Hello OCBC family,
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 – NKJV).

This sweet call from our Lord Jesus Christ is because He knows we are in spiritual bankruptcy. He knows that humanity tries to save itself, following its own rules, or precepts that rather than bringing it closer to God, distance it from its Creator, and become a heavy burden. Pay attention that His first sentence in this passage is, “Come to Me.” This is an invitation to trust in Jesus personally and not just to know about Him. He will deliver us from a heavy laden, but in the next verse He tells us to take His yoke upon us. Is this a contradiction? By no means. Heavy laden is the Law and its precepts, hard to carry, but Jesus’ yoke is to be His disciple, and this will give us rest through simple commitment to Him.

Jesus’ invitation is to hear His voice and obey. This verse was the inspiration to Horatius Bonar to write down his hymn, “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say.”
I heard the voice of Jesus say,

“Come unto Me and rest;
lay down, thou weary one, lay down
thy head upon My breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was,
so weary, worn, and sad;
I found in Him a resting place,
and He has made me glad.

Horatius Bonar was born on 19 December 1808 in Edinburgh. His education was obtained at the High School, and the University of his native city. He was ordained to the ministry in 1837. He was pastor of the Establish Church of Scotland, but later he became a pastor of the Free Church of Scotland. In his family there was a long list of ministers and pastors.

He married Jane C. Bonar, and they had nine children, but sadly, five of them died in succession. He became very popular as hymnwriter and wrote several books for devotional reading.

In the hymn that we are checking today, Horatius wrote this poem as a testimony, but not focusing on him but in the work of Jesus Christ. Notice that Bonar starts each verse with “I heard” but suddenly he turns the attention to Jesus and His words and call.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Behold, I freely give
the living water, thirsty one;
stoop down, and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank
of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
and now I live in Him.

Horatius had a great love for children, and his goal was to make many of his hymns easy to understand to little ones. We must use this hymn to teach our little ones about biblical truths.

 First verse "Come unto Me and rest" — based on Matthew 11:28–30.

Second verse "I freely give the living water" — based on John 4:10–14 and John 7:37–38.

Third verse "I am this dark world's Light" — based on John 8:12.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“I am this dark world’s Light;
look unto Me, thy morn shall rise,
and all thy day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found
in Him my Star, my Sun;
and in that Light of life I’ll walk,
till trav'ling days are done.

Let us continue singing this hymn that is more than 175 years old.
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

This verse is part of Peter’s message before the rulers, elders, and scribes. Peter and John had been arrested because they were preaching about Jesus and the resurrection (v. 2). The following day, these leaders asked them, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Peter’s response was a bold proclamation of Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection, and the exclusivity of salvation through faith in Him. Peter’s words make it unmistakably clear that salvation is found in no one else. There is only one Savior, one way of salvation, and one name by which sinners can be reconciled to God: Jesus Christ.

Perhaps Peter’s declaration also brings to mind the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, when our Lord said: “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13–14).

Peter’s message still powerful today, and it was powerful at the time of John Newton, when he wrote a loved hymn, “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds.”

I guess I don’t have to repeat to you about John Newton and his life and transformation after his encounter with Jesus, but just to remember, John Newton was a former slave trader, and Jesus found him, and he “was blind, but now he can see.”

“How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer's ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away His fear,
And drives away His fear.”

Newton’s purpose in this hymn is to show that the name of Jesus is not merely a name that is sweet to pronounce or mention. Rather, the sweetness of His name is found in the person and character of Christ revealed through His name. To speak of the name of Jesus is to speak of Jesus Himself—who He is, what He has done, and all that He is to His people.

Another stanza declares that Jesus is the Rock where we can run and find protection, and John Newton make this image very beautiful.

“Dear name--the rock on which I build,
My shield and hiding place;
My never-failing treasure, filled
With boundless stores of grace,
With boundless stores of grace.”

The last stanza, in most of hymnals, describes Jesus with many of His offices.

“Jesus, my shepherd, brother, friend,
My prophet, priest, and King.
My Lord, my life, my way, my end,
Accept the praise I bring,
Accept the praise I bring.”

The theme of this hymn will be our theme in glory for all eternity, because we will adore this same Jesus, and His sweet name.
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11 – NKJV).

This powerful and beautiful passage exalts our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. God the Father give Him a name which is above all names, the sweet name of Jesus, and this is a call to the whole creation to worship Jesus Christ as Lord.

Many scholars believe that this section in this Pauline letter is a Pre-Pauline hymn, and Paul used this ancient song to explain about Christ’s humility and exaltation.

