Good morning!

My morning coffee in the London mug at my side, paired with a quiet morning with the city hall bells and the occasional car passing by outside, and a couple of birds chirping make it a satisfying start to my day as I sit down to do a little writing.  The first time I read this hymn in the middle of the week, I selected stanza 6 to share. Today, I’d like to add a couple of snippets of other stanzas as well that are intriguing me this morning.

Praise of the Lord-His Name

Day  21 – 76

6. In your hearts enthrone Him;

There let Him subdue

All that is not holy,

All that is not true;

Crown Him as your Captain

In temptation’s hour;

Let His will enfold you

In its light and power.

This is the stanza I selected earlier this week. The first two lines are a very nice prayer. In the book of Revelation, out from the throne of God and of the Lamb flows a river of living water in the middle of the streets, supplying grace and life to all the inhabitants of the holy city,  the New Jerusalem, as referenced in the Bible.

This prayer would allow God to place such a throne in the middle of my being, so that grace and life could flow and supply me, and others too. Part of the throne being in our hearts is the subduing of “all things under His feet” in Ephesians 1. Then, when all that is not holy, and all that is not true are subdued, in trying times, we can do as the Lord did and take His Father’s will as His food, accepting the Father’s will. This will does not come as a mighty pronouncement, but it enfolds us. His will embraces us, and holds us, keeping us warm and safe within its light and power.

I also enjoyed a few lines pronouncing who God is in stanza

5. …He is God the Savior,

He is Christ the Lord,

Ever to be worshiped,

Trusted, and adored.

That’s right! He is.

This stanza 3 is the one that intrigued me upon a second and third reading this morning. What are your thoughts on it?

3. Humbled for a season,

To receive a Name

From the lips of sinners

Unto whom He came,

Faithfully He bore it

spotless to the last,

Brought it back victorious,

When from death He passed.

I have just a few thoughts on this stanza. It speaks of the journey of the name of Jesus, a kind of incarnation, then the stage of passing through life, death, and then even resurrection. The name of Jesus endured all those stages and came back victorious. And, this stanza reminds us that Jesus came for the weak, for the sinners and gave them His name so that they could (as many believers did throughout the ages as recorded in the Bible) call upon Him and be saved. In all Jesus’ life, He didn’t do anything that He could be ashamed of and His precious name was untarnished and could thereby be salvation to so many sinners, and give them hope of a better, brighter future.

The last line reminds me of something else that I heard in passing this week. We need to believe especially in Christ’s resurrection, and in His passing out of death and into life because having such a faith in Christ’s resurrection will empower us to overcome difficulties not by our personal might and gritting of our teeth, but because such a resurrected Christ has a throne in our being, and is ruling and reigning over our personal universe. By this, we can experience such a tremendous resurrection power that boosts us to leap over every obstacle and come out joyful.

Have a blessed start to your weekend, and I hope you all can enjoy a little of the grace and joy and all that is good flowing out of the throne in your hearts!