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This key passage on congregational singing describes a true New Testament church, which is the only kind of church that can sing after the fashion that God has commanded. It is a church in which all of the members are born again and indwelt by the Spirit and in whom the Word of Christ dwells richly in all wisdom. This is not a biblically shallow church. It is not a church in which only a few of the members are serious Bible students. It is not a church that knows the Scripture only intellectually. It is a church that knows the Scripture in all practical wisdom, a church in which the Word of God is transforming the lives of God’s people so that they are lights in a dark world. It is a congregation that exercises the “one another” ministry of teaching and admonishing that is further described in Ephesians 4:11-16. We urge churches to sing the Psalms as God commands and to continually expand their repertoire of songs and hymns to include an ever-increasing number of those of challenging theological depth.
Emma Frances Bevan (1827-1909), the daughter of an Anglican pastor, wrote hymns in English and translated a series of hymns from German. The later were published in a volume called Songs of Eternal Life. She was converted by the Bible teaching of banker Robert Bevan, who was a member of the Brethren denomination. They were married when she was 27 and had nine children, three sons and six daughters. They spent their winters in Cannes, in the south of France, and their summers in England.
“Christ Receiveth Sinful Men”
Author: Erdmann Neumeister (1718); Trans. Frances Bevan
Sinners Jesus will receive:
Sound this word of grace to all
Who the heav'nly pathway leave,
All who linger, all who fall.
Chorus:
Sing it o'er and o'er again
Christ receiveth sinful men.
Make the message clear and plain:
Christ receiveth sinful men.
2 Come, and He will give you rest;
Trust Him, for His word is plain;
He will take the sinfulest;
Christ receiveth sinful men. [Chorus]
3 Now my heart condemns me not,
Pure before the law I stand;
He who cleansed me from all spot
Satisfied its last demand. [Chorus]
4 Christ receiveth sinful men,
Even me with all my sin;
Purged from ev’ry spot and stain,
Heav’n with Him I enter in. [Chorus]
Music Score PDF
https://hymnary.org/media/fetch/147308
“Midst the Darkness, Storm, and Sorrow”
Author: Gerhardt Tersteegen; Trans. Frances Bevan
Tune: Almaden, 8.5.8.5 D
1 ’Midst the darkness, storm, and sorrow,
One bright gleam I see;
Well I know the blessed morrow
Christ will come for me.
’Midst the light, and peace, and glory
Of the Father’s home,
Christ for me is watching, waiting,
Waiting 'til I come.
2 Long the blessed Guide has led me,
By the desert road;
Now I see the golden towers,
City of my God.
There amidst the love and glory
He is waiting yet;
On His hands a name is graven
He can ne’er forget.
3 Who is this, who comes to meet me,
On the desert way,
As the Morning Star foretelling
God’s unclouded day?
He it is who came to win me,
On the cross of shame;
In His glory well I know Him
Evermore the same.
4 O the blessed joy of meeting,
All the desert past,
O the wondrous words of greeting
He shall speak at last!
He and I together ent'ring
Those fair courts above;
He and I together sharing
All the Father’s love.
Music Score PDF and audio file
https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/964
Music score to another tune (Almaden)
https://hymnary.org/media/fetch/187511
“On the Lamb Our Souls Are Resting” (“In the Cross of Christ I Glory”)
Julian Anton von Poseck (1816-1896); Trans. Frances Bevan
Tune: Rhineland, 8.7.8.7., W. Brockhaus
Tune: Rathbun, Ithamar Conkey
Tune: Zurich
Tune: Take the World, but Give Me Jesus
On the Lamb our souls are resting,
What His love no tongue can say;
All our sins, so great, so many,
In His blood are washed away.
Sweetest rest and peace have filled us,
Sweeter praise than tongue can tell;
God is satisfied with Jesus,
We are satisfied as well.
Conscience now
no more condemns us,
For His own most precious blood
Once for all has washed
and cleansed us ---
Cleansed us in the eyes of God.
Filled with this sweet peace for ever,
On we go, through strife and care,
Till we find that peace around us
In the Lamb's high glory there.
Music score
https://hymnary.org/hymn/MLHB1920/page/224
Tune score, Rhineland
https://www.brethrenarchive.org/hymnology/recordings/hymn-tunes/rhineland/
Tune audio Rhineland
https://bibletruthpublishers.com/on-the-lamb-our-souls-are-resting/little-flock-hymnbook-57/lkh57LFHB
Tune score, Rathbun
https://www.ccel.org/cceh/0000/000070a.pdf
Tune score, Zurich
http://eog.kulp.ch/PDF/eogsized/EOG171.pdf
Tune
http://saintsserving.net/song.php?id=61
Tune audio
https://www.brethrenarchive.org/hymnology/recordings/spiritual-songs-1978/57/
“God in Heaven Hath a Treasure”
Frances Bevan
Tune Gloaming, 8.7.8.7 D
1 God in heaven hath a treasure,
Riches none may count or tell;
Hath a deep eternal pleasure,
Christ, the Son, He loveth well.
