John R. Franke, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1-2 Samuel, The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: Old Testament Volume 4 (Downers Grove: IVP, 2005), xxxii + 458pp., ISBN 9780830814749.
John Franke edited the volume on Joshua to 2 Samuel in the Ancient Christian Commentary Series. Links to the general introduction, the introduction to the volume on Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and 1-2 Samuel, as well as selected commentary from 1 Samuel are available on the publisher’s website.
The early church fathers saw links and parallels between Joshua and Jesus, such that Joshua is understood as a type of Christ; likewise with Samuel and David, with Ruth being seen as a type of the church. Running commentaries on Old Testament historical books are rare in writings of the early fathers, so most of the excerpts in the volume are taken from theological and pastoral treatises, sermons and letters.
Franke’s Introduction is helpful in providing an orientation to the interpretive rationale of early Christian readers as well as an introduction to some of the most significant interpreters. The most significant of these was Origen (xviii-xxiii), but Franke offers thumbnail sketches of eight others: Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great (xxiii-xxvii).
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Saturday, 30 May 2009
John H. Walton on Genesis 1
John H. Walton, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate (Downers Grove: IVP, 2009), 192pp., ISBN 9780830837045.
IVP (USA) make available the Prologue and Introduction and Chapter 1 as samples of what looks like an interesting and helpful treatment of Genesis 1 in its ancient Near Eastern context.
John H. Walton (formerly at Moody, now at Wheaton), writing as someone committed to the authority of Scripture, emphasises a reading of the text at ‘face value’ (‘read it as the ancient author would have intended and as the ancient audience would have heard it’, 92) rather than making it ‘speak science’ or play to the tune of contemporary scientific agendas.
He argues that Genesis 1 is less concerned with providing information about the creation of the material structures of the world and more concerned with showing that the cosmos functions as God’s temple.
The book is structured around the following eighteen propositions embracing ancient Near Eastern cosmology and perspectives on creation, the main features of the text of Genesis 1, and their significance for Christian engagement with science.
Proposition 1
Genesis 1 is Ancient Cosmology
Proposition 2:
Ancient Cosmology is Function Oriented
Proposition 3:
‘Create’ (Hebrew bara) Concerns Functions
Proposition 4:
The Beginning State in Genesis 1 is Nonfunctional
Proposition 5:
Days One to Three in Genesis 1 Establish Functions
Proposition 6:
Days Four to Six in Genesis 1 Install Functionaries
Proposition 7:
Divine Rest is in a Temple
Proposition 8:
The Cosmos is a Temple
Proposition 9:
The Seven Days of Genesis 1 Relate to the Cosmic Temple Inauguration
Proposition 10:
The Seven Days of Genesis 1 Do Not Concern Material Origins
Proposition 11:
‘Functional Cosmic Temple’ Offers Face-Value Exegesis
Proposition 12:
Other Theories of Genesis 1 Either Go Too Far or Not Far Enough
Proposition 13:
The Difference Between Origin Accounts in Science and Scripture is Metaphysical in Nature
Proposition 14:
God’s Roles as Creator and Sustainer are Less Different Than We Have Thought
Proposition 15:
Current Debate About Intelligent Design Ultimately Concerns Purpose
Proposition 16:
Scientific Explanations of Origins Can Be Viewed in Light of Purpose, and if so, are Unobjectionable
Proposition 17:
Resulting Theology in This View of Genesis 1 is Stronger, Not Weaker
Proposition 18:
Public Science Education Should Be Neutral Regarding Purpose
IVP (USA) make available the Prologue and Introduction and Chapter 1 as samples of what looks like an interesting and helpful treatment of Genesis 1 in its ancient Near Eastern context.
John H. Walton (formerly at Moody, now at Wheaton), writing as someone committed to the authority of Scripture, emphasises a reading of the text at ‘face value’ (‘read it as the ancient author would have intended and as the ancient audience would have heard it’, 92) rather than making it ‘speak science’ or play to the tune of contemporary scientific agendas.
He argues that Genesis 1 is less concerned with providing information about the creation of the material structures of the world and more concerned with showing that the cosmos functions as God’s temple.
