encourage them." —Fred Greco from his article "Church Discipline" in this month's Tabletalk magazine

In the midst of difficult circumstances, sometimes the only sign of hope we have is flickering and barely visible. However, we have one sign of hope that is clear and powerful—one infallible sign that our ultimate future is one of hope no matter what today looks like. Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, proves God's faithfulness to His people forever.

Loving our enemies is a most difficult command from the Lord. It is hard for us to seek justice in a manner that is not vindictive or that truly wishes for an offender to benefit as a result of his punishment. Loving sinners means that we seek justice when appropriate, but it also means that we mourn for those who have gone astray.

“Are we truly obeying the command to love our neighbor as ourselves if we're storing up money for potential future needs when our neighbor is laboring today under actual present needs?” —Randy Alcorn

John Calvin comments that the way to peace with God is "sincerely to confess that we are justly visited by his judgment, and also to lie down as it were confounded, and at the same time to venture to look up to him, and to rely on his mercy with confidence."

Our creator never fails to keep His promises. Even when the fulfillment of His Word seems slow in coming, we can nevertheless be assured that He has not forgotten it. We must also never be so prideful as to think that God only means part of what He says in Scripture and that He needs us to figure out what we should take seriously. If we pick and choose, then we will be well on our way to destruction. Let us believe all of God's Word.

“Beloved, you must know the bitterness of sin before you can know the blessedness of forgiveness! And you must have such a sight of sin as shall break your heart before you can understand the blessedness of the Divine covering, that sacred cover which hides sin effectually, blots it out, and even makes it cease to be. ‘Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.’” —Charles Spurgeon

"We live in a world that breeds discontent. We are bombarded with the message that to be happy we need more things, less wrinkles, better vacations, and fewer troubles. But, ultimately, the problem is the sinful human heart." —William Barcley from "The Secret of Contentment" in the April 2012 issue of Tabletalk magazine

"Much growth takes place by imitation. Boys learn to be men as they imitate worthy men. They see their father's love expressed in his care for the family. They see his tenderness toward mother and how he strives to save her steps, and they imitate what they see. Children grow as they pretend to be adults. That's the process of growth that we are called to in Ephesians 5." —Tedd Tripp from his weekend Bible study "Growth by Imitation" in this month's Tabletalk magazine

Matthew Henry writes, “Truth is a debt we owe to one another; and, if we love one another, we shall not deceive one another.” Christians must be known for their love of the truth and the trustworthiness of their speech. When we lie and gossip, we bear false witness to the God of truth who has transformed our hearts to love and serve Him. May we seek to tell the truth to friends, family, fellow church members, and coworkers. May we also repent when we fail to do so. —From a Tabletalk magazine Bible study titled "Speaking the Truth"

The necessary response of a holy God to sin is wrath, not love. That means that the Lord's choice to love His people is not the same as His choice to pour His wrath upon the impenitent. His choice to love us is unnecessary and based wholly in Himself. We can trust Him to love us even when we fail and know that nothing—not even ourselves—can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Prayer is a vital sign that our relationship with God is true and strong. The desire to call upon the name of the Lord can only be granted by the Lord Himself, and so when we pray to Him with sincerity, acknowledging our sins and hoping in His mercy, we demonstrate that we remain in His hand. Prayer also looks forward in hope to the future God has for us. In asking Him to be with us and meet our needs, we show our confidence that the best is yet to come. Are you discouraged this day? Pray.

"You can do more than pray, after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed." —John Bunyan

The thought that God sees everything about us is terrifying for unbelievers, so they deny God's existence or His holiness because they want to escape His justice. We who know the Father through Christ Jesus our Lord, however, should be greatly comforted by divine providence. Because God sees us at all times, He can direct our lives to positive ends. Even when we do not understand how, the Lord's providence means that He is working out all things for our good and His glory.

"Few influences affect a man’s heart for God more than his wife, for better or for worse. She will either encourage his spiritual devotion to the Lord or she will hinder it." —Steven Lawson

Our individualistic culture can make it hard for us to remember that we are accountable to more than just ourselves. Ultimately, however, we have a duty to obey the commands of our Creator. We are His creatures and must submit to His will no matter how hard it seems. Doing so requires the daily resolve to obey Him even when it is most difficult to do so. It also requires daily repentance of our failing to keep His commandments. Let us seek this day to obey our holy Creator.

"Our hearts must go along with our confessions. The hypocrite confesses sin but loves it, like a thief who confesses to stolen goods, yet loves stealing. How many confess pride and covetousness with their lips but roll them as honey under their tongue." —Thomas Watson

"Most of us take criticism and rebuke poorly. Because of our perverse pride, we are defensive and overly sensitive to criticism—even truthful, constructive criticism. But we can't change for the better or grow into Christlikeness without others correcting us." —Alexander Strauch from "Bless Those Who Admonish You" in this month's Tabletalk magazine

We see God's ordination of wickedness for a good end most clearly in the crucifixion. God used the evil plans of Christ's enemies to fulfill His good plan for His people (Acts 2:23). An evil act is still an evil act even when the Lord ordains it, but He does not sin when He ordains evil. We never want to pretend something is good when it is evil, but we also never want to forget that the evil we face in the present is not the last word. God will bring good out of it.

"Can Jesus do anything about our dying?—the Bible gives a glorious affirmative. Not only did Jesus promise that 'everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die' (v. 26), He gave a demonstration of His power by raising Lazarus from the dead. He said and showed that He is 'the resurrection and the life.'" —Sean Michael Lucas from his weekend Bible study "Resurrection and Life" in Tabletalk magazine

Ligonier Academy (August 2013)

"The absoluteness of God’s existence enthralls the mind: God’s never beginning, never ending, never becoming, never improving, simply and absolutely there—to be dealt with on his terms or not at all." - John Piper

"We mustn't allow our circumstances and disappointments to become the excuse for the choices we make in life. God is greater than all of that, and He can bring beauty out of ashes." - Alistair Begg


"Some Christians are heroes in their daydreams only. The characteristic mark of such heroism is imagining ourselves as faithful on great and public occasions and in rarefied atmospheres when others will be impressed. In stark contrast, true faithfulness in Scripture is first exercised in small things and in private. If we fail there, any faithfulness we show in public will be hypocrisy, a performance for the crowd and not an expression of loyalty to our Lord." - Sinclair Ferguson


"The Old Testament may be likened to a chamber richly furnished but dimly lighted; the introduction of light brings into it nothing which was not in it before; but it brings out into clearer view much of what is in it but was only dimly or even not at all perceived before. The mystery of the Trinity is not revealed in the Old Testament; but the mystery of the Trinity underlies the Old Testament revelation, and here and there almost comes into view." - B.B. Warfield

"Wisdom is the gospel of Christ reshaping us for royalty, as God places us on his anvil and we trust him enough to stay there until his work is done." - Ray Ortlund


"God has made clear in His Word that He is as dishonored and displeased by our anxiety, unthankfulness, frustration, selfishness, impatience, and discontentment as He is by the overt sins we’re so proud to avoid." - Jerry Bridges

     

"Brothers and sisters, we must be more vigilant. With our kids, with our families, with our Facebook accounts, with our texts, with our tweets, with our own eyes and hearts. Are we any differ­ent than the culture? Have we made a false peace with ourselves whereby we have said, we won’t do the things you do or be as sensual as you are, but we will gladly watch you do them for us? The kinds of things Paul wouldn’t even mention, the sort of sins he wouldn’t dare joke about, the behaviors too shameful to even name—we hear about them in almost every sitcom and see them on screens bigger than our homes. Here is worldliness as much as anywhere in the Christian life." - Kevin DeYoung