Hello OCBC family,
“Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” (Romans 5:20).

During my Sunday school class, we are abiding in the book of Romans for several months and it has been a wonderful experience, and the passage that I am sharing right now is a very powerful one. Paul is teaching here that while the Law exposed and even amplified our awareness of sin, God’s grace surpasses it entirely. No matter how great the sin, God’s grace is greater still — not to excuse sin, but to overcome it through the work of Christ.

This passage was the inspiration for Julia H. Johnston to write these words,
“Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.”

Who was Julia H. Johnston? We don’t know too much about her life, just that she was born on January 21, 1849, in Salineville, Ohio. Her father was a pastor, and her mother was a poet. Julia herself became a poet, starting with some simple poems at age of nine, but during high school she became very popular for her writing. She is the author of more than 500 hymns. Her spiritual background was Presbyterian, and her love for missions was big, no wonder why she wrote many hymns about grace, and salvation.

“Dark is the stain that we cannot hide,
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide;
Whiter than snow you may be today.”

The song describes the Christian doctrine of grace and justification by faith articulated in the letter to the Romans in Romans 5:1-2 and 14-16. The name of the melody is ‘Moody” because the composer, Daniel B. Towner, was the director of the music department of Moody Bible Institute.

Johnston worked as a Sunday school superintendent and teacher for over forty years and served as president of the Presbyterian Missionary Society. Julia H. Johnston died in Peoria, Illinois on March 6, 1919 at the age of seventy.

“Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe;
All who are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive?”

This hymn has been a blessing for many believers, and a tool to share the gospel to those who are still in darkness.

“Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.”

Sola Gratia.
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great.” (1 Chronicles 21:13).
“O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.”

This is the first stanza of a very powerful hymn called, “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me God” written by George Matheson, a scotch minister. He was born in Glasgow, March 27, 1842. He was a very smart young man, but he had poor eyesight. Nevertheless, he graduated from Glasgo University at the age of nineteen. But when he started his studies for ministry, he became totally blind.

A great help for him was his own sister. This young lady became a student as well, learning Greek and Hebrew to help her brother during his studies.
Matheson became a faithful preacher, his congregation loved him, but a sad moment came into his personal life. He was engaged with a young lady, but his fiancé, unwilling to be married to a blind man, broke their engagement and returned his ring.

This pain of rejection never left him. Years after, his own sister came with the news that she was engaged and ready to marry a young man, George was happy for her, but his mind went back to his own heartache. It was this moment that he remembered and comforted himself with the idea that God’s love will never leave him. During this sad moment he wrote this hymn.

“O Light that foll'west all my way,
I yield my flick'ring torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine's glow its day
May brighter, fairer be.”

About this hymn, the author tells of its writing:
“It was composed with extreme rapidity, and I felt myself rather in a position of one who was being dictated to than of an original artist. I was suffering from extreme mental distress, and the hymn was the fruit of pain.”

He was a preacher in a small church in Innellan, and during a particular Sunday evening service, when the crowd was very small, he felt discouraged, nevertheless, he preached his very well prepared sermon. In the audience was a visitor for the large St. Bernard’s Church in Edinburg, which was seeking a pastor. In 1886, Matheson became the pastor at St. Bernard’s where he became one of Scotland’s favorite preachers.

“O Joy that seekest me thro' pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow thro' the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to hide from Thee;
I lay in dust life's glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red,
Life that shall endless be.”

Read this hymn and you can find that it is like a small sermon. Use it during your quiet time, it will be a blessing for your soul.
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“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?” (Psalm 27:1)

“Day by day and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best--
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.”

                These words are the first stanza of the very familiar hymn, “Day by Day”, a powerful hymn written by Caroline V. Sandell-Berg, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor. She was born in Frvderyd, Sweden, on October 3, 1832. She was a little fragile in health but very strong in her spirit. She would rather be in her father’s studio than playing outside with her friends.

                She started to write hymns when she was very young, but she became more productive to create hymns after a sad and traumatic experience.