God hath here on earth a treasure,
None but He its price may know—
Deep, unfathomable pleasure,
Christ revealed in saints below.
2 Christ, the Light that fills the heavens,
Shining forth on earth beneath,
Through His Spirit freely given,
Light of life ’midst shades of death.
Down from heav’n’s unclouded glory
God Himself the treasure brought,
Closing thus His love’s sweet story
With His sweetest, deepest thought.
3 God in tongues of fire descending,
Chosen vessels thus to fill
With the treasure never ending,
Ever spent—unfailing still.
Still unwasted, undiminished,
Though the days of dearth wear on,
Store eternally unfinished,
Fresh, as if but now begun.
4 Earthen vessels, marred, unsightly,
But the treasure as of old,
Fresh from glory, gleaming brightly,
Heav’n’s undimmed, unchanging gold.
God’s own hand the vessel filling
From the glory far above,
Longing hearts forever stilling
With those riches of His love.
5 Thus, through earthen vessels only,
Shining forth in ceaseless grace,
Reaching weary hearts and lonely,
Beams the light in Jesus’ face.
Vessels worthless, broken, bearing
Through the hungry ages on,
Riches giv’n with hand unsparing,
God’s great gift, His precious Son.
6 Thus though worn, and tried, and tempted,
Glorious calling, saint, is thine;
Let the Lord but find thee emptied,
Living branch in Christ the Vine!
Vessels of the world’s despising,
Vessels weak, and poor, and base;
Bearing wealth God’s heart is prizing,
Glory from Christ’s blessed face.
7 Oh, to be but emptier, lowlier,
Mean, unnoticed, and unknown,
And to God a vessel holier,
Filled with Christ, and Christ alone!
Naught of earth to cloud the glory,
Naught of self the light to dim,
Telling forth His wondrous story,
Emptied—to be filled with Him.
Music score and audio
https://hymnary.org/media/fetch/110313
Midi and audio files
https://hymnary.org/tune/gloaming_anonymous
https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/589
“Above and Below”
Trans. Frances Bevan, 1899
Tune: Wilson by Mendelssohn, 8.7.8.7
In the bosom of the Father,
Centre of His endless love,
In the light and in the glory,
Thus in Christ I dwell above.
Filling up His bitter sufferings,
Drinking of His cup of woe,
And rejoicing as I do it,
Thus with Christ I walk below.
There above I rest, untroubled,
All my service to adore;
Cross and shame and death and sorrow
Left behind for evermore.
Therefore am I never weary
Journeying onward through the waste;
And the bitter Marah waters
Have but sweetness to my taste.
While He tells the wondrous secret
Of His perfect love to me,
While His heart’s exhaustless fulness
In His blessed face I see;
Can there be but joy and glory
In His Cross and shame below?
Sweet each mark of His rejection;
Where His steps are, I must go.
One the path, and one the sorrow—
Path the angels cannot tread;
Sorrow giving sweet assurance
We are members, He the Head,
Blessed path that ends to-morrow
In the place where He is gone;
Thus, the silver trumpets sounding,
Through the waste we journey on.
Music score
https://www.ccel.org/cceh/0007/000743a.pdf
Audio file
https://hymnary.org/media/fetch/185793
“Lord Jesus, All My Sin and Guilt”
Author: Gerhard Tersteegen; Trans. Frances Bevan
Tune: Carol by Richard Willis, 8.6.8.6 D (“It Came upon a Midnight Clear”)
Lord Jesus, all my sin and guilt
Love laid of old on Thee,
Thy love the cross and sorrow willed,
Love undeserved by me.
The victory over death and hell
Thou, Lord, for me didst win;
And Thou hast nailed upon Thy Cross
All, all my sin.
The way into the Holiest Place
Stands open now to me;
Where I can see Thy glorious Face,
Nor tremble thus to see.
For as I am to Thee I come,
I clasp Thy blessed Feet,
And learn the mystery of love
So deep, so sweet.
Enfolded, O my Lord, in Thee,
And hid in Thee I rest,
Enwrapped in Christ’s own purity
Secure upon Thy breast.
Had I an Angel’s raiment—fair
With heavenly gems unpriced,
That glorious garb I would not wear,
My robe is Christ.
Music score PDF
https://www.ccel.org/cceh/0000/000086a.pdf
Tune midi, audio
https://hymnary.org/text/lord_jesus_all_my_sin_and_guilt#tune
Arrangements
https://hymnary.org/tune/carol_willis
“The Race of God’s Anointed Priests”
Author: Gerhard Tersteegen; Trans. Frances Bevan
Tune: Alida
1 The race of God’s anointed priests
Shall never pass away;
Before His glorious face they stand,
And serve Him night and day.
