NO, NOT DESPAIRINGLY

 

Thursday, February 27, 2025

 

NO, NOT DESPAIRINGLY

 

Heb 10:22

22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

 

          Last night I heard a blending of two very moving hymns which spoke so strongly to my spirit that I wept. Perhaps, like I, you had not ever heard the lyrics to the old hymn No, Not Despairingly. It was written in 1866 by Horatius Bonar, a Scotsman from Edinburgh. If you blend it with Nearer, My God To Thee, you find a complete and very personal worship experience.

 

1. No, not despairingly

come I to Thee;

no, not distrustingly

bend I the knee;

sin hath gone over me,

yet is this still my plea,

Jesus hath died.

 

2. Ah! Mine iniquity

crimson has been,

infinite, infinite,

sin upon sin;

sin of not loving Thee,

sin of not trusting Thee,

infinite sin.

 

3. Lord, I confess to Thee

sadly my sin;

all I am, tell to Thee,

all I have been;

purge Thou my sin away,

wash Thou my soul this day;

Lord, make me clean.

 

4. Faithful and just art Thou,

forgiving all;

loving and kind art Thou

when poor ones call;

Lord, let the cleansing blood,

blood of the Lamb of God,

pass o'er my soul.

 

5 Then all is peace and light

this soul within;

thus shall I walk with Thee,

the loved Unseen;

leaning on Thee, my God,

guided along the road,

nothing between.

 

2 Tim 1:3-4

3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;

4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy.

 

Dear Lord, my sin prompts my tears, but your love sparks my joy. AMEN