The book is structured around the following eighteen propositions embracing ancient Near Eastern cosmology and perspectives on creation, the main features of the text of Genesis 1, and their significance for Christian engagement with science.
Proposition 1
Genesis 1 is Ancient Cosmology
Proposition 2:
Ancient Cosmology is Function Oriented
Proposition 3:
‘Create’ (Hebrew bara) Concerns Functions
Proposition 4:
The Beginning State in Genesis 1 is Nonfunctional
Proposition 5:
Days One to Three in Genesis 1 Establish Functions
Proposition 6:
Days Four to Six in Genesis 1 Install Functionaries
Proposition 7:
Divine Rest is in a Temple
Proposition 8:
The Cosmos is a Temple
Proposition 9:
The Seven Days of Genesis 1 Relate to the Cosmic Temple Inauguration
Proposition 10:
The Seven Days of Genesis 1 Do Not Concern Material Origins
Proposition 11:
‘Functional Cosmic Temple’ Offers Face-Value Exegesis
Proposition 12:
Other Theories of Genesis 1 Either Go Too Far or Not Far Enough
Proposition 13:
The Difference Between Origin Accounts in Science and Scripture is Metaphysical in Nature
Proposition 14:
God’s Roles as Creator and Sustainer are Less Different Than We Have Thought
Proposition 15:
Current Debate About Intelligent Design Ultimately Concerns Purpose
Proposition 16:
Scientific Explanations of Origins Can Be Viewed in Light of Purpose, and if so, are Unobjectionable
Proposition 17:
Resulting Theology in This View of Genesis 1 is Stronger, Not Weaker
Proposition 18:
Public Science Education Should Be Neutral Regarding Purpose
Friday, 29 May 2009
Yitzhak Berger on Ruth and the David-Bathsheba Story
Yitzhak Berger, ‘Ruth and the David-Bathsheba Story: Allusions and Contrasts’, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 33.4 (2009), 433-52.
Allusions and links between Ruth and the Judah-Tamar incident of Genesis 38 have been well documented and provoked some discussion. Yitzhak Berger looks here at links between Ruth and the David-Bathsheba story of 2 Samuel 11, particularly arguing that ‘the author of Ruth sought to cast the troubling depiction of David in the Bathsheba affair… as a departure from the authentic, unblemished character of the Judean royal lineage’ (436-37).
Allusions and links between Ruth and the Judah-Tamar incident of Genesis 38 have been well documented and provoked some discussion. Yitzhak Berger looks here at links between Ruth and the David-Bathsheba story of 2 Samuel 11, particularly arguing that ‘the author of Ruth sought to cast the troubling depiction of David in the Bathsheba affair… as a departure from the authentic, unblemished character of the Judean royal lineage’ (436-37).
Kevin J. Vanhoozer on Theology, Culture and Hermeneutics
Kevin J. Vanhoozer, ‘The World Well Staged? Theology, Culture, and Hermeneutics’, in D.A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge (eds.), God and Culture: Essays in Honor of Carl F.H. Henry (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), 1-30.
We don’t have a God’s-eye view, and so must interpret, playing the role of critic and actor at the same time (1).
And the word as well as the world has to be interpreted (2). Theology is in the business of cultural interpretation.
And, of course, theologians are themselves culturally located.
Vanhoozer explores the role of theology in the interpretation of culture, and our culture of interpretation. He reviews the ways in which culture has been interpreted by some theologians, historians, sociologists, and philosophers. Theology, he argues, needs to be an interpreter and critic of culture, but also needs to champion a counterculture that should be embodied in ‘ecclesial existence’ – the church (2).
‘It is only as we interpret Scripture that we will be able to establish an effective counterculture, which itself will be the most effective critique of the dominant culture. Ultimately, the interpretation that counts most is one’s “performance” of the biblical text. The theologian as interpreter-critic is thus a player on the stage of world history’ (4).
Towards the end of the essay, he returns to this theme. He argues that theology (carried out by the hermeneutical community of the church) must be involved in the reconstruction of culture.
‘Hermeneutics… involves not only the explanation of textual meaning but also its appropriation. It is not enough to explain what a text means; one must decide what it means today. Meaning must be applied – to the church, to the world, to oneself. Hermeneutics, in the broadest sense of the term, pertains not only to “hearing” but also to “doing” the word. The most important interpretation of the Bible is the way we live our lives. We appropriate the meaning of a text when we let its world into ours, when we put its pages into practice. We apply a text’s meaning to our lives when we perform the text. Our response to a text constitutes its “lived meaning” (26).