                “Lina” as her relatives called her, was very close to her father and going places with him when he had to preach or minister to people. But one day, Lina and her father were enjoying a boat trip on the east coast of Sweden near Gothenburg when the boat suddenly lurched and she witnessed her father die.

                After this event, Lina processed her grief through Scripture and writing poetry. Many of these poems became hymns. Seven years later, she wrote her best-known hymn, “Day by Day.”

“Ev'ry day the Lord Himself is near me
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He whose name is Counselor and Pow'r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
"As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,"
This the pledge to me He made.”

                She wrote 650 hymns and that is why people started to call her the “Fanny Crosby of Sweden.”

Lina was married to a Stockholm merchant, C. O. Berg in 1867. Sadly, she passed away in 1903 in Stockholm, Sweden.

                You might have a hard time right now, but you can find strength in the Word of God as Lina did, and you can also take this grand old hymn into the day with you.

“Help me then in ev'ry tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a father's hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.”
​
                In His service,
                Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way,
    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah” (Psalm 46:1-3)

                This powerful and beautiful psalm was written by the sons of Korah and it became the inspiration for Martin Luther to write his famous hymn, “Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott” – “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”

Martin Luther was born at Eisleben, November 10, 1483, and went to the University of Erfurt, 1501 (B.A. 1502, M.A.. 1503); became an Augustinian monk, 1505; ordained priest, 1507; appointed Professor at the University of Wittenberg, 1508, and in 1512. Because of his titles and education, normally we think of Luther as a Bible translator, political leader, and theologian, we forget that he was also a great musician. Young Martin grew up listening to his mother singing all the time. He was part of a boys’ choir that sang at weddings and funerals. He became proficient with the flute (recorder).

Before the Protestant Reformation, congregations couldn’t participate in worship, because it was dominated by professional singers and it was in Latin, therefore most of the congregation didn’t know what they were doing during worship time. Martin Luther was determined to restore worship to the German Church. His desire was for the congregation to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to be sung in the vernacular. People now can sing,
“A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and pow'r are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not His equal.”

                Some people called this hymn “The Battle Hymn of the Reformation” but Martin Luther called it “Ein Trost Psalm,” meaning “a psalm of comfort.” He said, “We sing this psalm to praise God for being with us. He miraculously preserves His Word and Christendom against the gates of hell.”

                The melody is very easy to follow, and this is because Luther “borrowed” popular secular melodies for his hymns, and “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” is not an exception.

“Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
The Man of God's own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.
And tho' this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph thro' us:
The Prince of Darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.”

                “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” became very popular among churches, and it became a big influence in classical music. Johann Sebastian Bach, the famous Lutheran classical composer,  wrote a whole cantata for soloists, choir and orchestra, based on Luther’s hymn to celebrate Reformation Day. Georg Telemann wrote a choral arrangement based on the melody of Luther. Felix Mendelssohn used this melody in the last movement of his Symphony No. 5, that he called Reformation.  Giacomo Meyerbeer quoted it in his five-act grand opera Les Huguenots, a sweet drama about the love between a catholic lady and a protestant young man. This drama ended with the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 1572.

                This hymn is a powerful testimony of trusting in God as our refuge for hard moments. Christian, sing this hymn at church, at home, alone, with your family, with all your strength, and trust in God’s words when he says to us,

“‘Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!’
The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah” (Psalm 46:10-11)
“That word above all earthly pow'rs,
No thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Thro' Him who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God's truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.”

                In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.” (Psalm 46:4).

We are very familiar with this psalm, especially because this psalm was used by Martin Luther to create his famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” But it was another person, another believer, that used this hymn to create another beautiful hymn, her name was Frances R. Havergal, and the hymn is “Like a River Glorious.”

Frances R. Havergal was the daughter of W. H. Havergal, a pastor in Astley, Worcestershire. She was born on December 14, 1836. In August 1850, she entered Mrs. Teed's school, whose influence over her was most beneficial. In the following year she said, "I committed my soul to the Saviour, and earth and heaven seemed brighter from that moment."

