The textual basis for this hymn
is the account of given in Luke 4:1-13 of the beginning of the ministry of
Jesus in which our Lord spent forty days in the Wilderness being tempted by
Satan. It may surprise many readers to learn that this great old Lenten hymn
was first intended as a children’s hymn and first appeared as such in the
author’s Child’s Book of Praise (1873). It is amazing to see to
what level the dumbing down process has brought us when children, in time’s
past, could understand such reverent, majestic, and meaningful hymns as this
one. Today adult congregations are challenged to get the full meaning of “God
is so Good.”
This hymn (Lord, who
throughout these Forty Days) surveys with depth of feeling the full scope
of Lent more than any other in the Hymnal. It’s lyrics were composed by Claudia
F. Hernaman to the tune of St. Flavian to which it is most commonly played and
sung. The hymn is so full of scriptural truth that one barely needs to read the
Gospel to understand the full story. This fact brings to light the value of
sound, doctrinal hymns that were the mainstay of many persecuted Christians of
the Reformation and pre-Reformation era who had no access to the Bible. They
could remember the Bible truths through the words of great hymns and psalms.
Lord, who Throughout these Forty
Days
Lord, who throughout these
forty days,
For us didst fast and
pray,
Teach us with thee to
mourn our sins,
And close by thee to stay.
2. As thou with Satan
didst contend,
And didst the victory
win,
O give us strength in thee
to fight,
In thee to conquer sin.
3. As thou didst hunger
bear and thirst,
So teach us, gracious
Lord,
To die to self, and
chiefly lye
By thy most holy word.
4. And through these days
of penitence,
And through thy
Passion-tide,
Yea, evermore, in life and
death,
Jesus! with us abide.
5. Abide with us, that so,
this life
Of suffering overpast,
An Easter of unending joy
We may attain at last!
“Lord,
who throughout these forty days/for us didst fast and pray, teach us with thee
to mourn our sins, and close by thee to stay.” The
forty days fast of our Lord was not to satisfy some personal want or need. It
was solely for us. There is only one thing that can cause a mourning in Heaven,
and that thing is our sin. It was for us that Jesus came; for us that he fasted
in the Wilderness; for us that He most often prayed; for us that He bore the
humiliation and passion of the cross; and it was for us that He rose again from
the grave that wonderful Spring morning in the Garden. We have a partner to
mourn our sins if we will keep our souls close by Him.
“As thou with Satan
didst contend / and didst the victory win, O give us strength in
thee to fight,
in thee to conquer sin.” We do, indeed, have
an Advocate with the Father – Christ Jesus our Lord. The outcome of the Battle
is not in question for victory has already been achieved at Calvary. If we have
taken the likeness of Christ upon our mortal souls, it is He who fights our
battles. Our greatest battle is not against the unbelievers without, but the
weakness of faith within. Our Lord Jesus Christ cannot cover our sins if we are
not hidden away in His blessed Bosom.
“As thou didst hunger bear
and thirst, So teach us, gracious Lord, To die to self, and chiefly
lye
By thy most holy word.” Our Lord’s thirst on the cross
was ravenous even while He was, to us, the very Water of Life. Taking up our
crosses daily and following Christ is a DAILY dying to self. We never sit on
the laurels of courage and victory for the struggle in this world is endless until
the curtain of Time is raised. If we are Christians indeed, we will not require
a daily spoon-feeding by teachers of the Bible. We will, rather, be seekers of
the meat, having been weaned from the gentle milk of His Word. A Christian who
does not devour the bible readings daily from out of a great hunger for God’s
Word can in no wise survive the allurements and charms of a wicked world. When
it comes to Bible study, there are no ‘couch-potato’ Christians. (PERIOD)
“And through these days
of penitence, And through thy Passion-tide, Yea, evermore, in
life and death, Jesus! with us abide.” As blind Bartimaeus
called out to Jesus – “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me!”
it is also necessary that we cry out when He draws near to us, “Jesus, thou
Son of David, ABIDE with me.” These days of Lent are particular days
set aside for penitence in anticipation of the Passion of our Lord; but the
penitence does not end at Easter. Having Christ ABIDE with us will evoke a
desire to penitence daily, hourly, and moment-by-moment. How sweet to know that
Jesus does not sojourn in our hearts, but literally ABIDES there (lives there
forever) – even in death (and Christ cannot die anew.
“Abide with us, that
so, this life Of suffering overpast, An Easter of unending
joy We may attain at last! Now these final words of the hymn
are rapturous beyond imagination, are they not? The Passover/Easter that we
observe of Christ is not isolated to two thousand years ago. It is a NOW event
for all who die in the Lord. “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not
all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must
put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is
swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy
victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But
thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(1 Cor 15:51-57)
A Prayer From Manual Of Devotion
For
Soldiers And Sailors (1847)
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Thou art worshipped by the perpetual
praises of heaven, while the seraphim do cry, Holy, holy, holy, is the
Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory! Cause thy fear to fall
upon us, and a sense of thine excellency to make us afraid. And since we are
sinners, be pleased
to sprinkle us with the blood of reconciliation. Gather in our wandering
thoughts, and fit our souls for thy most worthy praise. Fulfil to us, this day,
the gracious promise of our Lord and Redeemer, that where two or three are
gathered together in his name, there he will be in the midst of them. Grant us
the influences of thy Holy Spirit, without which our worship must be in vain.
Open our understandings to receive thy word. Assist our devotions, when we pray
to thee. Attune our hearts and voices to thy praise. And graciously pardon and
accept us, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.
