Oh, Who Can Find a Godly Wife

This hymn, suitable for use on Mother's Day, takes its theme from Proverbs 18:22:  "He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord."  It takes its imagery from Proverbs 31:10-31, the well-known description of the virtuous wife.

The rhyming scheme lends itself to antiphonal singing.  One side of the sanctuary may sing the first couplet ("Oh, who can find a godly wife?  A precious gem to hold..."); then the other side sings the second couplet in response ("A fruitful vine within her house, A husband's crown of gold...).  The entire congregation would then join in singing the final lines together  ("A good thing, a good thing," etc.).

Click here to hear the melody.  Click here to view the musical score.


1. Oh, who can find a godly wife?
   A precious gem to hold;
A fruitful vine within her house,
   A husband's crown of gold. (Prov 31:10; Ps 128:3; Prov 12:4)

A good thing, a good thing,
   A godly wife, a help for life;
A good thing, a good thing,
   A blessing from the Lord. (Prov 18:22)

2.  While yet the night is on the earth,
   She rises from her bed;
She scorns the bread of idleness
   And labors long instead. (Prov 31:15,17,27)

A good thing, a good thing,
   This ready hand, this willing heart,
A good thing, a good thing,
   A blessing from the Lord.

3. The winter snow that chills the earth
   Will bring her house no harm;
Her children, dressed in scarlet robes,
   Will prosper, safe and warm.  (Prov 31:21)

A good thing, a good thing,
   Her children wear her tender care;
A good thing, a good thing,
   A blessing from the Lord.

4. She reaches out her loving hand
   To help the poor in need;
The word of kindness from her lips
   Will comfort, soothe, and lead.  (Prov 31:20,26)

A good thing, a good thing,
   This caring hand, this sharing heart;
A good thing, a good thing,
   A blessing from the Lord.

5. Her husband and her children rise
   As witnesses to tell
How blest is she who fears the Lord,
   Indeed, she has done well!   (Prov 31:28-30)

A good thing, a good thing,
   Her children bless her faithfulness;
A good thing, a good thing,
   A blessing from the Lord.

In the Closing Hours of Earth's Passing Day

This hymn is written from the viewpoint of an older Christian looking back on his life and considering all of the blessings he has received.  Each verse emphasizes the fact that it is God's grace -- His unmerited love for the undeserving sinner -- that lies beneath everything that He brings into the life of His dear children.

Click here to listen to the melody of this hymn.  Click here to view the musical score.

In the closing hours of earth’s passing day,

As its glory dims with each fading ray,

In my heart still shines the wondrous display

Of Your grace to me, O Lord.

I was young, but now am cumbered with years,

I have passed through trials, turmoil, and tears,

You have stilled my heart and banished my fears

Through Your grace to me, O Lord.

Like the birds above, I ate from Your hand;

Like the lilies fair, clothed at Your command,

I have garnered all the  blessings You planned

In Your grace to me, O Lord.

When I fell in sin and brought myself shame,

On my bed I wept and called on Your name;

You reached out in love, my soul to reclaim –

In Your grace to me, O Lord.

When my foes brought grief and harmed as they could,

You upheld my soul, beside me You stood;

They meant evil, Lord; You meant it for good –

In Your grace to me, O Lord.

As I stand before this life’s open grave,

I will praise You for each blessing You gave;

You have come to me to seek and to save –

In Your grace to me, O Lord.

In the glorious light of that blessed place

Where the saints behold their dear Savior’s face

I will rest within Your loving embrace –

In Your grace to me, O Lord.

As Countless as the Sands

One of the most reassuring doctrines of the Bible is the teaching that God has declared the entire world forgiven for the sake of Christ's holy life and sacrificial death.  This hymn expresses the sinner's joy at the assurance that God's verdict includes everyone.  If all are included, then God was speaking to me, also.  It does not matter how great my load of guilt may be.  The Lamb of God has taken away the sin of everyone, including mine!

To listen to the melody, click here.  To view the musical score, click here.  Our thanks to Prof. Em. Bruce Backer of Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota for providing the hymn setting.

As countless as the sands upon the mighty ocean’s shore,

So many souls on earth today, so many came before;

Each one was known to You, O Lord – each face, each voice, each name –

And in Your heart of hearts, O Lord, You loved each one the same.