In 1876, while she was on vacation in the south of Wales, she became sick and suffered inflammation of the lungs. Somebody told her that she might die, and her answer was, “If I am really going, it is too good to be true.” Her hope was always in her Lord. The same year she wrote these lyrics,

“Like a river glorious
Is God's perfect peace,
Over all victorious
In its bright increase;
Perfect, yet it floweth
Fuller ev'ry day;
Perfect, yet it groweth
Deeper all the way.”

Let me share about her last days on this earth from the book “Then Sing My Soul” by James Robison.

                Three years later, while meeting some boys to talk with them about the Lord, she ran into cold, wet weather and became chilled. As her fever grew worse, her family became alarmed. It gradually became apparent that Frances was dying. On Whitsunday, as one of her doctors left the room, he said, “Goodbye, I shall not see you again,”
                “Then you really think I am going?” asked Frances.
                “Yes.”
                “Today?”
                “Probably.”
                “Beautiful,” said Frances. “Too good to be true.”
                Soon afterward she looked up smiling and said, “splendid to be so near the gates of heaven!” She asked her brother to sing some hymns to her, then he said to her, “You have talked and written a great deal about the King, and you will soon see Him in His beauty.”
                “It’s splendid!” she replied. “I thought He would have left me here a long while; but He is so good to take me now.”
                A little later she whispered, “Come, Lord Jesus, come and fetch me.”

Frances Havergal died when she was 42 years old, and she wrote several books and hymns. Beside “Like a River Glorious” she wrote also, “Take My Life and Let It be Consecrated,” “Lord, Speak to Me, that I May Speak,” and “I Gave My Life for Thee.”

“Like a River Glorious” is an example that even during hard times, God gives peace, comfort and inspiration to create words of worship for his glory through weak people.

“Ev'ry joy or trial
Falleth from above,
Trac'd 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 blessed;
Finding, as he promised,
Perfect peace and rest.”
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family, 
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4).

We are very familiar with the hymn “Amazing Grace” and its author John Newton, but perhaps you don’t know that John Newton has more hymns that he wrote while he was a pastor in his local church. One of those hymns is “I Asked the Lord That I Might Grow.”

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and ev'ry grace,
Might more of his salvation know,
And seek more earnestly his face.

'Twas he who taught me thus to pray,
And he, I trust, has answered prayer,
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once he'd answer my request,
And by his love's constraining power,
Subdue my sins and give me rest.

John Newton used various passages to write this hymn, especially James 1:2-4, where we learn that affliction brings maturity to every believer. James is telling us that trials are a normal part of the Christian life, and John Newton knew about this in his very personal life.

Let me just repeat some parts of Newton’s life just to make the point about this passage and his hymn. John Newton was born in a Christian home, but his mother died when he was very young, and he joined his father at sea when John was 11. When he grew up, his life changed, and he became a very unchristian person. He became ungodly that he was a captain of a slave ship. He heard the gospel and his life changed, he accepted the call to be a pastor, proving that his affliction helped him to have joy in his new life.

Instead of this, he made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart
And let the angry powers of Hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea, more with his own hand he seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe,
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Cast out my feelings, laid me low.

Lord, “Why is this?” I trembling cried,
“Will you pursue your worm to death?”
“’Tis in this way,” The Lord replied,
“I answer prayer for grace and faith.”

In the Holman Illustrated Commentary we can read about James’ passage in these words. “Endurance indicates that further work must be done for the purpose of making the believer mature and complete, lacking nothing. Immaturity and incompletion are not acceptable long-term states for the Christian disciple.”

The melody that we are familiar with, people called it an American melody, but its origin is Irish and Scottish, but became popular in the Appalachia, because of immigrants.

Be faithful to the Lord all the time, because He is faithful all the time, and He will help you during your trials.

