Hello OCBC family,
“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God.” (Job 19:25-26).

Easter was last week, and what a celebration as believers we had, celebrating the conquering of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ over death. To celebrate Easter, my favorite hymn for the season is “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” by Charles Wesley, but my second favorite hymn for Resurrection Sunday is “I Know that My Redeemer Lives” by Samuel Medley.

This hymn is based on the words of Job, when he shared his assurance on his Redeemer to his friends. “For I know” is a powerful sentence in the words of Job and for Samuel Medley.

Samuel Medley was born June 23, 1738, in an English village. His father and grandfather were very devoted Christians, but Samuel was far away from a relationship with the Lord. He joined the British navy, but during war he was very wounded, and had to retire from the navy. At that time, somebody shared with him a sermon by Isaac Watts, the “Father of the Hymn in English” and this sermon lead Samuel to a real conversion. He became a faithful pastor, and a very prolific hymn writer.

“I know that my Redeemer lives;
what comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives, who once was dead;
He lives, my everlasting Head.”

On this lovely hymn, the second powerful phrase that Samuel uses is “He lives” just to describe what our Lord Jesus did for us, what our Savior is doing for us, and what our Redeemer will do for us. After the first stanza, Sameul Medley says over and over “He lives.”

“He lives triumphant from the grave,
He lives eternally to save,
He lives all-glorious in the sky,
He lives exalted there on high.
“He lives, my kind, wise, heav'nly Friend,
He lives and loves me to the end;
He lives, and while He lives, I'll sing;
He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King.”

The melody that we use is the famous melody called “DUKE STREET” a tune that we use to sing the hymn “Jesus Shall Reign” (a hymn by Isaac Watts, by the way).

Dear brothers and sisters, during this Easter season repeat to yourself and others that He lives, and he can save people from their sins.

“He lives, all glory to His name!
He lives, my Jesus, still the same.
Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives,
‘I know that my Redeemer lives!’”
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
 “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” (Isaiah 53:4). It is Holy Week, a time to remember the last week of our Savior, Jesus Christ, before his passion. The passage of Isaiah 53 is telling us about this perfect sacrifice, this servant (Isaiah 52:13), who will take over him the iniquity of us all.

This passage has been used for centuries as inspiration for many musical works and hymns. The hymn that I want to share with you is one that has recently become a favorite of mine; “Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted.”

This hymn was written by Thomas Kelly; he was born in Dublin, July 13, 1769, and educated at Trinity College, Dublin. His father was a judge in Dublin. In 1792, his life had been changed and started to preach in a very evangelical way in Dublin. Many religious leaders did not agree with his style and tried to stop him from preaching. He was able to share the good news even in a secular place. We must understand that at that time, religious leaders said that the gospel can only be preached in consecrated buildings. Having seceded from the Established Church, he erected places of worship at Athy, Portarlington, and Wexford, in which he conducted divine worship and preached.

“Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
see Him dying on the tree!
'Tis the Christ by man rejected;
yes, my soul, 'tis He, 'tis He!
'Tis the long-expected Prophet,
David's Son, yet David's Lord;
by His Son God now has spoken;
'tis the true and faithful Word.”

The melody is a German tune, in minor key, which helps to the spirit of this mourning hymn. The melody comes from a German chorale text, "O mein Jesu, ich muss sterben" (O my Jesus, I must die).

“Ye who think of sin but lightly,
Nor suppose the evil great;
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed!
See who bears the awful load!
'Tis the Word, the Lord's anointed,
Son of man, and Son of God.”

Please, use this hymn as part of your quiet time, and rejoice in our Lord for this perfect sacrifice.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.’ (Isaiah 53:6).

In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“ When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in an uproar, saying, ‘Who is this?’ The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’” This passage tells us about the famous episode in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ when he came into Jerusalem and received a public praise from people of Jerusalem. This happened just a few days before his passion. This coming Sunday we will celebrate what is called “Palm Sunday” and we will sing a very traditional and familiar hymn, that was written to celebrate this glorious event, “All Glory, Laud and Honor.”