These verses became the inspiration to Baylus Benjamin McKinney (1886–1952) to write down the hymn “Glorious Is Thy Name.” McKinney was a Baptist hymn writer, music editor, teacher, and church musician. For several years he was a music teacher in Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, in Fort Worth. He was the editor of the Broadman Hymnal, a very popular hymnal in the first half of the 20th century.

McKenney divided “Glorious Is Thy Name” into four themes. The first stanza is about adoration.

“Blessed Saviour, we adore thee;
we thy love and grace proclaim.
Thou art mighty; thou art holy.
Glorious is thy matchless name!”

The second stanza points to the work of our Lord Jesus the Christ, the redemption.

“Great Redeemer, Lord and Master,
light of all eternal days,
let the saints of every nation
sing thy just and endless praise!”

In the third stanza, McKinney is focusing on Incarnation and Atonement.

“From the throne of heaven's glory
to the cross of sin and shame,
thou didst come to die a ransom,
guilty sinners to reclaim!”

Lastly, McKinney focuses in the fourth stanza about Christ’s return and kingship.

“Come, O come, immortal Saviour,
come and take thy royal throne.
Come, and reign, and reign forever;
be the kingdom all thine own!”

B. B. McKinney’s hymn is an explosion of adoration to our Lord and Master, and we can repeat the words of the refrain as a response of worship.

“Glorious, is thy name, O Lord!”

Please, use this hymn as part of your quiet time, and worship your God and Savior.
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“Who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.” (1 Peter 3:22 – NKJV).

Peter shares this verse with us, which concludes this section on suffering for doing good. First, he encourages us not to do evil for evil; moreover, he encourages us to bless others because that is what we have been called to do. “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” (3:9). Even so, Peter encourages us to be ready to defend our faith, to be prepared to correct those who have a question about our faith. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” (3:15). And Peter tells us “For it is better to suffer for doing good.” Why?

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” (3:18). What a passage, closing with our first verse, pointing out that he was a witness, at least of the first part, “who has gone into heaven” which reminds us of the verses of Acts 9-11, “And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.  And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,  and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’” This Jesus, who is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him” is the same Jesus that we adore and also the same Jesus that inspired Edward Perronet to write down his famous and powerful hymn “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.”

This hymn first appeared as an anonymous work in The Gospel Magazine, edited by Augustus Toplady (the author of “Rock of Ages”). Later, it was revealed that the author was Edward Perronet. His grandparents were protestant and they had to flee Catholic France, first going to Switzerland, then to England. There Edward’s father became a vicar of the Anglican Church, and Edward followed his example several years after.

He became a close friend of the Wesleys, traveling with them and preaching on the streets. His goal was to bring glory to God through his preaching of the gospel.

“All hail the power of Jesus' name!
Let angels prostrate fall.
Bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him Lord of all!”

In some point, Edward broke with the Wesleys over various Methodist policies, and John Wesley excluded Perronet’s hymns from Methodist hymnals. Then he became a pastor of a small independent church in Canterbury.

“O seed of Israel's chosen race
now ransomed from the fall,
hail him who saves you by his grace,
and crown him Lord of all.
Hail him who saves you by his grace,
and crown him Lord of all!”

Edward died on January 22, 1792. His last words were: Glory to God in the height of His divinity!  Glory to God in the depth of His humanity! Glory to God in His all-sufficiency! Into His hands I commend my spirit.

The hymn is a call to worship Jesus but also is a call to share the gospel.

“Let ev'ry kindred, ev'ry tribe,
On this terrestrial ball,
To Him all majesty ascribe,
And crown Him Lord of all;
To Him all majesty ascribe,
And crown Him Lord of all.”

Remember the words of Hebrews 1:6,
“Let all God's angels worship him.”
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“I will extol you, my God and King,
    and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you
    and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
    and his greatness is unsearchable.” (Psalm 145:1-3).

This wonderful psalm is the last psalm written by David; after this psalm, the rest of them are anonymous. This is a personal invitation from David to extol and celebrate the King of Eternity for who He is, what He has done, and what He has promised. This psalm is an acrostic design using the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet for each stanza. If we use a musical term, this psalm goes in crescendo of praise that completes the Psalter and might be called “The Final Hallel” (Psalms 145-150).

This psalm has been inspiration for many composers through the ages from Gregorian chants to classical composers, to western culture to native culture from different countries and cultures, and for hymn writers. One of these hymn writers is Charles Wesley.

