 |
| Anchor of peace |
7 Deep calleth unto deep at the
noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. 8 Yet the LORD will command his
loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and
my prayer unto the God of my life. 9 I will say unto God my rock, Why
hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the
enemy? 10 As with a sword in my bones,
mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? 11 Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet
praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. (Psalms
42:7-11)
This beautiful old hymn was selected by our church musician, Hanna Kwon, this
past Sunday to my great blessing. It is one that my family used to sing when I
was young and impressionable – and it did made a lasting impression on my soul.
It is a hymn of deep and arresting spiritual meaning. It possesses an enduring
quality for which the old Methodists are well known after the example of John
and Charles Wesley. In fact, this hymn was composed – both lyrics and music, at
a Methodist camp meeting at West Bend, Wisconsin, in 1889. The lyrics are those
of Warren D. Cornell; and the music is the composition of W. George Cooper.
Just as a man does not resemble the house in which he lives, neither is the
soul depicted by the outward bodily form of its abode, the body. The true
spirit and soul of man lies deep in the hidden chambers of the heart where no
man’s eye can penetrate; but no secrets therein are hidden from the omniscient
eyes of the Lord his God. Just as the early dawn of Creation was cloaked in
thick darkness, so is the soul often disposed to consider this worldly creation
as a wilderness of woe and darkness. The soul of the Christian eagerly awaits
the rising of the Day Star at Resurrection Morning to end all darkness. The
sentiments of the spirit are reverently expounded in this hymn.
Far
Away in the Depths of my Spirit
Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight
Rolls a melody sweeter than psalm;
In celestial strains it unceasingly falls
O’er my soul like an infinite calm.
Refrain
Peace, peace, wonderful
peace,
Coming down from the
Father above!
Sweep over my spirit
forever, I pray
In fathomless billows of
love!
What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace,
Buried deep in the heart of my soul,
So secure that no power can mine it away,
While the years of eternity roll!
Refrain
I am resting tonight in this wonderful peace,
Resting sweetly in Jesus’ control;
For I’m kept from all danger by night and by day,
And His glory is flooding my soul!
Refrain
And I think when I rise to that city of peace,
Where the Anchor of peace I shall see,
That one strain of the song which the ransomed will
sing
In that heavenly kingdom will be:
Refrain
Ah, soul! are you here without comfort and rest,
Marching down the rough pathway of time?
Make Jesus your Friend ere the shadows grow dark;
O accept of this peace so sublime!
Refrain
Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight Rolls a melody
sweeter than psalm; In celestial strains it unceasingly falls O’er my soul like
an infinite calm.
Those old sweet melodies that our mothers sang when we were young (in far away
times) evoke sentiments of peace and love; and particularly those that appealed
to biblical truth. When the mad world overwhelms the soul with its pretentions,
hypocrisy, cruelty and carnal exertions, the Christian enjoys an uninterrupted
peace in the very depths of his soul where such aggravations cannot intrude.
When stormy billows of the soul arise, the Christian can settle into that sweet
and celestial melody that God has placed in the heart of all who love Him. This
thought is fully expressed in another old hymn, There’s within my Heart a
Melody.” God does, indeed, put a beautiful melody in our hearts. No one can
hear that melody but its owner. The melody drowns out the discordant strains of
the world, and puts our hearts at peace with God and with ourselves in the same
way that the gurgling could not be heard of the underground river at Shechem.
Refrain
Peace,
peace, wonderful peace, Coming down from the Father above! Sweep over my spirit
forever, I pray In fathomless billows of love! That Peace God showers down upon us is not contingent on the
circumstances of the world or our present environment. The peace of God
transcends all else. We may find ourselves in the heat of desperate combat on a
blood-soaked battlefield, but the peace of God may still rule in the heart of
the Christian warrior – even if tied to a burning stake as were many of our
Reformers. It is THAT kind of peace that comes over us in the midst of our most
trying moments – just as the billows and breakers of a restless sea. That peace
of God breaks over us and covers us with the waters of love and comfort even as
all around seems a mass of confusion. Would you like an example?