“All glory, laud, and honor
To Thee, Redeemer, King,
To whom the lips of children
Made sweet hosannas ring,
Thou art the King of Israel,
Thou David's royal Son,
Who in the Lord's name comest,
The King and Blessed One.”

The author of this hymn was Theodulph of Orleans, a bishop that was born in Spain or Italy; historians are not sure about this. He was born around 750 AD. He moved to France as a church leader at Charlemagne’s request. Because of some political problems that he was not part of, authorities sent him to prison. During that time, he wrote this hymn, which originally had 78 verses. Let me share with you what Ellen Jane Lorenz said about how this hymn became very popular.

On Palm Sunday the King of France, Louis the Pious, was walking beneath the prison window, and was so delighted when he heard Theodulph singing the hymn that he ordered his release. Another version of the story is that Theodulph taught it to seven boys, who posted themselves along the road by which the king was to pass, and thus earned Theodulph’s release.

“The company of angels
Are praising Thee on high,
And mortal men and all things
Created make reply.
The people of the Hebrews
With palms before Thee went;
Our praise and prayer and anthems
Before Thee we present.”

The melody is a German melody by Melchoir Teschner from the 17th century.

There are several hymns about Palm Sunday, but this is my favorite one, especially for the last stanza that we are familiar with. Please, this coming Sunday, sing with all your strength this hymn and praise our Lord Jesus who came in the name of the Lord.

“To Thee, before Thy passion,
They sang their hymns of praise;
To Thee, now high exalted,
Our melody we raise.
Thou didst accept their praises;
Accept the praise we bring,
Who in all good delightest,
Thou good and gracious King.”

“And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.” (Matthew 21:9).
​
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, Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind.” (Psalm 104:1-3).

This Psalm was part of the Anglo-Genevan Psalter (1561), and Robert Grant used it as inspiration for his famous hymn, “O Worship the King.”
Grant is using Psalm 104 to worship God as the King of creation, who rules everywhere.

Robert Grant was born in Bengal, India, 1779 and died in Dalpoorie, India, 1838. His father was a director of the East India Company. He received education in Cambridge, and he was a member of the British Parliament. He wrote several hymns, but “O Worship the King” is the most familiar one.

“O worship the King all-glorious above,
O gratefully sing his power and his love:
our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days,
pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.”

The melody that we loved to sing, for many years was attributed to Johann Michael Haydn, brother of the very famous German composer, Franz Joseph Haydn. But after some investigations, the melody is a composition by Joseph Martin Kraus, who was a fine composer and close friend of F. J. Haydn.

The hymn has, originally, six stanzas, but in our modern hymnals, we have just four stanzas, nevertheless, let me share with you the “original” final stanza.

“O mea­sure­less might! In­ef­fa­ble love!
While an­gels de­light to hymn Thee above,
The hum­bler cre­ation, though fee­ble their lays,
With true ado­ra­tion shall all sing Thy praise.”

This is a wonderful expression of worship and praise to our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.

“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.”

Have a blessed week.
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
 “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” 1 Jon 3:1. What a wonderful passage about the love of God toward us. The love of God has been the inspiration for many hymns and worship songs through centuries, and I want to share with you about a wonderful and very familiar hymn that uses the love of our Heavenly Father as a theme; “The Love of God.” 

This hymn was written by a German American pastor, Frederick M. Lehman, born in Pasadena, California. He became a Christian when he was eleven years old, and eventually, Frederick entered the ministry and was a faithful pastor in churches in the Midwest; but his greatest love was gospel music, and he created five songbooks.

Later, his finances were bad, and he found himself working in a packing factory in Pasadena, moving thirty tons of lemons and oranges a day. It was during this time that some lyrics came to his mind.

“The love of God is greater far
than tongue or pen can ever tell;
it goes beyond the highest star,
and reaches to the lowest hell.
The wand'ring child is reconciled
by God's beloved Son.
The aching soul again made whole,
and priceless pardon won.”

And then,
“When ancient time shall pass away,
and human thrones and kingdoms fall;
when those who here refuse to pray
on rocks and hills and mountains call;
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
all measureless and strong;
grace will resound the whole earth round--
the saints’ and angels’ song.”

