THY GOD REIGNS!

 

THY GOD REIGNS


 

O what a glad, delightful sound,

Within the Word of God ‘tis found;

The Lord our God reigns over all,

The Sovereign over great and small.

 

Ye children of the Father’s love,

Rejoice!  He governs from above!

All things that happen, He ordains,

The Lord of glory ever reigns.

 

By day and night and year by year,

Jehovah reigns, so do not fear;

Be calm, O anxious, troubled soul,

Thy God still reigns, may this console.

 

O yes He reigns forevermore,

With grateful hearts, His Name adore;

And though His will we faintly see,

Trust Him who reigns eternally.


Tune:  “From Every Stormy Wind” LM Words by Jim Byrd

 

 

-------O-------

 

 

NATURAL BLINDNESS

 

     “For God, Who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Corinthians 4:6).

 

     The reason why men in a natural state are utterly ignorant of spiritual truths is that they are completely without a faculty or nature necessary for spiritual understanding. A remarkable instance we have in the absurd words which Nicodemus spoke to our Lord who had introduced him to the necessity of the new birth.  Those passages of Scripture wherein the gospel truth is compared to the light, lead to a familiar illustration of my meaning.  Men by nature are stark blind with respect to this light; only by grace are the eyes of the understanding opened. 

 

     Among a number of blindmen, some may be more ingenious and of better capacity than others.  They may be better qualified for such studies and employments which do not require eyesight than many who can see, and may attain to considerable skill in them; but with respect to the true nature of light and colors, they are all exactly upon the same level.  A blind man, if ingenious and inquisitive, may learn to talk about the light, the sun, or the rainbow in terms borrowed from those who have seen them; but it is impossible that a man born blind can have a just idea of either; and whatever hearsay knowledge he may have acquired, he can hardly talk much upon these subjects without betraying his real ignorance…nor can all the learning or study in the world enable any person to form a suitable judgment  of divine truth, till the eyes of his mind are opened, and then he will perceive it at once. 

 

     Neither education, endeavors, nor arguments can open the eyes of the spiritually blind.  It is God alone, Who at first caused light to shine out of darkness, Who can shine into our hearts, “to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”   

                   

 

-preacher John Newton (1725-1807 A.D.)

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