Hello OCBC family.  Let me start my article with a passage.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
    of whom shall I be afraid?

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.

Psalm 27:1, 4 (ESV).

Henry Francis Lyte was born at Ednam, near Kelso, June 1, 1793, and educated at Portora (the Royal School of Enniskillen), and at Trinity College, Dublin, of which he was a Scholar, and where he graduated in 1814.  He became a pastor who labored for twenty-three years in a poor church in a fishing village in Devonshire, England.  He had a talent for poetry, and he wrote many poems that became hymns.  But he is famous for a particular one: “Abide with Me.”

When he wrote this hymn, he was suffering from tuberculosis and asthma, and eventually he died because of these diseases.  In fact, this was the last hymn that he wrote, and the inspiration came from the passage of Jesus walking with two disciples on the road of Emmaus.  In this lovely passage, the disciples, not knowing that they were talking with Jesus Himself, asked Him “Abide with us for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent” (Luke 24:29) (KJV).

It was “eventide” for Lyte when he penned these lyrics, and his only consolation was to ask his Lord “Abide with Me.”

Normally the hymnals omit the fourth original verse; let me share it with you.

I fear no foe with you at hand to bless,
though ills have weight, and tears their bitterness.
Where is death's sting? Where, grave, your victory?
I triumph still, if you abide with me.

Lyte was not alone, and we are not alone even in our darkest time.  Our Lord is with us, “the help of the helpless,” the one who never changes, our guide and security.  He will never leave us nor forsake us.

In His service.

Israel.

We are beginning to prepare music for the spring/Easter. We need voices, especially men. We can provide child care if somebody needs it. Please let me know.

In Christ, Israel

Hello OCBC family.  During my devotional time, normally I have background music, and this morning I was listening the Master’s Chorale’s rendition of “Lead On, O King Eternal” and want to share with you about this lovely hymn.

The author was Ernest Warburton Shurtleff.  He was born in Boston, Mass., April 4, 1862. He was educated at Boston Latin School, Harvard University, and Andover Theological Seminary. It was in 1887 when he graduated from Andover Seminary, and because he had already written four books of poems his classmates asked him to write a new one for graduation day.  Instead, he wrote a hymn for the entire graduating class to sing.  The name of the hymn, “Lead On, O King Eternal.”

He told his fellow seminarians, “We’ve been spending days of preparation here at seminary.  Now the day of march has come, and we must go out to follow the leadership of the King of kings, to conquer the world under His banner.”

For us, we can use this hymn as a prayer to our God, asking Him to lead us every moment, every day.  Maybe we are not graduating from a seminary right now, but in our daily tasks we need the guidance of our gentle Shepherd; pray this prayer today.

Lead on, O King eternal,
the day of march has come;
henceforth in fields of conquest
your tents will be our home.
Through days of preparation
your grace has made us strong;
and now, O King Eternal,
we lift our battle song.

Lead on, O King Eternal,
till sin's fierce war shall cease,
and holiness shall whisper
the sweet amen of peace.
For not with swords' loud clashing
or roll of stirring drums
with deeds of love and mercy
the heavenly kingdom comes.

Lead on, O King eternal;
we follow, not with fears,
for gladness breaks like morning
where'er your face appears.
Your cross is lifted o'er us,
we journey in its light;
the crown awaits the conquest;
lead on, O God of might.

In His service.

Israel.

Hello OCBC family.  2015 is here and we don’t know what it will be, but one thing we know for sure is that the Lord will be with us every hour of this new year.  He is the only one who can give us peace; He gave peace to Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879).  She was a devout Bible scholar and a poet.

In 1876, while she was on vacation in south Wales, she caught a severe cold with inflammation of the lungs.  Her friends thought that she might die, and when she heard this sad news, her answer was: “If I am really going, it is too good to be true.”  Her friends were amazed about the peace that Frances had in the Lord.  She did survive that illness and later on the same year, she got the inspiration for a hymn about the peace that the believer might have in God.  She based her new hymn on the words of the book of Isaiah chapter 26, verse 3: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

Yes, she trusted in her Lord every day of her life, therefore she was able to say:

Like a river glorious, is God’s perfect peace,
Over all victorious, in its bright increase;
Perfect, yet it floweth, fuller every day,
Perfect, yet it groweth, deeper all the way.

Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand,
Never foe can follow, never traitor stand;
Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care,
Not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there.

Every joy or trial falleth from above,
Traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love;
We may trust Him fully all for us to do.
They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true.

Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.

May this prayer be our prayer for this year.

In His service.

Israel.