My Latest Sun is Sinking Fast (Hymn)

My Latest Sun is Sinking Fast
Jefferson Hascall (1860)

My latest sun is sinking fast,
My race is nearly run;
My strongest trials now are past,
My triumph is begun.

Refrain
O come, angel band,
Come and around me stand;
O bear me away on your snowy wings
To my eternal home;
O bear me away on your snowy wings
To my eternal hom.

I know I’m near the holy ranks
Of friends and kindred dear,
For I hear the waves on Jordan’s banks,
The crossing must be near.

Refrain

I’ve almost reached my heavenly home,
My spirit loudly sings;
Thy holy ones, behold, they come!
I hear the noise of wings.

Refrain

O bear my longing heart to Him,
Who bled and died for me;
Whose blood now cleanses from all sin,
And gives me victory.

Refrain

This hymn is most famous for being played and sung at funerals and it does deal with those issues.  It is written from the perspective of a saint who is at the end of this life.  Some people look at it as being a “sad” song for these reasons, but, to me, it is encouraging.  There is no fear in this saint.  There is only happiness and rejoicing and hope.  The death of a saint is not the end, but a glorious new beginning!  That can be an encouragement to anyone who is getting closer to that time.

I will be away from the computer for a couple of weeks.  Feel free to comment, and I will respond when I get back.  Thanks for reading and commenting and God bless!

The Wicked Man, Pt. 9

His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.

Psalm 10:7

In this continuation of our study of this passage about the wicked man, we come to this verse and a description of the mouth of the wicked man.  As Christians, our speech should be the opposite of the wicked man’s.

“His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud.”  A Christian should not curse and the wicked man does curse – that should be obvious to anyone.  But the second and third parts of this phrase are a little tougher.  The mouth of the wicked man is also full of deceit and fraud.  Sometimes, as Christians, we allow our speech to contain some deceit and fraud.  Both of those things deal with misleading people into believing something that is not true.

Christians are usually careful to not “lie.”  But they will often “handle the truth dishonestly.”  We will leave out important details or word things in such a way as to make someone think the opposite of what is true.  We then console ourselves with “I didn’t tell a lie” or “I didn’t say anything that wasn’t the truth.”  But our conscience knows better.  We know full well when we are being deceitful.  Deceit and fraud are the marks of the speech of the wicked man.  They should not characterize the speech of a Christian.

This verse also says of the wicked man, “under his tongue is mischief and vanity.”  The mouth of the wicked is also marked by foolishness and vanity.  As it says in Proverbs “The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.”  In the contrast of the wise and foolish in the area of speech, where do we find ourselves today?  As Christians, let us watch our speech and keep it far from cursing, deceit, fraud, mischief and vanity.

I will be away from the computer for a couple of weeks.  Feel free to comment, and I will respond when I get back.  Thanks for reading and commenting and God bless!

The Wicked Man, Pt. 8

His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.  He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.

Psalm 10:5-6

In this passage giving us an example of a wicked man, one thing just keeps coming up, over and over again: pride.  Pride is the first characteristic of the wicked man specifically mentioned in verse 2.  His boasting (pride) is mentioned in verse 3.  “The pride of his countenance” is mentioned in verse 4.  Verse 5 speaks of speaks of his enemies and how he “puffeth at them” (pride).  So far, every verse about this wicked man has dealt in one way or another with pride.  While we have already looked at pride and the damage it can cause, we will look at it again.  If God thinks that it is important enough to warn us about over and over again, we would be wise to pay attention to those warnings over and over again.

In verse 6, the Lord tells us that the wicked man has an extreme confidence in himself.  “I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity” is his attitude.  While none of us would likely say those words, how often do we live with that kind of attitude deep in our hearts?  How often do we look at someone who has failed and think “that will never be me?”  The Bible tells us in Proverbs 27:1, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”  We don’t know what’s going to come about tomorrow and it would be foolish to pretend that we do.  But that is yet another thing pride will do to us.  It will blind us to reality and it will keep us from trusting in the Lord.

The wicked man is full of pride and confidence in himself.  The humble man should be emptied of pride and should have confidence in the Lord.  Which are we?

I will be away from the computer for a couple of weeks.  Feel free to comment, and I will respond when I get back.  Thanks for reading and commenting and God bless!

The Wicked Man, Pt. 7

His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.