Echoing George Lindbeck and the postliberal school, Vanhoozer writes:
‘The believing community “reads” the world in the light of the Word of God. In other words, the church interprets the world and the surrounding culture through the lens of the biblical text. But just as importantly, its hermeneutics of faith issues in a community performance of the biblical text. To repeat: it is not enough to hear and understand; one must also appropriate the meaning of a text and “do” the words. To understand the Bible properly is to “follow” it, and this in two senses: first, we follow a text when we understand it, when we grasp its meaning. But “follow” also means going along a particular path or way. To follow the word in this sense is to put it into practice, to perform it. The hermeneutics of faith demands nothing less than discipleship. Faith comes from hearing and reading the Word of God. To have Christian faith means having your thinking, imagining, language, and life shaped by the biblical texts – by biblical law, wisdom, songs, apocalyptic, prophecy, gospel, and doctrine. These literary forms are constitutive of Christian identity and practice alike’ (29).
We don’t have a God’s-eye view, and so must interpret, playing the role of critic and actor at the same time (1).
And the word as well as the world has to be interpreted (2). Theology is in the business of cultural interpretation.
And, of course, theologians are themselves culturally located.
Vanhoozer explores the role of theology in the interpretation of culture, and our culture of interpretation. He reviews the ways in which culture has been interpreted by some theologians, historians, sociologists, and philosophers. Theology, he argues, needs to be an interpreter and critic of culture, but also needs to champion a counterculture that should be embodied in ‘ecclesial existence’ – the church (2).
‘It is only as we interpret Scripture that we will be able to establish an effective counterculture, which itself will be the most effective critique of the dominant culture. Ultimately, the interpretation that counts most is one’s “performance” of the biblical text. The theologian as interpreter-critic is thus a player on the stage of world history’ (4).
Towards the end of the essay, he returns to this theme. He argues that theology (carried out by the hermeneutical community of the church) must be involved in the reconstruction of culture.
‘Hermeneutics… involves not only the explanation of textual meaning but also its appropriation. It is not enough to explain what a text means; one must decide what it means today. Meaning must be applied – to the church, to the world, to oneself. Hermeneutics, in the broadest sense of the term, pertains not only to “hearing” but also to “doing” the word. The most important interpretation of the Bible is the way we live our lives. We appropriate the meaning of a text when we let its world into ours, when we put its pages into practice. We apply a text’s meaning to our lives when we perform the text. Our response to a text constitutes its “lived meaning” (26).
Echoing George Lindbeck and the postliberal school, Vanhoozer writes:
‘The believing community “reads” the world in the light of the Word of God. In other words, the church interprets the world and the surrounding culture through the lens of the biblical text. But just as importantly, its hermeneutics of faith issues in a community performance of the biblical text. To repeat: it is not enough to hear and understand; one must also appropriate the meaning of a text and “do” the words. To understand the Bible properly is to “follow” it, and this in two senses: first, we follow a text when we understand it, when we grasp its meaning. But “follow” also means going along a particular path or way. To follow the word in this sense is to put it into practice, to perform it. The hermeneutics of faith demands nothing less than discipleship. Faith comes from hearing and reading the Word of God. To have Christian faith means having your thinking, imagining, language, and life shaped by the biblical texts – by biblical law, wisdom, songs, apocalyptic, prophecy, gospel, and doctrine. These literary forms are constitutive of Christian identity and practice alike’ (29).
Thursday, 28 May 2009
Ecclesia Reformanda 1, 1 (2009)
Yesterday I received a copy of the inaugural volume of this journal. The website blurb reads:
‘Ecclesia Reformanda is a new print journal for pastors, theological students, and scholars, that seeks to serve the Church in its ongoing reformation according to God’s Word. The editorial board believes that historic Reformed theology offers the best expression of the theology of Scripture, and so the journal is confessionally Reformed. However, a genuinely Reformed theology is always looking for God to shed new light on his Church from his Word. It is therefore always reforming. Ecclesia Reformanda is distinctively Reformed, with a contemporary cutting edge. It presents some of the best in British Reformed thinking and writing to serve the Church, her teachers, and her Lord.’