After work, he went home and sat at the piano and started to compose the melody that we know these days. But he has a “problem.” During that time, it was a norm that every hymn must have three stanzas. Then he remembered a poem that he heard in a sermon, and he used it for the third stanza of this hymn.

“Could we with ink the ocean fill,
and were the skies of parchment made;
were ev’ry stalk on earth a quill,
and ev’ryone a scribe by trade;
to write the love of God above
would drain the ocean dry;
nor could the scroll contain the whole,
though stretched from sky to sky.”

But who wrote this stanza? According to Frederick, he heard that these lyrics were found on the wall of an insane asylum by an unknown inmate. Maybe someone did find it there, but now we know that these words were part of a eleven-century Jewish poem, and its author was Meir Ben Isaac Nehorai.

This wonderful hymn, like I always say, is wonderful to use as a part of your quiet time. Worship the Lord, because of His love now we can be called children of God.
“O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure--
the saints’ and angels’ song.”
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“May be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:18-19.

There is a old poem in Latin called, “Jesu dulcis memoria” and its author was Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090-1153). He was the son of a knight, from a very wealthy family. His desire was to follow a military career, but he was very sick when he was young, then he became a monk. He founded a famous monastery near Clairvaux. He became a very powerful preacher in his era, and is remembered as a pious man. Even Martin Luther admired him, and said, “Bernard, the best monk that ever lived, whom I admire beyond all the rest put together.”

This poem was translated into English, and now we know it as the famous hymn, “Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee.” The text expresses the feeling of joy and bliss that only Christ can provide.

“Jesus, the very thought of Thee
with sweetness fills my breast;
but sweeter far Thy face to see,
and in Thy presence rest.”

Let me share with you some excerpts from his writing and sermons:

• I was made a sinner by deriving my being from Adam; I am made righteous be being washed in the blood of Christ.
• You wish me to tell you why and how God should be loved. My answer is that God Himself is the reason He is to be loved.

Bernard was not a perfect man, but he served a perfect God, and we can see his love for his Savior through his hymns and sermons. We just sang another of his hymns last Sunday, “O Sacred Head Now Wounded.”
Please, use “Jesus, the Very thought of Thee” for your quiet time and adore our wonderful Savior, Jesus the Christ.

“Jesus, our only Joy be Thou,
as Thou our Prize wilt be;
Jesus, be Thou our Glory now
and through eternity.”
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
Psalm 27:4-5 says, “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.” (ESV). 

This Psalm was one of Fanny Crosby favorites, because she was blind since she was a little girl, and like David, many times she felt alone, in darkness, but it was her Lord who give her comfort. You can read or sing many of her hymns, and you will find that she uses the picture of the Lord as her refuge. “Hide me” (Psalm 17:8b, “hide me in the shadow of your wings”), “Shelter” (Psalm 31:20, “In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.”). Inspiration came and she wrote, “He Hideth My Soul.”

“A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
A wonderful Savior to me;
He's hiding my soul in the cleft of the rock,
Where rivers of pleasure I see.”

Another image that she uses a lot is the Rock, but not just for her but for many Christians through the centuries. And who is the Rock? Jesus himself. An explosion of praises will be in our lips, knowing that he will protect us, that he will cover us, that he will protect us.

“With numberless blessings each moment he crowns
And fills with his fullness divine;
I sing in my rapture, oh, glory to God
For such a Redeemer is mine.”

Enjoy this lovely hymn during your quiet time.

“He's hiding my soul in the cleft of the rock
That shadows a dry, thirsty land;
He's hiding my life in the depths of his love
And cov'ring me there with his hand,
And cov'ring me there with his hand.”
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
 “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.” (Psalm 17:8) This is a very sweet and powerful verse, showing us that God is always taking care of His children. And this was one of the verses that Charles Wesley used to penned one of his famous hymns, “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.”  

Charles Wesley was converted in 1738 and wrote this hymn shortly thereafter. Some people said that while he was riding his horse, going to a different town to share the Good News, he wrote this lovely hymn. This activity was not new for Charles Wesley; in fact, he wrote many of his hymn while he was traveling to preach the gospel somewhere else. It was published under a title, “ In Temptation” in 1740.