Psalm 10:5

In our look at the wicked man and how to avoid being like him, we have seen that his life is all about himself.  He is completely and totally wrapped up in pride.  But in this verse we find something interesting about the wicked man: “His ways are always grievous…”

I looked up the term “grievous” and here is what I found: “causing or characterized by severe pain, suffering, or sorrow.”  This is the lot of the wicked man.  His ways are always “causing or characterized by severe pain, suffering, or sorrow.”  The more I think about that statement, the more accurate I understand it to be.  Think about the wicked man and his ways and think about what the ends of those ways are.

Wickedness is neither profitable nor helpful to the one doing the wickedness.  It is also neither profitable nor helpful to those around him.  The wicked man himself, while being completely self-centered, is actually filled with pain, suffering and sorrow.  Time would not permit us to list all of the worldly musicians, actors, athletes, etc., who lived wicked lives and eventually killed themselves because of the pain, suffering and sorrow that their wickedness brought them.  The wicked man might seem happy, but we must remember that “His ways are always grievous.”

On the other hand, the wicked man also causes pain, suffering and sorrow to those around him.  Look at all of the broken homes and broken people left behind because of a wicked man.  Look at all of the deaths caused each year by “wicked men.”  Wherever the wicked man goes, pain, suffering, and sorrow will follow him.

The Bible shows us exactly where the way of the wicked man leads.  Why would we want to follow it?

I will be away from the computer for a couple of weeks.  Feel free to comment, and I will respond when I get back.  Thanks for reading and commenting and God bless!

The Wicked Man, Pt. 6

The wicked, through the pride of his coutenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

Psalm 10:4

As we continue to look at the example of “the wicked man” in Psalm 10, we come to this phrase: “God is not in all his thoughts.”  The wicked man is clearly marked by his pride and self-will.  He is marked by his rejection of God.  But he is also marked by the fact that he just ignores God.  “God is not in all his thoughts.”

The reason that we are looking at these verses about the wicked man is to see an example of the things that we are not supposed to do.  All through the Bible, we are given instruction on how to live and what to do.  But we are also given instruction on how not to live and what not to do.  We are supposed to see the wicked man and, basically, do the opposite of what he does.

In this case, the wicked man doesn’t think about God.  God is not in “all his thoughts.”  So, it would stand to reason, if we would not be among the wicked men, that God should be in all of our thoughts.  But is He?

How often does God enter into our thoughts?  Sometimes we might think specifically about God and about spiritual things.  But when we are thinking about our hobbies or our jobs or the grocery list or the weird noise our car is making – how often does God enter into those thoughts?  According to this verse, He should be “in all our thoughts.”  We can thank Him for some things, see His hand in others, and ask Him for help, wisdom and guidance in still others.  God is everywhere and in control of everything.  Do we see Him and think about Him as such?  Or are we like the wicked man who ignores Him?

I will be away from the computer for a couple of weeks.  Feel free to comment, and I will respond when I get back.  Thanks for reading and commenting and God bless!

The Wicked Man, Pt. 5

The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

Psalm 10:4

This Psalm deals with the wicked man and gives us some good examples of things that we should be avoiding in our lives.  This verse deals with the heart of the wicked man.

Really, all of our problems are heart problems.  Matthew 15:18-20a tells us “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.  For out of the heart proceed evil proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:  These are the things which defile a man…”  Whatever our problem is, we can be sure that it is a heart issue.

The wicked man, because of his pride, “will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.”  The wicked man does not seek after God; in fact, God isn’t even in his thoughts.  People naturally believe in God.  They may not believe in the true God of the Bible, but they believe in “god.”  For a person to not think about God at all, he has to purposefully and consciously put God out of his mind.  In order to not acknowledge God, he has to ignore God.  Deep down, no matter how wicked a man might be, he knows that there is a God.  He just chooses to ignore Him and to try to make himself into a “god.”

That is what is at the heart of the wicked man: a pride and self-love that wants to exalt himself to the very throne of God and a conscious and deliberate rejection of the true God.  That is the very definition of wickedness: the love of self and rejection of God.  Those two things go hand in hand, as wicked men have discovered throughout the years.

I will be away from the computer for a couple of weeks.  Feel free to comment, and I will respond when I get back.  Thanks for reading and commenting and God bless!

The Wicked Man, Pt. 4

The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.  For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.

Psalm 10:2-3

As we continue to look at this passage for an example of “things not to do,” we come to another thing that the wicked man does that identifies him as being wicked: he “blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.”