Though reason raves, and unbelief
Flows on, a mighty flood,
They are, and shall be, till the end
The hidden priests of God.
2 His chosen souls, their earthly dross
Consumed in sacred fire,
To God’s own heart their hearts ascend
In flame of deep desire;
The incense of their worship fills
His temple’s holiest place;
Their song with wonder fills the heavens,
The glad new song of grace.
Music score PDF
https://hymnary.org/media/fetch/187523
“My High Tower”
Author: Paul Gerhardt, 1697, Trans. Frances Bevan
Tune: 8.7.8.7
1. Is God for me? I fear not, though all against me rise; I call on Christ my Saviour, the host of evil flies. My friend the Lord Almighty, and he who loves me, God, what enemy shall harm me, though coming as a flood?
2. I know it, I believe it, I say it fearlessly, that God, the Highest, Mightiest, for ever loveth me; at all times, in all places, he standeth at my side, he rules the battle fury, the tempest and the tide.
3. A Rock that stands for ever is Christ my Righteousness, and there I stand unfearing in everlasting bliss; no earthly thing is needful to this my life from Heaven, and nought of love is worthy, save that which Christ has given.
4. Christ, all my praise and glory, my Light most sweet and fair, the ship wherein he saileth is scatheless everywhere; in him I dare be joyful, a hero in the war, the judgment of the sinner affrighteth me no more.
5. There is no condemnation, there is no hell for me, the torment and the fire my eyes shall never see; for me there is no sentence, for me has death no stings, because the Lord who saved me shall shield me with his wings.
6. Above my soul's dark waters his Spirit hovers still, he guards me from all sorrow, from terror and from ill; in me he works and blesses the life-seed he has sown, from him I learn the Abba, that prayer of faith alone.
7. And if in lonely places, a fearful child, I shrink, he prays the prayers within me I cannot ask or think; in deep unspoken language, known only to that Love who fathoms the heart's mystery from the Throne of Light above.
8. His Spirit to my spirit sweet words of comfort saith, how God the weak one strengthens who leans on him in faith; how he hath built a City, of love, and light, and song, where the eye at last beholdeth what the heart had loved so long.
9. And there is mine inheritance, my kingly palace-home; the leaf may fall and perish, not less the spring will come; as wind and rain of winter, our earthly sighs and tears, till the golden summer dawneth of the endless Year of years.
10. The world may pass and perish, thou, God, wilt not remove – no hatred of all devils can part me from thy Love; no hungering nor thirsting, no poverty nor care, no wrath of mighty princes can reach my shelter there.
11. No angel, and no Heaven, no throne, nor power, nor might, no love, no tribulation, no danger, fear, nor fight, no height, no depth, no creature that has been or can be, can drive me from thy bosom, can sever me from thee.
12. My heart in joy upleapeth, grief cannot linger there – while singing high in glory amidst the sunshine fair; the source of all my singing is high in Heaven above; the Sun that shines upon me is Jesus and his Love.
Music Score PDF
https://www.christmysong.com/1697/jtr1697en4_is_God_for_me_i_fear_not.pdf
“Wilt Thou, Sinner, Be Converted?”
Author: Mechthild of Magdeburg; Trans. Frances Bevan
Tune: 8.7.8.7
Wilt thou, sinner, be converted?
Christ the Lord of glory see
By His own denied, deserted,
Bleeding, bound, and scourged for thee.
Look again, O soul, behold Him
On the cross uplifted high;
See the precious life-blood flowing,
See the tears that dim His eye.
Love has pierced the heart that brake,
Loveless sinner, for thy sake.
Hearken till thy heart is broken
To His cry so sad and sweet,
Hearken to the hammer smiting
Nails that pierce His hands and feet.
See the side whence flows the fountain
Of His love and life divine,
Riven by a hand unthankful—
Lo! that hand is thine.
See the crown of thorns adorning
God’s belovèd, holy Son;
Then fall down in bitter mourning,
Weep for that which thou hast done.
Thank Him that His heart was willing
So to die for love of thee;
Thank Him for the joy that maketh
This world’s joy but gall to be.
And till thou in Heaven adore Him
Fight for Him in knightly guise,
Joy in shame and scorn and sorrow;
Glorious is the prize!
“From the Palace of His Glory”
Frances Bevan
Tune: Halle, 8.7.8.7 by K. Muller
From the palace of His glory,
From the home of joy and love,
Came the Lord Himself to seek us;
He would have us there above.
There from that eternal brightness
Have His thoughts flowed forth in love;
He in His great love would have us
Ever there with Him above.
Trembling, we had hoped for mercy—
Some lone place within the door;
But the crown, the throne, the mansion
All were purposed long before.
And in past and distant ages,
In those courts so bright and fair,
Ere we were, was He rejoicing,
All He won with us to share.
Tune score Halle
https://www.brethrenarchive.org/hymnology/recordings/hymn-tunes/halle/
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