September 6, 2010

• "Deck Thyself, My Soul, with Gladness" (Letter 75 on assurance & fighting for joy)

  As I was looking for something else, I came across the hymn Deck Thyself, My Soul, with Gladness. I think I may have heard it before but I really loved the words and wanted to share them with you.

  Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness,
  Leave the gloomy haunts of sadness,
  Come into the daylight's splendour,
  There with joy thy praises render
  Unto Him whose grace unbounded
  Hath this wondrous banquet founded,
  High o'er all the heav'ns He reigneth,
  Yet to dwell with thee He deigneth.

  Hasten as a Bride to meet Him,
  And with loving reverence greet Him,
  For with words of life immortal
  Now He knocketh at thy portal;
  Haste to ope the gates before Him,
  Saying, while thou dost adore Him,
  "Suffer, Lord, that I receive Thee,
  And I never more will leave Thee."

  Ah how hungers all my spirit
  For the love I do not merit!
  Oft have I, with sighs fast thronging,
  Thought upon this food with longing,
  In the battle well-nigh worsted,
  For this cup of life have thirsted,
  For the Friend, who here invites us,
  And to God Himself unites us.

  Now I sink before Thee lowly,
  Fill'd with joy most deep and holy,
  As with trembling awe and wonder
  On Thy mighty works I ponder,
  Now, by mystery surrounded,
  Depths no man hath ever sounded,
  None may dare to pierce unbidden
  Secrets that with Thee art hidden.

  Sun, who all my life dost brighten,
  Light, who dost my soul enlighten,
  Joy, the sweetest man e'er knoweth,
  Fount, whence all my being floweth,
  At Thy feet I cry, my Maker,
  Let me be a fit partaker
  Of this blessed food from heaven,
  For our good, Thy glory, given.

  Jesus, Bread of Life, I pray Thee,
  Let me gladly here obey Thee,
  Never to my hurt invited,
  Be Thy love with love requited;
  From this banquet let me measure,
  Lord, how vast and deep its treasure;
  Through the gifts Thou here dost give me
  As Thy guest in heaven receive me.

  *  *  *

  If you are Christ's, He will help you to deck yourself with gladness, for true and abundant and abounding joy is a gift from Him alone – it is nothing we can work up out of our own effort. Such joy comes from knowing the fullness of God's love, mercy and grace in Jesus Christ.

  It was just about two years ago now that God showed me Psalm 86:4 (NKJV). At the time I was struggling a lot with guilt over my past sin and I was doubting my sanctification. I wasn't enjoying my relationship with the Lord. (I've written more here about my experience with that particular verse; I would ask that you go and read that post if you are in the midst of a time that you are not able to rejoice in the Lord and mired in continuing doubt and despair.) I've also included a couple other translations here as well:

   ¹ Bow down Your ear, O LORD, hear me;
           For I am poor and needy.
   ² Preserve my life, for I am holy;
           You are my God;
           Save Your servant who trusts in You!
   ³ Be merciful to me, O Lord,
           For I cry to You all day long.
   ⁴ Rejoice the soul of Your servant,
           For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
   ⁵ For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,
           And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.
          

  1  Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me,
  for I am poor and needy.
  2  Preserve my life, for I am godly;
  save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
  3  Be gracious to me, O Lord,
  for to you do I cry all the day.
  4  Gladden the soul of your servant,
  for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
  5  For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
  abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. (ESV)

  1  Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy. 2  Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. 3  Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily. 4  Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5  For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. (KJV)

   

  Do you see there the source of the rejoicing and the gladdening and the joy?

  Any true joy comes from the One who is our exceeding Joy, the Lord God Himself.

  Every good and perfect gift comes from above. So too with joy!

  Like David, will you reflect on God's great grace poured out for you through the cross of Christ so you might receive His joy in greater and greater measure? And then will you ask Him to rejoice and gladden your soul?

  I would encourage you to consider using the words of David in Psalm 86 as a guide (and yes, do go ahead and pray the whole psalm! I've only included a portion here). And then dig and go further into the Scripture to look at Christ's work for you (the book of Hebrews is wonderful!) and look at the experiences of the psalmists in pursuing God as their exceeding joy and their portion so they might know experientially the forgiveness God offered them (e.g. - Psalms 16, 32, 73). You may wish to use the wonderful hymn above and some of the other great hymns of the Church to remind you of God's work on your behalf and the joy He has for you. Jesus Christ has paid it all! All! As Doddridge wrote ("O Happy Day That Fixed My Choice"): "'Tis done, the great transaction's done." It is done. It is finished. Christ's sacrifice paid the price for all your sins. His work was fully sufficient. There will never be another sacrifice for sin.