Let us consider the life (and martyrdom) of one of the
earliest Christian Reformers – John Huss – who advocated Solo Scriptura –
Scripture Alone in Faith:
In November 1414, the Council of Constance
assembled, and Huss was urged by Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund to come and give
an account of his doctrine. Because he was promised safe conduct, and because
of the importance of the council (which promised significant church reforms),
Huss went. When he arrived, however, he was immediately arrested, and he
remained imprisoned for months. Instead of a hearing, Huss was eventually
hauled before authorities in chains and asked merely to recant his views.
When he saw he wasn’t to be given a forum for
explaining his ideas, let alone a fair hearing, he finally said, “I appeal to
Jesus Christ, the only judge who is almighty and completely just. In his hands
I plead my cause, not on the basis of false witnesses and erring councils, but
on truth and justice.” He was taken to his cell, where many pleaded with him to
recant. On July 6, 1415, he was taken to the cathedral, dressed in his priestly
garments, then stripped of them one by one. He refused one last chance to
recant at the stake, where he prayed, “Lord Jesus, it is for thee that I
patiently endure this cruel death. I pray thee to have mercy on my enemies.” He
was heard reciting the Psalms as the flames engulfed him. (Christian
History)
The peace that came over the soul of John Huss was the kind
of peace the world cannot offer. IT is the kind of peace described by the
Apostle Paul to the Philippians: And
the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:7)
What
a treasure I have in this wonderful peace, Buried deep in the heart of my soul,
So secure that no power can mine it away, While the years of eternity roll! One point concerning the peace
that God grants is this: It is not a temporary peace, but an ETERNAL one! Of
course it is so, because the soul that knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior
never dies. The world cannot get at the heart’s treasure chest to steal away or
to mar that peace buried deep in the heart of the soul. Not only the years, but
the decades, the centuries, and millennia roll by while this peace is not
diminished even an iota – and even eternities of light-years roll by.
I
am resting tonight in this wonderful peace, Resting sweetly in Jesus’ control;
For I’m kept from all danger by night and by day, And His glory is flooding my
soul! The only means that we can enjoy that
peace to its fullest is to insure that it is the Lord who is in control of our
lives and not our own unholy wills. Jesus Christ is our Sabbath Rest. He is our
all in all. As Paul says, once more: For in him we live, and move, and have
our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his
offspring. (Acts 17:28)
In moments of loneliness or despair, I have often resorted to hymn-singing and,
suddenly, find my heart is rejoicing in that melody that God placed in my heart
at His first Calling.
And I think when I rise to that city of peace, Where the
Anchor of peace I shall see, That one strain of the song which the ransomed
will sing In that heavenly kingdom will be: The author here makes reference to the refrain of this hymn
expounded above. What is that Anchor of Peace? Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and
stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner
is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of
Melchisedec. (Heb
6:19-20) The good
man, Rev William Arnot, described 150 years ago, that way in which that Anchor
holds a sailing vessel. When
the gale winds arise and the billows break against the broadsides of our ship,
we drop anchor, furl the sails, and turn the bow, head-on, into the storm. The
anchor holds and the ship endures. So does our souls when anchored to that
Anchor of Peace and Hope which is Jesus Christ. The Anchor holds because it
is set in that Great Rock of the Deep, Jesus Christ!
Ah,
soul! are you here without comfort and rest, Marching down the rough pathway of
time? Make Jesus your Friend ere the shadows grow dark; O accept of this peace
so sublime!
What a tragedy that the greater number of aged men and women of this world
languish in sorrow and misery as the shadows of life lengthen and the darkness
looms before them as a coming night of terror! They have not known the Lord as
their Refuge, and go off to their “long homes” in fear and trembling of that
which awaits them beyond the grave. Even the midnight hour is better than no
time at all to accept the call of Jesus as Lord and Savior. But how much more
efficacious for the soul to respond to His call early in life while seed time
and harvest remain. The Psalmist gets it right: O God, thou art my God; early
will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee
in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory,
so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. (Psalms 63:1-2)
Early is better, but late is better than never at all.