Though there is found upon this earth none righteous – no, not one;

Though all have sinned and fallen short in all that we have done,

Yet in Your tender mercy and Your all-embracing love

You sent Your Son, Your only Son, to help us from above.

Behold, the Lamb sent forth by God to bear all sin and blame,

Whose sinless soul assumed the debt of every sinner’s shame,

That all the world might be released from fear and death and hell

And have instead His righteousness and in His presence dwell.

What joy!  to know that God in Christ declared all sinners free,

For with that blessed verdict comes great confidence for me;

Though great my guilt and weak my works, that verdict stands most sure –

In Jesus ALL are justified!  In this I rest secure!

For all the world God’s verdict stands – for every tribe and clan,

For male and female, slave and free, for child and aged man,

For rich and poor, for black and white, for Gentile and for Jew –

God’s “Innocent!” declares to all:  The Savior died for you!

Behold, the Sower Goes Forth

In chapter ten of his prophecy, Hosea calls the people of Israel to repentance, using the imagery of planting and harvesting.  He rebukes them by saying:  "You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped iniquity" (10:13).  He urges them to "sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord" (10:12).

This imagery appears again in our Lord's parable of the Sower and the Seed (Mt. 13, Mk. 4, Lk.8), where we are asked to examine whether our own hearts are fertile soil for receiving God's Word and bringing forth fruits for Him.

The basic principles of planting and harvesting also appear in the epistles.  In Galatians (6:7-9) the apostle Paul also reminds us that we will reap what we sow and encourages us to "sow to the Spirit," not the flesh.

"Behold, the Sower Goes Forth" is an appeal to the Lord to melt the hardness of our sinful hearts, so that we value His forgiving grace and spend each day planting seeds of righteousness.

To listen to the melody of "Behold, the Sower Goes Forth" click here.  To view and print the musical score, click here.

 

1. Behold, the sower goes forth

  To cast his seed in the ground;

Where fields are fertile and soil is rich,

  There earthly fruits abound.

(Refrain):

Break up your fallow ground;

  It’s time to seek the Lord;

Sow to the Spirit in righteousness

  And reap the Spirit’s reward.

 

2. Behold, the Savior sends forth

  His Spirit in His Word,

The prideful world with its stony heart

   Stands hard against its Lord.

  

 (Refrain)

3.  O Savior, crush this stone!

  Create my heart anew --

 That I may treasure Your saving grace

   And bear rich fruits for You!

(Refrain)

4.  Who sows to sin and self

  Will harvest grief and pain,

Who sows to righteousness in Christ

    Eternal life will gain.

(Refrain)

The Mountains Melt Like Wax

This hymn focuses, first, on the fearful prospect of standing in the presence of the all-knowing, all-powerful Judge of the earth, and then on the comforting truth that our Savior has ascended to heaven, where He stands as our Advocate before God's throne.  This Gospel message fills us with hope, so that we can say:  "In Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore" Psalm 16:11.

To listen to the melody, click here.  To view the musical score, click here.

The mountains melt like wax

  Before Your presence, Lord,

The whole earth trembles at Your voice

  And fears Your sovereign word. (Ps. 97:5)

Is there no place to hide?

  Where can I flee Your face?

In earth and all the universe

  There is no hidden place.  (Ps. 139:7)

Before You all will stand

  And tremble at Your might;

Before You, Lord, no one can boast

  Or claim a due or right.  (1 Cor. 1:29)

And here am I, O Lord --

  My sins before You stand.

Will I be driven from Your sight

  And perish at Your hand?

Thanks be to Christ, our Lord,

   Who now in heav’n appears,

Who stands before God’s mercy-seat

   And calms my inmost fears. (Hebr. 9:24)

Your righteousness, O Christ,

   Brings favor from God’s throne;

Your holy blood pays all my debt

   And makes God’s house my home.

With heaven’s joy I come

   Into Your presence now;

New songs of thankfulness I sing

    As at Your feet I bow.  (Ps. 16:11)

It Makes My Heart Wonder

This Christmas hymn expresses our awe at the miracle of Jesus' incarnation.  It contains allusions to Him as the embodiment of the ladder in Jacob's dream (Gen. 28:12, John 1:51) and as the second Adam, whose righteousness is imputed to all mankind (Rom. 5). The exhortation in the last verse is drawn from Psalm 47:1-2.

