Father, there was a lot squeezed into this weekend, today included. Help my mind to focus as the day is drawing to a close. Amen.
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If I asked for a show of hands from all my readers who could honestly say that their walk with the Lord has been without fault or failure, I know that I wouldn’t be alone with my hands lying forlornly in my lap.
We are all in good company in that no human being, with the exception of Jesus, has ever done so. This morning’s sermon referenced King David, the man after God’s own heart. In his early years, he was a pinnacle of devotion and faithfulness to the Lord. But the comfort and security of his successful reign as king set the stage for him to yield to temptation. He yielded to lust…then to adultery…and then to murder, to cover his egregious sin.
He was confronted by the Prophet Nathan and honestly, humbly repented and sought the Lord’s forgiveness, suffering multiple, heart-wrenching consequences for a good part of the rest of his life. Psalm 51 came out of this time of sin and his seeking of forgiveness. (Please, click on the reference to read the passage.)
This morning our closing hymn at church was a Charles Wesley hymn entitled, Weary of Wandering from My God.
One of my sources included this story which was found in “The Methodist Hymn-book Illustrated” written by John Telford. It reads as follows
The Chaplain of Glasgow prison once found a young woman eighteen or nineteen standing in her cell with her hymn-book in her hand. ‘She looked up, and, holding it out, said to me, “This is a hymn which I’m much ta’en up wi’.” I read the first two lines, and found my eyes filling with tears as I looked at her and said, “Are you weary of wandering from your God?” The answer was “Yes, indeed I am.” Thereupon I had the great privilege of dealing with an anxious soul.
‘Next Sunday we not only sang the hymn, but I preached specially to weary wanderers. The following day an old man grasped my hand as I entered his cell, and in an earnest and solemn voice said, “When the great day comes there will be found a soul among the redeemed, brought there through that hymn we sang yesterday, for” he continued, “when you read out, ‘Weary of wandering from my God,’ I said, ‘That’s me. I’m weary, and I’m ready to return,’ and,” he added, “come back to my God I have.”’ (London, The Epworth Press, Fifth edition, 1929) pp. 225-6
It is a beautiful hymn, the second verse speaks to me. Read it and if you’d like, click on the video of a gentleman playing the tune we used this morning. (His rendition is a couple of verses long.)
Weary of Wandering from My God
- Weary of wandering from my God,
And now made willing to return
I hear and bow me to the rod
For thee, not without hope, I mourn:
I have an Advocate above
A Friend before the throne of love. - O Jesus, full of truth and grace
More full of grace than I of sin
Yet once again I seek Thy face:
Open Thine arms and take me in
And freely my backslidings heal
And love the faithless sinner still. - Thou know’st the way to bring me back
My fallen spirit to restore
O for Thy truth and mercy’s sake,
Forgive, and bid me sin no more:
The ruins of my soul repair
And make my heart a house of prayer. - The stone to flesh again convert,
The veil of sin again remove;
Sprinkle Thy blood upon my heart,
And melt it by Thy dying love;
This rebel heart by love subdue,
And make it soft, and make it new. - Ah! give me, Lord, the tender heart
That trembles at the approach of sin;
A godly fear of sin impart,
Implant, and root it deep within,
That I may dread Thy gracious power,
And never dare to offend Thee more.
Words: Charles Wesley, 1749
Music: John B. Dykes, 1861
Oct 22nd, 2023, Sun, 7:27 pm
