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O
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come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to
the rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before
his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 3 For
the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In
his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his
also. 5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands
formed the dry land. 6 O come, let us
worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. 7 For
he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and
the sheep of his hand. . . . (Psalm 95:1-7)
This processional hymn was authored by the
Anglican Bishop, William Boyd Carpenter (26 March 1841, Liverpool – 26 October
1918, Westminster), and was first published after his death in 1925. Carpenter
was a Church of England clergyman who became Bishop of Ripon and court chaplain
to Queen Victoria. The tune is from a collection of Peter Tchaikovski
containing the tune, Petersburg, Russian Hymn by Dmitri Bortnianski. The
hymn attains to the purpose of any classical hymn in revealing the beauty of
doctrinal truth and mystery.
Before Thy Throne, O God, we kneel
1 Before thy throne, O God,
we kneel:
give us a conscience quick
to feel,
a ready mind to understand
the meaning of thy
chastening hand;
whate'er the pain and shame
may be,
bring us, O Father, nearer
thee.
2 Search out our hearts and
make us true;
help us to give to all
their due.
From love of pleasure, lust
of gold,
from sins which make the
heart grow cold,
wean us and train us with
thy rod;
teach us to know our
faults, O God.
3 For sins of heedless word
and deed,
for pride ambitions to
succeed,
for crafty trade and subtle
snare
to catch the simple
unaware,
for lives bereft of purpose
high,
forgive, forgive, O Lord,
we cry.
4 Let the fierce fires
which burn and try,
our inmost spirits purify:
consume the ill; purge out
the shame;
O God, be with us in the
flame;
a newborn people may we
rise,
more pure, more true, more
nobly wise.
1
Before thy throne, O God, we kneel: give us a conscience quick to feel, a ready
mind to understand the meaning of thy chastening hand; whate'er the pain and
shame may be, bring us, O Father, nearer thee. After the
Anglican tradition, and that of the ancient Church, we kneel in prayer at every
worship service; but should we not also kneel at the home altar even more
often? The possession of a good conscience is not our own meritorious
possession, but rather a gift of the Lord’s grace toward us. If we disregard
the Word of God in our daily conduct, our consciences will be well-worn and
unfeeling. Speaking lies in hypocrisy;
having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3 Forbidding
to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath
created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the
truth. (1 Tim 4:2-3) If we disregard the Voice of God, we will certainly heed the word
of the devil. If God were your Father, ye
would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of
myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because
ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the
lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and
abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a
lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:42-44)
2 Search out our hearts and
make us true; help us to give to all their due. From love of pleasure, lust of
gold, from sins which make the heart grow cold, wean us and train us with thy
rod; teach us to know our faults, O God. If we are believers, we know God’s Word and Law. The
greater problem is conforming to God’s Word in our lives. There are no hidden
corridors in the inner chambers of a man’s heart. Its secrets are constantly
accessible to God. It is the Holy Ghost that enables us to learn wisdom and
follow that wisdom. If God never chastens us, we must not have received Him
into our hearts. As many as I love, I rebuke
and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. (Rev 3:19)
3 For sins of heedless word
and deed, for pride ambitions to succeed, for crafty trade and subtle snare to
catch the simple unaware, for lives bereft of purpose high, forgive, forgive, O
Lord, we cry. We call upon the ears of the Lord in the Prayer Book
Litany to hear us. That it may please thee to
give us true repentance; to forgive us all our sins, negligences, and
ignorances; and to endue us with the grace of thy Holy Spirit to amend our
lives according to thy holy Word; We beseech thee to hear us, good
Lord. We all have cause for repentance for both sins committed and acts of
righteousness omitted (sins of omission).
4 Let the fierce fires
which burn and try, our inmost spirits purify: consume the ill; purge out the shame;
O God, be with us in the flame; a newborn people may we rise, more pure, more true, more nobly wise. Time after time we
undergo the fires of refinement. We are refined as much as seven times very
like silver by the Great Refiner of Souls. Impurities rise as dross
to the surface and are gathered each time and cast aside. Once the Refiner is
able to discern His likeness in our visage, He will know that we are sanctified
to be His servant. The Holy Spirit fans those flames of the Refiner. 28 Wherefore
we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may
serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 For
our God is a consuming fire. (Heb 12:28-29) The fire that burns also cleanses. It burns because it is healing
a sinful blood disease that is inherited from Adam – SIN! But the graces with
which we are imbued by God do not perish or burn away. In this mortal coil, we
will not reach that perfect sanctification and sinlessness which we shall
embrace at the very Gates of Splendor. But we do grow in wisdom, knowledge, and
sanctification through the refining Word of God as we study to show ourselves
approved of God. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But
shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more
ungodliness. (2 Tim 2:15-16)
I
have had occasion recently to hear men and women, who should know better, debate
whether God’s Word came into our hands complete and without error. They plead
the reason and logic of man and not God. It seems that the maker of their
souls, and of the heavenly Universe, did not get it just right; so He needs the
improving proof-reading of ignorant and clueless man. Really? God promised to
preserve His Word. He has done so. Those who would discover a new Bible, or add
and detract meaning from His original Masterpiece should beware the fires
promised in the closing verses of the New Testament (just before the last
benediction): For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the
prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add
unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take
away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part
out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the
things which are written in this book. (Rev 22:18-19)