The contents are as follows:
Matthew W. Mason
Editorial
R. S. Clarke
The Maximalist Hermeneutics of James B. Jordan
James B. Jordan’s maximalist hermeneutic seeks to read the Bible in a way that allows the depth and richness of its meaning to be discerned. The relationship between special and general revelation is important, as the world teaches us how to understand the Bible, and the Bible shows us how to interpret the world. The reader of the Bible should learn to be sensitive to all its literary tropes, in particular its rich symbolism and typology. Controls on this maximalist hermeneutic are not found in externally imposed rules but in theological and ecclesiastical traditions which themselves derive from the Bible.
Sarah-Jane Austin
The Poetry of Wisdom: A Note on James 3:6
James 3:6 presents complex exegetical difficulties and is often declared textually corrupt. However, since James was probably influenced by Hebrew wisdom literature, and since this is typically poetic, a consideration of Hebrew poetic parallelism may help to make sense of the text as it stands. Viewed in the light of Berlin’s analysis of parallelism, James 3:1-12 is particularly rich in poetic devices, and this suggests that in 3:6 poetic function overrides the requirements of normal syntax. A reading is proposed which arranges the verse in three balanced couplets and situates it in the overlap of two major groups of metaphors.
Matthew W. Mason
John Owen’s Doctrine of Union with Christ in Relation to His Contributions to Seventeenth Century Debates Concerning Eternal Justification
In 1649, Richard Baxter accused John Owen of teaching eternal justification, whereby the elect are justified from eternity, rather than when they believe in Christ. More recently, Hans Boersma has also argued that Owen taught justification prior to faith. Through an historical examination of Owen’s doctrines of justification and union with Christ, I demonstrate that he distinguishes various types of union with Christ: decretal, forensic, and mystical. He is thus able to maintain a mainstream Reformed Orthodox doctrine of justification by faith, whilst also maintaining that faith is a gift of God, purchased by Christ, and applied through Christ.
Matthew Roberts
Thinking Like a Christian: The Prolegomena of Herman Bavinck
This article outlines the main contours of Herman Bavinck’s Prolegomena. Bavinck’s insight was that theological method must be grounded in the substance of theology itself, specifically in its Trinitarian and covenantal aspects. Theology is to be understood as a critical part of the image of God, as he is reflected in the believing consciousness of men in the Church, in response to God’s revelation in Christ. This concept is tightly integrated with Bavinck’s central understanding of the gospel as God fulfilling his creation design in Christ. In this way Bavinck derives a robustly Christian account of knowledge and certainty.
Book Reviews
‘Ecclesia Reformanda is a new print journal for pastors, theological students, and scholars, that seeks to serve the Church in its ongoing reformation according to God’s Word. The editorial board believes that historic Reformed theology offers the best expression of the theology of Scripture, and so the journal is confessionally Reformed. However, a genuinely Reformed theology is always looking for God to shed new light on his Church from his Word. It is therefore always reforming. Ecclesia Reformanda is distinctively Reformed, with a contemporary cutting edge. It presents some of the best in British Reformed thinking and writing to serve the Church, her teachers, and her Lord.’
The contents are as follows:
Matthew W. Mason
Editorial
R. S. Clarke
The Maximalist Hermeneutics of James B. Jordan
James B. Jordan’s maximalist hermeneutic seeks to read the Bible in a way that allows the depth and richness of its meaning to be discerned. The relationship between special and general revelation is important, as the world teaches us how to understand the Bible, and the Bible shows us how to interpret the world. The reader of the Bible should learn to be sensitive to all its literary tropes, in particular its rich symbolism and typology. Controls on this maximalist hermeneutic are not found in externally imposed rules but in theological and ecclesiastical traditions which themselves derive from the Bible.