“These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set you free
And break your schemes of earthly joy
That you would seek your all in me.”
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” (Isaiah 58:11)

The Lord is our guide, that is what the Bible tells us, and as believer we can testified that every single day. As a congregation, we just celebrated our church 40th anniversary and we can say that the Lord guided us with his powerful hand.

This passage reflects the hymn “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” a very well-known Wales hymn. But let me tell you some of the background about this hymn and its author.

The Great Awakening was a revival that affected many parts of the world. In America, the preaching of George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwardas renewed Christian zeal and swept multitudes into the kingdom of God. In England, the open-air evangelism of Whitefield and the Wesley brothers did the same. And in Wales, we had the powerful preaching of Howell Harris and his convert, William Williams.

Rev. William Williams was the son of a farmer, and he was able to graduate as physician, but his life changed when he heard the preaching of Harris, and Williams knew that God was calling him into ministry. He studied for ministry, but refused to take the orders, and started his ministry as an itinerant evangelist. And he traveled many miles during his ministry, and it was not surprising that he wrote these lyrics,

“Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy pow'rful hand;
Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven,
Feed me till I want no more,
Feed me till I want no more.”

His ministry was 43 years long, but now he is remembered more for his hymns than for his sermons. He wrote over 800 hymns, and people started to call him, “ Sweet Singer of Wales” and the “Watts of Wales.”

If you read this hymn, you can see that Williams was using the story of Exodus and the deliverance of the people of Israel by God, and as them, we are pilgrims in this world.

“Open now the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing stream doth flow;
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through;
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
Be Thou still my strength and shield,
Be Thou still my strength and shield.”

When President James Garfield was dying of an assassin’s bullet, his wife started to sing this hymn, and he found comfort on these words with tears in his eyes.

This hymn was sung during the funeral of Princess Diana of England.

Williams passed away when he was 74 years old, but the legacy of his hymn is still touching many lives until now.

Read this hymn during your quiet time and find comfort for hard times.

“When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Bear me thro' the swelling current,
Land me safe on Canaan's side;
Songs of praises, songs of praises
I will ever give to Thee,
I will ever give to Thee.”
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“For God alone my soul waits in silence;
    from him comes my salvation.” Psalm 62:1.

This passage is very powerful and at the same time full of peace, because David is putting his hope in God, but he is doing in silence, waiting on God. In verse two, David called God his rock of salvation, and his fortress.

This passage has been the inspiration for many hymns, and one of them is “Be Still, My Soul.” And the author of this hymn is Katharine von Schlegel, a German poet who was born on 21 October 1697, and her hymns reflected the spirit of the early Pietism, a movement within the Lutheran church. Its emphasis was on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christian life.

“Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side;
bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
in every change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heav'nly Friend
through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.”

The version in English that we are familiar with, was made by Jane Borthwick, a lady for Scotland. With her sister, she worked on a collection of hymns called “Hymns from the Land of Luther.”

This hymn became popular during World War II, bringing peace to soldiers during hard times.

“Be still, my soul; when dearest friends depart,
and all is darkened in the veil of tears,
then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul; thy Jesus can repay
from His own fullness all He takes away.”

The sweet melody is a part of a larger work by Jean Sibelius, a composer from Finland, a poem for orchestra, and it is at the end of this work that we can hear this theme, and latter on became the melody for von Schlegel’s hymn.

I said that this hymn came from Psalm 62:1, but also, it can be an echo of the Psalm 46:10, where is our God who tells us to be still, and that he is our fortress.

10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

OCBC, wait in the Lord, because after all, he is our protection during our hard times, and one day we will reign with him in our eternal home.

“Be still, my soul; the hour is hast'ning on
when we shall be forever with the Lord,
when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul; when change and tears are past,
all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.”

In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family, 
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name's sake.” (Psalm 23;1-3)

When we were little ones, after learning John 3:16, our next passage to memorize was the 23rd Psalm, at least that was my case. This wonderful passage is a Psalm that brings hope and comfort for believers no matter the circumstance. Are we happy? We can read Psalm 23 and find joy that our Lord is leading us, and we don’t need anything else, because he is our supply. Are we sad? We can read Psalm 23 and find comfort, knowing that he is beside us during hard times.

