October 17, 2009

• letter 5 on assurance and joy (How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds)

  I'm continuing to write about assurance and fighting for joy...If you have not already done so, I would recommend you read the previous four letters in this series here, here and here and here...

  
  

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  My dear friend and lover of God through His love, mercy and grace shown us in Jesus Christ,

  You may know that today is Sweetest Day. I wrote earlier today that you ought to read through the Song of Solomon.

  Here are the first few verses of the book (KJV):

  The song of songs, which is Solomon:
  2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. 3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. 4 Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

  O, let us pray that all of us who are in Christ might know the breadth and length and depth and height of God's love for us in Christ Jesus so we might be filled with all the fullness of God and our joy in Him might be full and complete!

  I will leave you now with Isaac Watts' hymn "How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds" (1779). It's based on Songs 1:3: Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. I looked up the word sweet: pleasant taste, pure, delightful, fragrant, highly satisfying. Tell me, is there anything sweeter than His blessed Name?

  Rejoicing in His sweetness to us,

  Karen

  How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds
  In a believer’s ear!
  It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
  And drives away his fear.

  It makes the wounded spirit whole,
  And calms the troubled breast;
  ’Tis manna to the hungry soul,
  And to the weary, rest.

  Dear Name, the Rock on which I build,
  My Shield and Hiding Place,
  My never failing treasury, filled
  With boundless stores of grace!

  By Thee my prayers acceptance gain,
  Although with sin defiled;
  Satan accuses me in vain,
  And I am owned a child.

  Jesus! my Shepherd, Husband, Friend,
  O Prophet, Priest and King,
  My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
  Accept the praise I bring.

  Weak is the effort of my heart,
  And cold my warmest thought;
  But when I see Thee as Thou art,
  I’ll praise Thee as I ought.

  Till then I would Thy love proclaim
  With every fleeting breath,
  And may the music of Thy Name
  Refresh my soul in death!

  • 2:49 PM
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