To listen to the melody, click here.  

It makes my heart wonder, it makes my heart sing;

The Lord of all glory has come here to bring

His gifts and His blessings, His kindness and love,

To be our dear Brother from heaven above.

Conceived by the Spirit through God’s loving plan,

His strength and our weakness in one perfect man,

His little hands, holding all power divine

Reach out in compassion to your ills and mine.

Just like Jacob’s ladder, He bridges the span

Between earth and heaven, between God and man;

He takes on our flesh with its weakness and pain

To give us God’s heaven and cause us to reign.

He comes, our new Adam, God’s Image unstained,

As man was in Eden this Child is again.

His life, pure and holy, will cover our shame;

His blood, precious price, will atone for our blame.

Stand up, clap your hands, all God’s people, with joy,

And shout out in triumph the birth of this Boy:

“The Lord High, Most Awesome, the King of the earth,

Has come as our Savior!”  How happy His birth!

In Every Hour

When the Apostle Paul prayed to be relieved of his "thorn in the flesh," the Lord's answer was:  "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness," 2 Cor. 12:9.

This hymn invites the worshiper to approach our heavenly Father in prayer with any request, be it small or great.  The Lord's answer to the petitions which are brought through faith in Jesus is always to give "the grace my soul requires."

To listen to the melody of In Every Hour, click here.

In every hour, in every day,
   My God is always there.
He waits e'en now for me to pray,
  To tell Him all my care.

There is no problem, small or great,
  To which He won't give heed,
And even in my lowly state
  He grants me all I need.

When life's long battle seems so grim --
  It seems I've lost the fight --
I transfer all my griefs to Him
  And now the load is light.

So to my God I take all things,
  All troubles and desires,
And from His loving heart He brings
  The grace my soul requires.

Come, O Sinner, Draw Near

In Isaiah 65:13-14 the Lord tells of all the good things that will come to His servants and all the evils that will befall those who reject Him: "Behold, My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; Behold, My servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty...Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and wail for grief of spirit."

This hymn invites every sinner to come to the Savior in repentance and faith and holds forth the wonderful blessings that will come to all who are God's servants through faith in Christ.

The second verse refers to God's Word as "bread for the soul."  Just as the manna sustained the children of Israel during their journey through the wilderness, God's Word sustains us, His servants, as we journey through this life.

The thought of the third verse is drawn from Jesus' answer to Pilate's question: "Are you a king then?" to which Jesus replied: "You say rightly that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth," Jn. 18:37.  Jesus' kingdom is centered in the proclamation of the truth.  As we today bear witness to the truth that we have learned from God's Word, we reign with Christ and share in His ultimate victory.

To hear the melody of Come, O Sinner, Draw Near, click here. Verses one and two use the first ending, which is at the end of the first verse of the sample.  Verse three uses the second ending, which can be heard at the end of the second verse of the sample.

1. Come, O sinner, draw near,

Serve your God without fear;

Sight for blindness and healing kindness

The Savior gives to you here.

My servants shall see,

My servants shall know

My servants shall sing with my grace in their hearts.

My servants shall praise the blood of the Lamb,

Whose righteousness never departs.

2. Here is bread for the soul,

Here, the food that makes whole;

Joy and strength to endure at length

And attain the heavenly goal.

My servants shall eat;

My servants shall drink;

My servants shall sing for the joy in their hearts;

My servants shall sit and feast with the Lamb,

Whose fellowship never departs.

3. Here is wisdom and pow’r,

Light for life’s darkest hour,

Truth revealed, an enduring shield

And an everlasting tower.

My servants shall live;

My servants shall reign;

My servants shall speak with the truth in their hearts,

My servants shall share the throne of the Lamb,

Whose victory never departs.

Dear Lord, in This, Your Wondrous World

This hymn summarizes a number of the Bible's teachings about our bodies.  Our bodies were created and formed by God.  Even in their condition after the Fall into sin, our bodies are an impressive display of God's wisdom and power.  Our Savior's work of redemption was aimed at redeeming our bodies as well as our souls from the ravages of sin.  Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and are to be His instruments for righteousness.  Finally, though our bodies are headed toward death and decay, the returning Lord will raise them up and glorify them on the last day.

To listen to the melody of Dear Lord, in Your Creation, click here.  To view the musical score, click here.