He wrote the famous and loved hymn “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.” Charles Wesley is the brother of the famous methodist preacher John Wesley. Being ordained in the Church of England, Charles (and John as well), did not have assurance about his personal salvation. It was through the preaching of Moravian pastors that he became a real believer. One of these pastors was Peter Böhler. This pastor said one time, “Had I a thousand tongues, I would praise Christ with them all.”

Because of this phrase and using Psalm 145, Charles Wesley wrote his popular hymn.

“O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer's praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!”

Charles wrote this hymn for the first anniversary of his conversion, May 1738. The hymn was placed first in John Wesley's A Collection of Hymns for the People Called Methodists published in 1780.

Originally this hymn had 18 stanzas, but now, most of the hymnals just publish 4, 5 or 6 stanzas. There are many stanzas that have a strong language that might not be good for a worship service, or perhaps, yes. Let me share with you, stanza 15 and 16,

“Harlots, and publicans, and thieves,
In holy triumph join!
Saved is the sinner that believes,
From crimes as great as mine.

Murderers, and all ye hellish crew,
Ye sons of lust and pride,
Believe the Savior died for you;
For me the Saviour died.”

Another wonderful stanza is this one,

“He breaks the pow'r of canceled sin,
He sets the pris'ner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.”

On this stanza, Wesley is telling us that the gospel justifies and sanctifies and believers are freed from sin's dominion.

Let us join our voices to celebrate our Master and God, because He saved us from our sin.

“My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread thro' all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name.”

In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty.” (Psalm 104:1).

In this psalm, like in psalm 103, the psalmist is calling his own soul to bless the Lord, to worship the true God. The psalmist called God great, and pictures him clothed with honor and majesty, a similar picture of the vision of Isaiah, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.” (Isaiah 6:1).

The whole psalm is telling us that our God is the King of the universe, that He is the Ruler of His creation, and that He is the King of kings.

Because of the study about this psalm, Robert Grant wrote the very familiar hymn, “O Worship the King.”

Robert Grant was born in Bengal, India in 1779, and he received his education at Magdalene College, Cambridge. He became a member of the Parliament and served as governor of Bombay (now Mumbai, India).

He was a member of the Anglican Church, with a very evangelical spirit, very devout and a follower of Christ. Being a citizen of the British Empire, he was very familiar with royalty and monarchy, but because he was a true believer, he knew that the real King was Jesus and not William IV.

“O worship the King, all glorious above,
And gratefully sing His wonderful love;
Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,
Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.”

Robert Grant used verses 2 and 3 to write the second stanza,

“O tell of His might, O sing of His grace,
Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space!
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.”

And my favorite stanza is the last one, with a clear message, the contrast of human weakness with God's unfailing faithfulness.

“Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail:
Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.”

Robert Grant, being part of the parliament, he advocated to remove the civil disabilities imposed on Jewish people in Britain.

He was Judge Advocate General in 1832, and his hymn was published in 1833, and he was knighted in 1834. Soon thereafter, he returned to Bombay to be the governor there. He died there on July 9, 1838. He was a knight of the British Empire, a member of the Parliament, governor in India, a medical college was named after him, but now we remember him for the powerful hymn that calls us to worship the King of kings.

In His service,
​
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” (Psalm 127:1 – NKJV)

This beautiful psalm is part of a group of psalms called “The Song of Ascents”, several psalms that the people of Israel used to sing while they were going to Jerusalem to celebrate the national festival three times per year. We call these psalms “The Song of Ascents” because in the title of them we can find the Hebrew word for stairs, which some take to mean “ascending to Jerusalem” and because Jerusalem is on the mountain. These “Song of Ascents” are from psalm 120 to psalm 134, and Jewish people used them during their pilgrim journey to remember God’s faithfulness to the people of Israel.

Psalm 127 is unique among the Songs of Ascents because it is attributed to Solomon rather than David. In this psalm, Solomon teaches us that whatever efforts we undertake, if the Lord is not involved, our labor is ultimately in vain. This psalm reminds us to make God our priority in every area of life.

This same passage was the inspiration for Dustin Kensrue to write this modern hymn that we love to sing here at OCBC, “All Glory Be to Christ.”

Kensrue was a worship pastor but now has a career of a solo artist. His style started as a rock musician, but while he was pastoring his style became more like a contemporary style. It is in 2012 that he wrote this hymn. Like many people around the world, he was familiar with the melody of the traditional song, “Auld Lang Syne”, a popular song to sing during the New Year’s Eve, but Kensrue, while he loved the melody, did not agree with the lyrics, at least to be sang during a worship gathering, then he wrote the new words that we are familiar with now.

