Jesus, Grant That Balm and Healing

Wonderful Passion hymn by the great Lutheran hymn writer, Johann Heerman (1585-1647).  Sung to the tune DER AM KREUZ by Johann Balthasar Koenig (1691-1758).

Jesus, grant that balm and healing

    In Your holy wounds I find,

Ev’ry hour that I am feeling

    Pains of body and of mind.

Should some evil thought within

Tempt my treach’rous heart to sin,

    Show the peril, and from sinning

    Keep me from its first beginning.

Should some lust or sharp temptation

    Fascinate my sinful mind,

Draw me to Your cross and Passion,

    And new courage I shall find.

Or should Satan press me hard,

Let me then be on my guard,

    Saying, “Christ for me was wounded,”

    That the tempter flee confounded.

If the world my heart entices

    With the broad and easy road,

With seductive, sinful vices,

    Let me weigh the awful load

You were willing to endure.

Help me flee all thoughts impure

    And to master each temptation,

    Calm in prayer and meditation.

Ev’ry wound that pains or grieves me

    By Your wounds, Lord, is made whole;

When I’m faint, Your cross revives me,

    Granting new life to my soul.

Yes, Your comfort renders sweet

Ev’ry bitter cup I meet;

    For Your all-atoning passion

    Has procured my soul’s salvation.

O my God, my Rock and Tower,

    Grant that in Your death I trust,

Knowing death has lost its power

    Since You crushed it in the dust.

Savior, let Your agony

Ever help and comfort me;

    When I die be my protection,

    Light and life and resurrection.

With the Lord Begin Your Task

In these corona virus days of social distancing and sheltering at home, days that tend to merge one with the next, one might struggle to find meaning or fulfilling purpose.  Whatever task you do take up for self or family or Christ's kingdom, this hymn is a good reminder that Jesus is the blessed companion who is with you always as He has promised, "to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:20c).  https://www.cph.org/p-6159-with-the-lord-begin-your-task.aspx

With the Lord begin your task;

Jesus will direct it.

For His aid and counsel ask;

Jesus will perfect it.

Ev’ry morn with Jesus rise,

And when day is ended,

In His name then close your eyes;

Be to Him commended.

Let each day begin with prayer,

Praise, and adoration.

On the Lord cast ev’ry care;

He is your salvation.

Morning, evening, and at night

Jesus will be near you,

Save you from the tempter’s might,

With His presence cheer you.

                        

With your Savior at your side,

Foes need not alarm you;

In His promises confide,

And no ill can harm you.

All your trust and hope repose

In the mighty Master,

Who in wisdom truly knows

How to stem disaster.

If your task be thus begun

With the Savior’s blessing,

Safely then your course will run,

Toward the promise pressing.

Good will follow ev’rywhere

While you here must wander;

You at last the joy will share

In the mansions yonder.

Thus, Lord Jesus, every task

Be to You commended;

May Your will be done, I ask,

Until life is ended.

Jesus, in Your name begun

Be the day’s endeavor;

Grant that it may well be done

To Your praise forever.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Here are all five stanzas of the great Lenten hymn by Isaac Watts (1674-1748), the father of modern English hymnody. It is certainly one of my favorite Lenten hymns!  Most commonly sung to either the tune HAMBURG (Lutheran Service Book 425) or ROCKINGHAM OLD (LSB 426).  On a humorous note, once, after this hymn had been sung in the Church of Saint Edmund, London, Father Ignatius repeated to his congregation the last two lines of the hymn impressively—“Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.”  And he added: “Well, I am surprised to hear you sing that. Do you know that altogether you put only fifteen shillings in the collection bag this morning?”  [Not recommended pastoral practice!] https://www.cph.org/p-28135-when-i-survey-the-wondrous-cross-niedmann.aspx
https://www.cph.org/p-24558-when-i-survey-the-wondrous-cross-lamb.aspx

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth

Perhaps my absolute favorite hymn of all time is Paul Gerhardt's, "A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth." Christ-centered and atonement focused!  Gerhardt masterfully depicts the perfect obedience of God the Son to the will of God the Father by means of the dialogue that occurs between the two in the latter lines of stanza 2 and the opening lines of stanza 3. 

1.  A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth,

    The guilt of sinners bearing

    And, laden with the sins of earth,

    None else the burden sharing;

    Goes patient on, grows weak and faint,

    To slaughter led without complaint,

    That spotless life to offer,

    He bears the stripes, the wounds, the lies 

    The mockery, and yet replies, 

    “All this I gladly suffer.” 

2. This Lamb is Christ, the soul’s great friend,

    The Lamb of God, our Savior,

    Whom God the Father chose to send 

    To gain for us His favor.

    “Go forth, My Son,” the Father said, 

    “And free My children from their dread 

    Of guilt and condemnation. 

    The wrath and stripes are hard to bear,

    But by Your passion they will share

    The fruit of Your salvation.”

3. “Yes, Father, yes, most willingly 

    I’ll bear what You command me. 

    My will conforms to Your decree, 

    I’ll do what You have asked me.” 

    O wondrous Love, what have you done! 

    The Father offers up His Son,

    Desiring our salvation. 

    O Love, how strong You are to save! 

    You lay the One into the grave 

    Who built the earth’s foundation. 

3. Lord, when Your glory I shall see 

    And taste Your kingdom’s pleasure, 

    Your blood my royal robe shall be, 

    My joy beyond all measure!

    When I appear before Your throne,

    Your righteousness shall be my crown; 

    With these I need not hide me.

    And there, in garments richly wrought,

    As Your own bride shall I be brought 

    To stand in joy beside You. 