Sarah-Jane Austin
The Poetry of Wisdom: A Note on James 3:6
James 3:6 presents complex exegetical difficulties and is often declared textually corrupt. However, since James was probably influenced by Hebrew wisdom literature, and since this is typically poetic, a consideration of Hebrew poetic parallelism may help to make sense of the text as it stands. Viewed in the light of Berlin’s analysis of parallelism, James 3:1-12 is particularly rich in poetic devices, and this suggests that in 3:6 poetic function overrides the requirements of normal syntax. A reading is proposed which arranges the verse in three balanced couplets and situates it in the overlap of two major groups of metaphors.
Matthew W. Mason
John Owen’s Doctrine of Union with Christ in Relation to His Contributions to Seventeenth Century Debates Concerning Eternal Justification
In 1649, Richard Baxter accused John Owen of teaching eternal justification, whereby the elect are justified from eternity, rather than when they believe in Christ. More recently, Hans Boersma has also argued that Owen taught justification prior to faith. Through an historical examination of Owen’s doctrines of justification and union with Christ, I demonstrate that he distinguishes various types of union with Christ: decretal, forensic, and mystical. He is thus able to maintain a mainstream Reformed Orthodox doctrine of justification by faith, whilst also maintaining that faith is a gift of God, purchased by Christ, and applied through Christ.
Matthew Roberts
Thinking Like a Christian: The Prolegomena of Herman Bavinck
This article outlines the main contours of Herman Bavinck’s Prolegomena. Bavinck’s insight was that theological method must be grounded in the substance of theology itself, specifically in its Trinitarian and covenantal aspects. Theology is to be understood as a critical part of the image of God, as he is reflected in the believing consciousness of men in the Church, in response to God’s revelation in Christ. This concept is tightly integrated with Bavinck’s central understanding of the gospel as God fulfilling his creation design in Christ. In this way Bavinck derives a robustly Christian account of knowledge and certainty.
Book Reviews
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Word for the Week: Whole Life, Whole Bible (8/50) – The Way We Are
‘Word for the Week: Whole Life, Whole Bible’, from London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, is a series of fifty emails designed to look at the main milestones of the biblical story, seeking to show how whole-life discipleship is woven through Scripture as a whole, from beginning to end. Here is the eighth of the fifty emails.
Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes. Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.
Lamech said to his wives,
‘Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for injuring me.
If Cain is avenged seven times,
then Lamech seventy-seven times.’
Genesis 4:19-24
Lamech typifies the contradiction of human existence. He enjoys God’s blessing of marriage… but with two women. And he uses his God-given creativity to compose lines of poetry… which boast of excessive revenge and murder. Yet he fathers three sons, one of whom grazes cattle, one of whom makes music, and one of whom works with metal. Even this family advances agriculture, arts and technology in fulfilment of the creation mandate.
The tension is no surprise to those who take seriously the goodness of God’s original design, but who also recognise that we no longer live in Eden. We still bear God’s image, though it is damaged; and the tasks of subduing and ruling remain, though they are distorted. All of which means we can be neither naively optimistic nor overly pessimistic about ourselves, others, or the things we turn our hands to – like agriculture and arts and technology – where we simultaneously demonstrate we are made in the image of God and yet act out our rebellion against him, our alienation from each other, and our exploitation of the created world.
In such a context – ‘east of Eden’ – sin does not destroy economics, but distorts it through selfishness and greed. Sin does not destroy sexuality, but diverts it down harmful paths. Sin does not destroy politics, but directs it to serve the interests of the powerful few. Small wonder that the two largest areas of our lives – work and family – can be a source of frustration as well as fulfilment, places of hurt as well as healing.
The disobedience of Eden bears fruit in disordered lives, and Genesis 4-11 describe how it spreads like ripples from a stone thrown in a pond, moving through individuals to families to society to the whole of creation. And laced through these chapters, as God said it would be, is death.
It will take the next installment of the story to show us that human rebellion and failure is met by God’s grace, that God’s commitment to his world and to humanity stands firm, that the way we are is not necessarily the way we will always be.
For further reflection and action:
1. Where do you fall on the spectrum between ‘naively optimistic’ and ‘overly pessimistic’? How does it affect your daily life and relationships?
2. Think about something from the last few days where the tension of human existence in today’s world was evident – a film you watched, a task you did, a conversation you had. How might we distinguish between a ‘creational design’ from how something has been distorted by the parasitic nature of sin?