  Hebrews 10:15  And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,

  16  “This is the covenant that I will make with them
  after those days, declares the Lord:
  I will put my laws on their hearts,
  and write them on their minds,”

  17  then he adds,

  “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

  18  Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

  Listen to the witness of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God! (This is why you MUST be in the Word of God!)

  Do not listen to the devil. Do not listen to your own feelings or thoughts. Do not listen to people who tell you otherwise. The devil is a liar. He has come to steal, kill and destroy. To steal away assurance. To kill your hope. To destroy you. Yes, you may be living but if you're living under a perpetual cloud of guilt, shame and condemnation, that isn't really living. I know that. I was there. Many of you know that as well.

  Jesus Christ has come so we might have life and have it abundantly and fullness of joy! There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! No condemnation! None! He is our surety. Our anchor. Our hope. Our atonement.

  The devil is scheming and very subtle. It's true that we must be sensitive to our sin and identify it and battle it and mortify it. We can never take our sin lightly. However, the devil gets us going around and around and around in circles about our sin. So then we end up never enjoying God or our salvation. We become mired in never ending guilt, false guilt, shame, despair, darkness, hopelessness. That type of guilt and sorrow is not from God. There is a guilt and sorrow that is from God and it is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Godly guilt and sorrow leads us to the cross of Christ and the forgiveness freely offered to us there so we might enjoy our Lord and His salvation. (I've written more about the difference between true and false guilt and Biblical mourning here and here.)

  The devil wants us to doubt the love of God, so he gets us all wrapped up in our thoughts and our feelings (notice then it becomes all about us and nothing about God!) – but know this – for this is the truth from God's Word: the Lord God is good, ready to forgive, abundant in mercy to all who call on Him through Jesus Christ! Reflect on God's goodness: His readiness to forgive, His abundant and plenteous mercy and His steadfast love. These are your gifts as God's children! Set your mind on heaven and the things above, including God's gifts of forgiveness and freedom and cleansing through Jesus Christ!

  Picture the father in the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15). When the younger son returns home, he had understood  he was not worthy to be called a son and was more than happy to be received as a servant, yet we see that his father is exuberant and is rejoicing and invites the son back home as a son and invites him to enjoy all the privileges of a son and so they celebrate together: he once was dead, but now he is alive! That is the type of celebration our heavenly Father wants to have for all who have come to Him through Christ. As God opens your eyes and heart to know Him more and the breadth and length and height and depth of His love that surpasses understanding, that love He has lavished on you freely through Christ, even though you are wholly undeserving, you cannot help but rejoice and be glad.

  And now, one more thing about the story of the prodigal son: Do you remember the older son? Notice him. Many of us forget about him. But see this: he never enjoyed his sonship, his position as a son of the father. He never enjoyed the love of his father, even though he'd remained at home as part of the household. He went through all the duties and he faithfully fulfilled his responsibilities. O, dear ones, do not be like the older son in the family! I was like that for too long! (Any amount of time in that state is too long.) God wants all of his children to enjoy Him and the salvation He offers to us.

  As I've said before many times, my desire for you is your joy: that you would enjoy the Lord and be able to rest in His unfailing love for you in Jesus Christ. That you would not doubt His love for you, but be able to lay your head on His bosom knowing you are fully justified and fully accepted and fully welcomed as His child by grace through faith, not by works. The Lord Jesus Christ has done it all! Enjoy His mercy! Enjoy His grace! Enjoy His love! Enjoy Him! The Father gave the Son for your joy! He is rejoicing over you and desires for you to rejoice! Ask Him to rejoice and gladden your soul!

  Yours by grace alone, through faith alone, to God's glory alone,

  Karen

   

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  Related:

  Dealing with past sins & guilt: Micah 7-False guilt vs.Godly guilt
  Biblical mourning, assurance and false guilt
  my posts on Dealing with Past Sins and Guilt
  Dealing with past sins & guilt: God's Good Gift of Guilt
  Remembering the pit & bog so I might rejoice in Him & you might also! (Psalm 40:1-3)
  who are we to say . . . (Christ's atonement and assurance)
  He's not dropping us! (Isaiah 46:3-4)
  temptation, backsliding & God's immutability (Bible reading: Hebrews 6:17-18)
  my God, my God, have You forsaken me?
  the children of God will never say of Him: "Got stood up big time!"
  when we're being shaken: let us look unto JESUS!
  Letter 15 on assurance and fighting for joy (Joy is a gift of God, more than a feeling)
  and my other letters on assurance and fighting for joy
  

  Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version¨. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

  Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  
  

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