Hello OCBC family,
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2)

This passage is part of a song of worship by Isaiah, a passage that points out that God is our salvation, therefore we can trust in Him, even during difficult times. As a musician, this passage gives me some words of encouragement, because Isaiah says that Lord Jehovah is my (our) strength but also my (our) song. Therefore, when we sing praises to the Lord, we say that he is our strength and our salvation. This is a wonderful picture of the joy of the people when Jesus comes to reign over the earth. And this passage is the basis for the hymn that we sang last week, “I Greet Thee Who My Sure Redeemer Art.”

“I greet Thee, who my sure Redeemer art,
my only trust and Savior of my heart,
who pain didst undergo for my poor sake;
I pray Thee from our hearts all cares to take.”

This loved hymn has a deep theology, and the author is putting all his trust in the Lord alone. But, who wrote this hymn? For many years, hymnologists thought that this hymn was written by John Calvin, but it is not true. The connection of the French theologian with this hymn is because it became very popular in the Genevan Psalter created in 1551, but the hymn itself was written in 1545.

“Thou art the King of mercy and of grace,
reigning omnipotent in every place:
so come, O King, and our whole being sway;
shine on us with the light of thy pure day.”

The lyrics that we sing in our worship services were written by Elizabeth L. Smith, born in 1817, daughter of Dr. W. Allen, President of Dartmouth University. Then she married in 1843 to Dr. H. B. Smith, who became Professor in Union Theological Seminary, New York, in 1850. She translated many hymns into English.

“Thou art the Life, by which alone we live,
and all our substance and our strength receive;
O comfort us in death's approaching hour,
strong-hearted then to face it by Thy pow'r.”

The tune is a very easy tune to sing, and it was originally used to sing a meter version of Psalm 124. The name of the tune is Toulon. The composer was Louis Bourgeois, a French musician that wrote many melodies for the Genevan Psalter.

“Thou hast the true and perfect gentleness,
no harshness hast Thou and no bitterness:
make us to taste the sweet grace found in Thee
and ever stay in Thy sweet unity.”

Let me share with you the words of Paul from Galatians 1:4, “Who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.”

“Our hope is in no other save in Thee;
our faith is built upon Thy promise free;
O grant to us such stronger hope and sure
that we can boldly conquer and endure.”

Trust in the Lord, dear brother and sister, don’t be afraid, he is your strength, your song, and your salvation.
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20).

In this passage, we see our position during the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ and the result of this. God looks at us as if we had died with Christ, and because our sins die with him, we are no longer in condemnation. We became one with Christ. We were dead in our sins, but now we are alive in Him. What a wonderful message for us. Nevertheless, we must crucify our sinful desires daily and follow our Master.

This is the message of this modern hymn, “My Worth Is Not in What I Own.”

“My worth is not in what I own,
Not in the strength of flesh and bone.
But in the costly wounds of love
At the cross.

My worth is not in skill or name,
In win or lose, in pride or shame,
But in the blood of Christ that flowed
At the cross.”

This hymn was written as response to the contemporary culture that we are living in right now. Our modern society thinks that fame and strength of flesh are the purpose of life. But for the believers, our strength is in Christ alone.

The authors of this hymn are the Gettys, Keith and Kristyn, modern hymn writers, and their close friend, Graham Kendrick. The Gettys are from the United Kingdom, and even though we are living in a time where Christian music has poor theology, the Gettys have worked hard to prepare modern hymns with sound doctrine, and today’s hymn is the proof of that.

“As summer flowers, we fade and die;
Fame, youth, and beauty hurry by,
But life eternal calls to us
At the cross.

I will not boast in wealth or might,
Or human wisdom's fleeting light,
But I will boast in knowing Christ
At the cross.”

The Gettys, in their new hymnal “Sing”, say this about their own hymn. “This hymn sets our focus on the cross as the place where we understand our full identity and value. It uniquely helps us to join the dots between the gospel and our time, talents, and treasure.”

“Two wonders here that I confess;
My worth and my unworthiness,
My value fixed, my ransom paid
At the cross.

I rejoice in my Redeemer,
Greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul.
I will trust in Him, no other;
My soul is satisfied in Him alone.”

Let the words of the apostle Paul echo in your own lives. “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” (Romans 8:10).
​
In His service,
Israel
 

Hello OCBC family,
“Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! While I live I will praise the LORD; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.” (Psalm 146:1-2).

This wonderful Psalm is part of the last five Psalms of the Psalter, and the mark of these five psalms is that each one begins and end with the phrase, “Praise the Lord” (Hallelujah). This is an anonymous psalm, but some scholars believed that David was the author, and the reason is because on Psalm 103, which is by David, used almost the same words at opening, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.” (Psalm 103:1). The psalmist is encouraging to the people of Israel to don’t trust in princes but in the Lord, and this is a message for our own time. We must trust in the Lord during hard times and not on something else. Why? Because “the LORD will reign forever.” (v. 10).

This message from the psalm is the same message of the hymn of the blind author Fanny Crosby, “Praise Him! Praise Him!”

“Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Sing, O earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! hail Him! highest archangels in glory,
Strength and honor give to His holy name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children;
In His arms He carries them all day long:
Praise Him! praise Him! tell of His excellent greatness!
Praise Him! praise Him! ever in joyful song!”

Fanny Crosby was very popular in her time because she was a very prolific poet and hymn writer. She was always writing a new poem or hymn for her personal collection or for some songbooks. This hymn, for example, was written for a children songbook. Pay attention to the lyrics, that even thought this hymn was written for children, it has a sound doctrine.

“Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
For our sins, He suffered and bled and died;
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him! hail Him! Jesus the crucified:
Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows,
Love unbounded, wonderful, deep, and strong
Praise Him! praise Him! tell of His excellent greatness!
Praise Him! praise Him! ever in joyful song!”

Perhaps you heard me in the past saying this about Fanny Crosby, but she wrote over eight thousand hymns.

The melody of this hymn is called “Joyful Song” by Chester G. Allen, a music educator and a publisher of several songbooks for Sunday school material.

“Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Heav'nly portals loud with hosannas ring!
Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever;
Crown Him! crown Him! prophet and priest and King!
Christ is coming, over the world victorious,
Pow'r and glory unto the Lord belong:
Praise Him! praise Him! tell of His excellent greatness!
Praise Him! praise Him! ever in joyful song!”

Trust in the Lord always and sing a joyful song for his glory.

“Praise the LORD.” (Psalm 146:10b).
​
In His service,
Israel