Dear Lord, in this, Your wondrous world,
  You made a place for me.

You clothed me with my flesh and blood,
  This earthly tent I see. (2 Peter 1:13-14).

You formed me in my mother’s womb;
  Your hands composed my frame;

How wonderful, that hidden work --
  A tribute to Your name!  (Ps. 139:13-16)

How good and strong was flesh and blood
  When Eden first began!

How pale the shadow with us now,
  How weak and full of pain!

This body, once a slave of sin,
  Corrupt in many ways,

My Savior for himself redeemed
  To serve him all my days.

Within this ransomed body now
  His Holy Spirit dwells;

The glory of his truth and grace
  This sacred temple fills. (1 Cor. 6:19-20)

To righteousness I now present
  My head and heart and hands,

My every member now is his,
  To follow his commands. (Rom. 6:12-13)

Soon, soon, I must put off this tent
  And leave it in its grave,

And yet my flesh will rest in hope
  Of Jesus’ power to save.

Though sin’s corruption creeps upon
  This fragile lump of clay,

A sure redemption waits my flesh
  On that triumphant day!

How lowly is this body now,
  How glorious it will be!

Conformed to Christ and free from sin
  For all eternity! (Phil. 3:20-21)

Song of Abraham

Abraham is the father of all who are being saved through faith in Christ.  His life consisted of hearing the promises of God, taking them to heart, and acting upon them.  His faith was counted to him as righteousness.

God spoke to Abraham at key points in his life's journey, and there is much that we can learn for our own journey by paying close attention to those words.

This hymn is sung to the melody of "Not Unto Us," hymn 392 in Christian Worship.

God spoke to me when in my father’s house I dwelt:

“Go forth,” said He, “Trust Me to guide you well.

Go to a land, a land that I will show to you,

And I will make a blessing of you.”  (Gen 12)

God spoke to me when in this world a stranger I roamed:

“Look round and see; for all is yours in Me –

Walk in this land, Walk here by faith and you will receive

The heritage that to you I leave.”  (Gen 13)

God spoke to me when deepest doubting filled my soul:

“Look toward the sky, its starry host behold;

I made them all – Trust Me and I will give to you

A countless host of children true.”  (Gen 15)

God spoke to me when in the hour of trial I stood

And raised my hand in highest love to Him:

“Harm not your son! See, I Myself have given

My own dear Lamb to die for you.”  (Gen 22)

God spoke to me – His word alone was courage and power

To bear me home in dark Machpelah’s hour:

“You are my friend; you trusted Me and counted Me true,

My righteousness I will count to you.”  (Gen 25; James 2:23; Is. 41:8)

God speaks to you – in messages most precious and sweet,

In Moses’ words and through the prophets’ speech;

Oh, hear His words, make them your life, and gathered you’ll be

To our dear Father’s bosom with me.  (Lk 16:29)

Little Child, Little Child

In Matthew 18:3 Jesus said: "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

With these words our Lord directs us to trust in Him and His Word as a child does.  "Little Child, Little Child" encourages adults to sit at the feet of the child and learn humble trust.

Thy lyrics to this hymn contain brief allusions to several well-known children's songs  ("This Little Light of Mine," "God Loves Me Dearly," "I Am Jesus' Little Lamb," "Jesus Loves the Little Children", "Jesus Love Me, This I Know").

Click here to listen to the melody of Little Child, Little Child.  To view the musical score, click here.

Little child, little child, make me as you;

Help me love Jesus as much as you do,

Singing his praises with voice clear and true,

Little child, little child, make me as you.

Little child, little child, why do I fear?

God loves me dearly, my Jesus is near;

His tender mercy will wipe every tear;

Little child, little child, why do I fear?

Little child, little child, why do I doubt?

Has not my Savior this world’s prince cast out?

Has he not robbed even death of its clout?

Little child, little child, why do I doubt?

Little child, little child, you are so sure

God’s Word is truth and His love will endure,

You are his lamb and can slumber secure –

Little child, little child, you are so sure.

Little child, little child, let your light shine,

Pierce worldly darkness with wisdom divine;

Your little light is much brighter than mine!

Little child, little child, let your light shine.

Little child, little child, make me as you;

Help me love Jesus as much as you do,

Singing his praises with voice clear and true,

Little child, little child, Jesus loves you.