“Should nothing of our efforts stand,
No legacy survive,
Unless the Lord does raise the house,
In vain its builders strive.
To you who boast tomorrow’s gain,
Tell me, what is your life?
A mist, it vanishes at dawn,
All glory be to Christ!”

This stanza reminds us that any effort without God is futile. We need Christ in every area of our lives, because without Him we are nothing.

The second stanza tells us that Christ is the fulfilment of human longing. He is the Messiah that came, and we can rejoice that He is part of our lives.

“His will be done, His kingdom come,
On earth as is above.
Who is Himself our daily bread,
Praise Him the Lord of love.
Let living waters satisfy
The thirsty without price.
Come eat of Him, our Living Bread,
All glory be to Christ!”

And the third stanza is about our future in glory with Christ. We cannot picture this yet, to see the great I AM in all His glory, and us, worshiping the Lamb of God for all eternity.

“When on the day, the great I Am,
The Faithful and the True,
The Lamb who was for sinner’s slain,
Is making all things new.
Behold our God shall live with us,
And be our Steadfast Light,
And we shall e’er His people be,
All glory be to Christ!”

And the hymn ends with a powerful doxology, a doxology that I encourage you to sing during your quiet time.

“All glory be to Christ our King,
All glory be to Christ.
His rule and reign we'll ever sing,
All glory be to Christ!”

“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 22:1-5).
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.” (Revelation 19:12 – NKJV).

This passage is the glorious picture of the worship in heaven to our Lamb. I don't know your eschatological position, and we could disagree, but one thing is certain, our Lord is coming back a second time, and we will all worship him for all eternity. Notice that in the book of Revelation, we can read that on the head of the rider of the white horse (v. 11) are many crowns, or diadem as we can read in ESV version, and this represents that our Savior is the King of kings and Lord of lords. And this verse is the basis for the hymn "Crown Him with Many Crowns."

We love to sing this hymn but there is something that you might not know about the author and his spiritual journey. The author of this hymn is Matthew Bridges, a British poet who was born on July 14, 1800, Maldon, Essex, England. He was educated in the Church of England, and he was very critical about the Roman Catholic Church, until he became in contact with the Oxford Movement and the influence of John Henry Newman, and he converted into catholic church, in 1848.

During this transition time between Anglicanism and Catholicism, he wrote this hymn. He thought of his hymn as a sermon in song, based on Revelation 19:12.

“Crown Him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon His throne,
Hark! how the heav'nly anthem drowns
All music but its own;
Awake, my soul, and sing
Of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King
Thro' all eternity.”

Bridges’ idea was to exalt Christ’s triumph at the end of time. Nevertheless, in the original second stanza, we can see some catholic influence after his conversion.

“Crown him the Virgin's Son,
the God incarnate born,
whose arm those crimson trophies won
which now his brow adorn:
Fruit of the mystic Rose,
as of that Rose the Stem;
the Root, whence mercy ever flows,
the Babe of Bethlehem.”

Anglican clergyman Godfrey Thring later revised and expanded it, creating the version most familiar today. The original work of Bridges had six stanzas, but with the addition of Thring, the hymn ended with twelve stanzas. And it is very notorious that each stanza starts with the phrase “Crown Him…” and from hymnal to hymnal, the number of stanza and their order change.

• Stanza 1: Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne…
• Stanza 2: Crown Him the virgin’s Son, the God incarnate born…
• Stanza 3: Crown him the Lord of love, behold His hand and side…
• Stanza 4: Crown Him the Lord of peace, whose power a scepter sways…
• Stanza 5: Crown Him the Lord of years, the Potentate of time…
• Stanza 6: Crown Him the Lord of Heaven, one with the Father know…
• Stanza 7: Crown Him with crowns of gold…
• Stanza 8: Crown Him the Son of God, before the worlds began…
• Stanza 9: Crown Him the Lord of light…
• Stanza 10: Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed over the grave…
• Stanza 11: Crown Him the Lord of lords, who over all doth reign…
• Stanza 12: Crown Him the Lord of heaven, enthroned in worlds above…

Yes, this is a glorious hymn to sing, and I will close my article with my favorite stanza, a vision that I believe we will see in heaven.

“Crown Him the Lord of love;
Behold his hands and side,
Those wounds, yet visible above,
In beauty glorified:
All hail, Redeemer, hail!
For Thou hast died for me:
Thy praise and glory shall not fail
Thro-out eternity.”
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15).