“Jesus, lover of my soul,
Let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high:
Hide me, O my Savior, hide,
Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide;
O receive my soul at last.”

You can see how deep the language of the hymn is, that even Charles’ own brother, John, did not want to publish it, because he thought that this poem was not good for a public worship service, especially for the use of the word Lover; this is just a speculation.

“Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
More than all in Thee I find:
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
Heal the sick and lead the blind:
Just and holy is Thy name,
I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am,
Thou art full of truth and grace.”

This hymn has been popular for many people and groups, especially for sailors, because of the picture of the storm and tempest on the sea. Use this hymn as your personal prayer, call the Lord as your Savior, and he will be with you during trials and troubles. He is faithful.

“Plenteous grace with Thee is found,
Grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound;
Make and keep me pure within:
Thou of life the fountain art,
Freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart,
Rise to all eternity.”
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
 “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:8a). This is a very wonderful and powerful passage, and this is the verse that was the inspiration for Keith Getty and Margaret Becker to write a lovely modern hymn, “Jesus, Draw Me Ever Nearer.”

You are very familiar with Keith Getty’s name, after all, he and his wife wrote a vast number of modern hymns with a sound doctrine, “In Christ Alone”, “My Worth Is Not in what I Own”, and many more. He composed the melody for this hymn while his friend, Margaret Becker, wrote the lyrics. She is from Bay Shore, New York, and she started her musical career as a rock singer, but she transitioned to more like pop music style, working with several Christian artists, including Keith Getty.

This is a prayer that became a hymn, encouraging us to trust in the Lord during our trials and troubles.

The second stanza is a powerful picture that our Lord will be our guide even during the tempest, like he was with the disciples over 2,000 years ago.

“Jesus guide me through the tempest;
Keep my spirit staid and sure.
When the midnight meets the morning,
Let me love You even more.”

What comfort we can have, knowing that the Lord who calmed the wind and the sea, is the same Lord that will calm our storms.
This modern hymn closed with this refrain, that reminds us that we are on a journey, but one day we will be with our Lord forever.

“May this journey bring a blessing,
May I rise on wings of faith;
And at the end of my heart’s testing,
With Your likeness let me wake.”

“ Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:12-13)
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19). This is the commandment that our Lord gave us, to preach the gospel everywhere. And this was the call to many men and women through the centuries to preach the good news of salvation. A very famous missionary is this young man who was born in A.D. 373 in a place that now we call Scotland. His father was a deacon and his grandfather a priest, and his name was Patrick. When Patrick was 16 years old, pirates came to his little town and took him to Ireland as slave. There is when he gave his life to the Lord Jesus.

He wrote this as a testimony. “The Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God.”

Patrick eventually escaped and returned home, but his life was not the same, and now he had a love for missions and to preach the gospel in the land where he was a slave, Ireland.

When he was 30 years old, he returned to Ireland with just one book, the Latin Bible. His preaching touched many lives, and the church in Ireland became a reality; even his former captors became Christians. His testimony and influence and his preaching in Ireland were so strong, that he received opposition from the Druids, nevertheless, the gospel was growing. According to tradition, Patrick planted 200 churches and baptized several thousand new converts.

The church in Ireland produced many hymns, poems, sermons, and songs of worship, and in the eighth century, an unknown poet wrote these lyrics.
Rop tú mo baile, a Choimdiu cride:
ní ní nech aile acht Rí secht nime.
Rop tú mo scrútain i l-ló 's i n-aidche;
rop tú ad-chëar im chotlud caidche.

In 1905, Mary Elizabeth Byrne translated the poem, and became the very familiar hymn, “Be Thou My Vision.” Also, Eleanor Hull prepared the version that we know now.

“Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Be all else but naught to me, save that Thou art;
Be Thou my best thought in the day and the night,
Both waking and sleeping, Thy presence my light.
High King of heaven, Thou heaven's bright Sun,
O grant me its joys, after vict'ry is won;
Great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be Thou my vision, O Ruler of all.”

Please, use this hymn as a prayer, asking the Lord to be your Vision, your Wisdom, your Father, your Breastplate, your Sword for the fight, your Armor, your Shelter, your strong Tower, your King.
​
In His service,
Israel