The wicked man is a covetous man.  He is covetous himself, and he encourages covetousness in others.  The dictionary definition of covet is: “to desire (what belongs to another) inordinately or culpably (guiltily).”  That is a perfect definition of what covetousness is and why the Lord put warnings against it in His Word (He even went so far as to make it one of the Ten Commandments).  There is not necessarily anything wrong with desiring something.  We all want things.  That in itself is not the problem.  The problem arises when we start wanting things that others have so badly that it clouds our perspective.  We start to find jealousy creeping in.  We start to become bitter at how God has blessed others.  We start to become bitter at God Himself.

Covetousness is a terrible trap to fall into.  In fact, this verse says that God “abhors” it.  But the wicked man marches right on in self-centered pride, arrogance and covetousness.  Being prideful and all about himself, the wicked man is focused not on what God has given him, but on what God has given others.  He despises others and he despises God and he praises and blesses those who are like him in his self-will.

Pride and covetousness go hand in had and are both things to be avoided.  They are both sure marks of the wicked man and we would be wise to avoid them.

I will be away from the computer for a couple of weeks.  Feel free to comment, and I will respond when I get back.  Thanks for reading and commenting and God bless!

My Jesus, I Love Thee (Hymn)

My Jesus, I Love Thee
William R. Featherston (1864)

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Saviour art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

If ever there was a song that allowed us to express our love and devotion to our Saviour, this would have to be it.  “My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine…”  What a wonderful thought and a wonderful song.  May this sing this one often and may we mean every word of it when we do sing it!

I will be away from the computer for a couple of weeks.  Feel free to comment, and I will respond when I get back.  Thanks for reading and commenting and God bless!

The Wicked Man, Pt. 3

The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.  For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.

Psalm 10:2-3

In verse three we find a continuation of the description of a wicked man.  Verse two detailed the wicked man’s pride and cruelty.  Verse three continues on with this theme: “For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire…”

Verse two was a condemnation of the wicked man’s pride and verse three is a condemnation of the wicked man’s pride.  “For the wicked man boasteth of his heart’s desire.”  He is not only boasting, but he is boasting about what he wants.  He isn’t just confined to boasting about what he has, he boasts about what he wants to have and what he thinks he should haven.

Wicked people are easily identified by their boasting.  The more modern term is their “cockiness.”  There is, of course, a vast difference in having confidence in something and boasting about something.  We are told to have confidence in the Lord.  We can say with certainty that the Lord will “never leave us nor forsake us.”  We can say with certainty that He is a “strong help in time of trouble.”  But that is the Lord and those things are true.

With the wicked, their “boastings” are all about themselves.  As it says in this verse, he boasts of “his heart’s desire.”  His boasts often include language such as “I will,” “I want,” “I am,” etc.  Everything in the life of the wicked man is about him.

The question for today is this: what are our lives about?  We can see here the example of the wicked man.  Are we following it with boasting about ourselves or are following the example of the Lord Jesus with humility and a life given for others?

I will be away from the computer for a couple of weeks.  Feel free to comment, and I will respond when I get back.  Thanks for reading and commenting and God bless!

The Wicked Man, Pt. 2

Why standest thou afar off, O LORD?  why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?  The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor:  let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

Psalm 10:1-2

Yesterday, we began looking at the example of the wicked man given to us in this Psalm and noticed that the first thing mentioned about him is his pride.  The second thing mentioned is that he “…in his pride doth persecute the poor.”  Not only is he proud, but his pride causes him to persecute the poor.  In his pride, he lifts himself up and casts others down.  Or, to use a modern phrase, he looks down his nose at people he deems inferior.

Why would anyone persecute the poor?  They are, by the very definition, poor.  They don’t have anything materially to offer, they don’t have anything to steal, and they don’t have anything to be jealous of.  But his willingness to persecute the weakest members of society just shows the pride in the heart of the wicked man.  He doesn’t care anything about anyone but himself.  And if persecuting the poor makes him feel good about himself, he will do it.

The Bible gives us many warnings about persecuting the poor, the widows and the fatherless.  All three of those groups of people should have our sympathy and our help.  But the wicked man is not going to help any of those groups of people.  He is out to help only himself.

We can see just how wicked this wicked man is by seeing how he treats others, specifically those others who are among the weaker members of society.  We can also see how the righteous man behaves by observing how he treats these people on a daily basis.  How do we treat those people who are “lower on the ladder” than we are?  The answer to that question will give us an idea of whether we are leaning toward “wicked” or “wise.”

I will be away from the computer for a couple of weeks.  Feel free to comment, and I will respond when I get back.  Thanks for reading and commenting and God bless!