The book of Revelation tells us in this passage that this seventh angel played his trumpet, announcing the arrival of the King. His judgment is at hand, God is in control and he unleashes his full wrath on the evil world that refuses to turn to him. But, for the believers, that day will be a day of rejoicing, a day when we can adore our heavenly King, Jesus the Christ.

“Look, ye saints! the sight is glorious:
See the Man of Sorrows now;
From the fight returned victorious,
Ev'ry knee to Him shall bow;
Crown Him, crown Him, Crown Him, crown Him,
Crown Him, crown Him.
Crowns become the Victor's brow,
Crowns become the Victor's brow.”

This hymn, not too familiar in modern churches, was written by Thomas Kelly, a prolific Irish hymnist, who gave us over 750 hymns. People called him the “Isaac Watts” of Ireland.

Thomas Kelly, following his father’s desire, started his studies of law in the Dublin University, but during his studies, he changed his interest to study Hebrew, which led him to study the Scriptures. He left the study of law, committed his life to Christ, and began studying theology.

Kelly was ordained into the Anglican church in 1792 and became friends with open-air evangelist, Rowland Hill, an evangelist that complained about the slow music at church, and the necessity of upbeat tempo in the hymns. Because of this friendship and his own desire to do the same thing at the church, Kelly was suspended from ministry and forbidden to preach.

“Crown the Savior! angels, crown Him;
Rich the trophies Jesus brings;
In the seat of pow'r enthrone Him,
While the vault of heaven rings:
Crown Him, crown Him, Crown Him, crown Him,
Crown Him, crown Him.
Crown the Savior King of kings,
Crown the Savior King of kings.”

Because he could not preach in the Anglican church, Kelly became a Dissenter-a non-Anglican preacher, sharing his sermons in a very passionate way, working with poor people in Ireland; he became a local hero.

At age of eighty-six, and ready to die, his prayer was, “Not my will, but Thine be done.” A friend was reading to him the 23rd Psalm, and in his last whisper, he said, “The Lord is my all.”

This hymn, “Look, Ye Saints! The Sight Is Glorious” was written to be used for Ascension Day, a day when some denominations, celebrate and remember the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ forty days after Easter.

Repeat the refrain once again, proclaiming Jesus as your King. “Crown Him, crown Him.”
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
Measured heaven with a span
And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?
Weighed the mountains in scales
And the hills in a balance?
13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or as His counselor has taught Him?
14 With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him,
And taught Him in the path of justice?
Who taught Him knowledge,
And showed Him the way of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:12-14).

This is powerful passage from Isaiah, showing us that the Creator of the whole world, the one that can put the whole ocean in His hand and measure heaven with a span, is the same God that cares for us personally, knowing everything about us. Now, He is our Creator, like the rest of creation, including unbelievers, but for us, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, He is our Father. We can rest in this assurance and praise His holy name, and tell others, “Behold Our God.”

Yes, “Behold Our God” the hymn that we love to sing here at Oak Crest, is a contemporary hymn based on this same passage of Isaiah. Is a product of Ryan Baird, Jonathan Baird, Meghan Baird and Stephen Altrogge, three siblings and a friend. They composed this hymn during a retreat, and at the beginning some people didn’t like it. God proved that they were all wrong. They tested this hymn in their own church, just with the first two stanzas and the refrain, and their congregation loved it. The only correction they received came from the Baird siblings’ own father. "You need to write a verse about Jesus and his sacrifice." And so, the third verse was born.

This hymn is so rich in doctrine. For example, this hymn teaches us about God’s sovereignty – God rules over nations, kings, and the whole creation. Also, this hymn points to God’s incomparability – there is none like him. Christ-centered worship – the third stanza moves from God’s creation to Christ’ atoning work.

1 Who has held the oceans in His hands?
Who has numbered every grain of sand?
Kings and nations tremble at His voice
All creation rises to rejoice

2 Who has given counsel to the Lord?
Who can question any of His words?
Who can teach the One Who knows all things?
Who can fathom all His wondrous deeds?

3 Who has felt the nails upon His hands
Bearing all the guilt of sinful man?
God eternal humbled to the grave
Jesus, Savior risen now to reign!

So, the next time you sing this powerful modern hymn, declare to the whole world,
“Behold our God seated on His throne
Come, let us adore Him
Behold our King! Nothing can compare
Come, let us adore Him!”

In His service,
Israel