Be it known unto you all, and to
all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye
crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here
before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you
builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there
salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among
men, whereby we must be saved.
(Acts 4:10-12)
This hymn is #455 in the 1940 Hymnal and was composed by the venerable John
Newton of Olney (Amazing Grace) in 1779. The most commonly preferred tune is that of St. Peter
by Alexander Robert Reinagle, (1799-1877)
How Sweet the Name of Jesus
Sounds
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!
One verse was omitted by those who selected the hymns for the 1940 Hymnal for
their ‘unsophisticated’ reference to the sinful nature of man and the unmerited
grace of God is granting us salvation against every ploy of Satan: “By thee
my prayers acceptance gain, Although with sin defiled; Satan accuses me in
vain, And I am owned a child.” (omitted 4th verse)
“How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear! It soothes his
sorrows, heals his wounds,
and drives away his fear.” Imagine, if you will,
the scintillating charm of the name of the Lord Jesus to the Woman at the Well
as she discovered the Water of Life; or the warm relief and joy of the woman
Taken in Adultery when she came to know the Lord that interceded on her behalf;
or the unmitigated joy of the Two on the road to Emmaus when their “eyes were
opened” at the reception of bread from His nail-scarred hands.
Finally, consider the great surprise and
irrepressible ecstasy of Mary Magdalene outside the Garden Tomb when she
discovered a Risen Lord instead of a dead body! That Name bears benefits and
joys that cannot be expressed in human language. Imagine the comfort afforded
in that name during the 4th watch on a stormy Galilean Sea. The ship was about
to break up owing to the stormy billows roaring and blasting so mercilessly
upon it. Then comes One walking upon the troubled waters and says, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”
(Matt 14:27) What a Name, and what a Savior is our Lord Jesus Christ!
“It makes the wounded spirit whole, and calms the troubled breast; 'tis
manna to the hungry soul, and to the weary, rest.” Even for one agonizing
on a cross next to Jesus, His Words offered redemption and salvation during the
last moment of life. Jesus is our Bread for He is the Bread of Life and of
Heaven. He grants us – not a Sabbath Rest of one-day-in-seven only, but an
eternal rest when we allow Him to do His labors through us.
“Dear Name, the rock on which I build, my shield and hiding-place, my
never-failing treasury, filled
with boundless stores of grace!” Jesus is
the Rock of our Salvation, and it is upon that Rock that we must build our
souls. Peter was not that Rock, but a stone taken from that Rock. Every
Christian must be a “chip off that Rock of Christ.” If we are, we will possess
the same characteristics and appearance as the Rock from which we are cut.
“Jesus! my Shepherd, Brother, Friend, my Prophet, Priest and King, my Lord,
my Life, my Way, my End,
accept the praise I bring.” Yes, we have the high
privilege to be accounted brother or sister to Christ, though by way of
adoption and not by being ‘begotten.’ Jesus is that “Friend that sticketh
closer than a brother.” (see Proverbs 18:24). Jesus is our Prophet,
Priest and King, and the Way, the Truth and the Life! Not only is He our
Priest, He is our High Priest who alone is able to interceded on our behalf
before God the Father. He is all of these things, but much more than can
be comprehended by our limited intellects. He is, frankly, our “All in
All.”
“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.” Yes, we are now imprisoned
in bars of clay, but one day we shall be wonderfully let lose just as was
Lazarus from the grave-clothes of the Tomb. We can do no good thing in and of
ourselves; but we can do the works of God when our hearts and minds are aligned
with His Holy Will. Our best and warmest thoughts can never compare with the
immensity of His Heart of Love and Compassion. One day, if we endure until the
end, we shall behold Him face to face, and all mysteries with which we were
previously burdened shall fall away as the practice weights of the runner.
“Till then I would thy love proclaim with every fleeting
breath; and may the music of thy Name
refresh my soul in death!” Have you
ever considered a name as music? Have you ever been so madly in love with the
one to whom you are wed that the very mention of his, or her, name was as music
on the evening breeze? In the stone-cold tomb of death His Name shall refresh
our souls when we here our names called as was that of Lazarus. Our first
breath of morning should be to call upon that name, and the last breath of the
evening of this life should be to call upon that Holy Name.
““By thee my
prayers acceptance gain, Although with sin defiled; Satan accuses me in vain,
And I am owned a child.” (omitted 4th verse) There is one prayer that the
Lord will ALWAYS hear and heed – the prayer of the penitent sinner. If we are
not aware of our depravity in sin, how can we ever be forgiven that of which we
have not repented? We should never sin with impunity, but if we do, we have an
Advocate with the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Adversary fades away and
wilts like an evening shade when He steps to the Bar. We are made a child
of God through, not our own merits, but the shed blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. How amazing, and how wonderful! Have you been, Friend?