Psalm 23 has been the fountain of inspiration for many artistic disciplines. Paintings, sculptures, poems, classical music, and of course, hymns to be sang by the church, portray the lovely image of our savior Jesus taking care of his sheep.

Psalm 23 was the based for a very familiar hymn, “He Leadeth Me! O Blessed Thought” written by the Baptist pastor called Joseph H. Gilmore. He was the son of a Governor of New Hampshire. He was born on Boston, MA, 1834, and became a pastor in 1862.

During a Wednesday night service at First Baptist Church in Philadelphia, while he was pulpit supplying for a couple weeks, he was teaching about the 23rd Psalm. At the end of the service, while he was talking with some members about his sermon, inspiration came to him and in the back of his sermon notes, he wrote:

“He leadeth me: O blessed thought!
O words with heavenly comfort fraught!
Whate'er I do, where'er I be,
still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.”

He gave this paper to his wife and forgot about these lyrics, but his wife didn’t. She sent it to The Watchman and Reflector, a paper published in Boston. Gilmore’ lyrics were printed without his knowledge, and the paper sent it to William B. Bradbury, a fine hymn composer, and he set the tune that we are familiar with.

Joseph H. Gilmore went to Rochester to preach as a candidate before Second Baptist Church, and while he was in the chapel, he picked up the hymnal, with the curiosity of which hymns this congregation was singing, and he opened it at his own very hymn, “He Leadeth Me.”

“And when my task on earth is done,
when, by thy grace, the victory's won,
e'en death's cold wave I will not flee,
since God through Jordan leadeth me.
He leadeth me, he leadeth me;
by his own hand he leadeth me:
his faithful follower I would be,
for by his hand he leadeth me.”

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.” (Psalm 23:6).

Read this Psalm, sing this hymn, and have an encounter with your Good Shepherd.
​
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,

“1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
    in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
    or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You return man to dust
    and say, ‘Return, O children of man!’
4 For a thousand years in your sight
    are but as yesterday when it is past,
    or as a watch in the night.” (Psalm 90:1-4) (ESV).

Perhaps you are very familiar with the hymn “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” by Isaac Watts. This powerful hymn is Watts’ finest paraphrase of the Psalm 90.

We have talked about Isaac Watts in the past, and we know that he was very smart child, learning Latin when he was four years old, and he was able to write some poetry when he was seven years old. In 1702, he became a pastor, and during his ministry time, he wrote many hymns. Today’s hymn was written in 1719.

“Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home!”

Isaac Watts wrote many hymns to exalt the name of the Lord and they were paraphrases of psalms. "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" expresses a strong note of assurance, promise, and hope in the LORD as recorded in the first part of Psalm 90.

Watts’ original version had nine stanzas, but now we just sing six of them. Also, his original text started as “Our God, our help…” but John Wesley changed it for the version that now we are very familiar with, “O God, our help…”

“A thousand ages in your sight
Are like an evening gone,
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.”

The melody is a solemn tune, and the composer was William Croft, and was originally created to be sang for the 42 Psalm but now it is more familiar with Watts’ 90 Psalm. And it became so popular that even Johann Sebastian Bach composed a prelude and fugue for organ, based on this melody. Also, George Frederich Handel created a choral piece using this hymn.

In England, this hymn became almost like a second national anthem, because British people use this hymn during national occasions, after all, Isaac Watts is called the “Father of the hymn in English language.”

“Time, like an ever-rolling stream
bears all its sons away;
they fly forgotten, as a dream
dies at the op’ning day.
O God, our Help in ages past,
our Hope for years to come,
be Thou our Guard while life shall last,
and our eternal Home!”

During our hard time, difficult moments, let us sing Isaac Watts’ hymn with assurance, knowing that our God is our help, our hope, our guard, and our eternal home.
​
In His service,
Israel