3. What does the Babel incident (Genesis 11:1-9) tell us about ‘the way we are’?
4. Reflect on the significance of Matthew 18:22 where, echoing Lamech, Jesus commands extravagant forgiveness – ‘not seven times, but seventy-seven times’.
Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes. Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.
Lamech said to his wives,
‘Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for injuring me.
If Cain is avenged seven times,
then Lamech seventy-seven times.’
Genesis 4:19-24
Lamech typifies the contradiction of human existence. He enjoys God’s blessing of marriage… but with two women. And he uses his God-given creativity to compose lines of poetry… which boast of excessive revenge and murder. Yet he fathers three sons, one of whom grazes cattle, one of whom makes music, and one of whom works with metal. Even this family advances agriculture, arts and technology in fulfilment of the creation mandate.
The tension is no surprise to those who take seriously the goodness of God’s original design, but who also recognise that we no longer live in Eden. We still bear God’s image, though it is damaged; and the tasks of subduing and ruling remain, though they are distorted. All of which means we can be neither naively optimistic nor overly pessimistic about ourselves, others, or the things we turn our hands to – like agriculture and arts and technology – where we simultaneously demonstrate we are made in the image of God and yet act out our rebellion against him, our alienation from each other, and our exploitation of the created world.
In such a context – ‘east of Eden’ – sin does not destroy economics, but distorts it through selfishness and greed. Sin does not destroy sexuality, but diverts it down harmful paths. Sin does not destroy politics, but directs it to serve the interests of the powerful few. Small wonder that the two largest areas of our lives – work and family – can be a source of frustration as well as fulfilment, places of hurt as well as healing.
The disobedience of Eden bears fruit in disordered lives, and Genesis 4-11 describe how it spreads like ripples from a stone thrown in a pond, moving through individuals to families to society to the whole of creation. And laced through these chapters, as God said it would be, is death.
It will take the next installment of the story to show us that human rebellion and failure is met by God’s grace, that God’s commitment to his world and to humanity stands firm, that the way we are is not necessarily the way we will always be.
For further reflection and action:
1. Where do you fall on the spectrum between ‘naively optimistic’ and ‘overly pessimistic’? How does it affect your daily life and relationships?
2. Think about something from the last few days where the tension of human existence in today’s world was evident – a film you watched, a task you did, a conversation you had. How might we distinguish between a ‘creational design’ from how something has been distorted by the parasitic nature of sin?
3. What does the Babel incident (Genesis 11:1-9) tell us about ‘the way we are’?
4. Reflect on the significance of Matthew 18:22 where, echoing Lamech, Jesus commands extravagant forgiveness – ‘not seven times, but seventy-seven times’.
Immortal Honours Rest on Jesus’ Head
I had my formative Christian years in a tradition which sung hymns by William Gadsby (1773-1844), a hymn writer and pastor of a Strict Baptist Church in Manchester for 38 years. ‘Immortal honours’ is probably his most well-known hymn, and I never fail to be moved by its mixture of strong theology and deep personal piety.
Immortal honours rest on Jesus’ head,
My God, my portion, and my living bread.
In him I live, upon him cast my care;
He saves from death, destruction and despair.
He is my refuge in each deep distress,
The Lord my strength and glorious righteousness.
Through floods and flames he leads me safely on,
And daily makes his sovereign goodness known.
My every need he richly will supply,
Nor will his mercy ever let me die.
In him there dwells a treasure all divine,
And matchless grace has made that treasure mine.
O that my soul could love and praise him more,
His beauties trace, his majesty adore;
Live near his heart, upon his bosom lean,
Obey his voice and all his will esteem.
William Gadsby (1773-1844)
Immortal honours rest on Jesus’ head,
My God, my portion, and my living bread.
In him I live, upon him cast my care;
He saves from death, destruction and despair.
He is my refuge in each deep distress,
The Lord my strength and glorious righteousness.
Through floods and flames he leads me safely on,
And daily makes his sovereign goodness known.
My every need he richly will supply,
Nor will his mercy ever let me die.
In him there dwells a treasure all divine,
And matchless grace has made that treasure mine.
O that my soul could love and praise him more,
His beauties trace, his majesty adore;
Live near his heart, upon his bosom lean,
Obey his voice and all his will esteem.
William Gadsby (1773-1844)
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