Consider How the Birds Above

Written in 1998 as a meditation on Jesus' words against worry as found in Luke 12:24-31.  The tune NORTHCROFT was composed specifically for this text by Daniel Zager. https://www.cph.org/p-31809-consider-how-the-birds-above.aspx

1.  Consider how the birds above

     Feed day by day with carefree ease—                      

     Does God not keep them in His love?

     Are we not worth much more than these?

                                                

2.  The lilies grow, they do not toil;

     How fair is their fragility—

     If God clothes these which quickly spoil,

     Will He not clothe both you and me?

3.   Set not your heart on food or drink,

      Nor be weighed down by worldly care;

      About such things the godless think,

      Yet never thank the Lord in prayer.

4.   Be on your guard against all greed,

      For life is more than what we own.

      Our Father knows our ev’ry need

      Before our needs to us are known.

5.   Be not afraid to suffer loss

      Of all the things for which you pray,

      For He who faced for you the cross

      Will give you strength to live each day.

6.   Seek first God’s reign, His boundless grace,

      His holy Name in all you do:

      Christ first and last in ev’ry place;

      All else will then be given you.

Awake, O Sleeper, Rise and See

Written in 2005 to the glory of God on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Memorial Lutheran Church in Houston, Texas.  Based on the latter portion of Ephesians 5:8-14, the appointed epistle for the 4th Sunday in Lent, Series A.

1. Awake, O sleeper, rise and see 
   This great and glorious mystery, 
   This shining promise, ever new: 
   The hope of glory—Christ in you!
   
   
2. Although life’s heartaches, trials, and sin 
   Combine to grieve your hope within, 
   Rejoice! Your Savior’s grace is great, 
   Made perfect in your weakened state.
   
   
3. Come, share that life formed by His cross 
   And for Christ’s sake, come suffer loss; 
   His Spirit works your life to fill
   With all good things to do His will.
   
   
4. For you no longer live, but He
   Who washed you clean and set you free; 
   Baptized in Christ, you now are saved, 
   Forever on His palms engraved.
   
   
5. Christ offers you, with nail-scarred hand, 
   True manna for this desert land:
   His body and His blood divine
   Beneath the sacred bread and wine!
   
   
6. Our Savior never leaves His own 
   As orphans, hungry and alone; 
   He promises with surety:
   “I am in you and you in Me.”
   
   
7. Such precious gifts do not disdain; 
   Do not receive God’s grace in vain, 
   But cherish, as His children true, 
   The hope of glory—Christ in you.

Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me

A great hymn of comfort by Paul Gerhardt, 1607-76, for times like this.

1.

Why should cross and trial grieve me?

    Christ is near

    With His cheer;

Never will He leave me.

Who can rob me of the heaven

    That God’s Son

    For me won

When His life was given?

2. 

When life’s troubles rise to meet me,

    Though their weight

    May be great,

They will not defeat me.

God, my loving Savior, sends them;

    He who knows

    All my woes

Knows how best to end them.

3. 

God gives me my days of gladness,

    And I will

    Trust Him still

When He sends me sadness.

God is good; His love attends me

    Day by day,

    Come what may,

Guides me and defends me.

4. 

From God's joy can nothing sever,

    For I am 

    His dear lamb,

He, my Shepherd ever;

I am His because He gave me

    His own blood 

    For my good,

By His death to save me.

5. 

Now in Christ, death cannot slay me,

    Though it might, 

    Day and night,

Trouble and dismay me;

Christ has made my death a portal

    From the strife 

    Of this life

To His joy immortal!

O God, In Days of Dire Need

Written in 2006 to the glory of God, for David H. Bergquist and God’s people of the Algona Circuit of Iowa District West.  May be sung to the tune CONSOLATION.

1.   O God, in days of dire need      
      When blessings seem so few,      
      May fear and doubt not supersede      
      Our faith and hope in You.

2.   Who feeds the sparrows in the trees?      
      Who robes the lily fair?      
      Lord, You!  You love us more than these—      
      Can we not trust Your care?

3.   A single sparrow does not fall       
      Unnoticed by Your eye;      
      Our hairs You number, one and all,      
      On You, Lord, we rely.

4.   Your daily faithfulness we trace,      
      Your saving love—how great!      
      Your care provides that quiet place      
      Of calm, where we can wait.

5.   Your thoughts are higher than our ways—      
      So far above our own!      
      We trust such wisdom for our days      
      And rest in You alone.

6.   For every change and every fear,      
      In trouble and distress,      
      You, God of grace, are always near      
      To comfort and to bless.

How Great the Cross of Christ

Written in 1997 as a meditation on the cross and its meaning for our lives.  It may be sung to SURSUM CORDA.

1.   How great the cross of Christ, the crucified,

      The throne where Christ our Lord was glorified;

      There, lifted up for all the world to see,

      Christ draws all people to His victory!

2.   How great the cross of Christ, the crucified!

      Our debt of sin was nailed with Him who died;

      Our every wrong the Savior has embraced,

      All cancelled, paid in full—all debt erased.

                                    

3.   How great the cross of Christ, the crucified!

      Pure streams of life flow from His wounded side,

      To plunge the earth beneath that cleansing blood—

      Sin’s highest peaks are covered by this flood.

4.   How great the cross of Christ, the crucified!

      Our path to Paradise was once denied;

      The sword is sheathed to bar the way no more,

      The cross of Christ is now the open door.

5.   How great the cross of Christ, the crucified!

      How great God’s love, how deep and high and wide;

      Love, that foreknew from all eternity

      The cross: the price to rescue you and me!