Love

Lord Jesus,

Please help me to love you, to embrace you,
   though I once took lust and sin in my arms.
You loved me before I loved you,
   an enemy, a sinner, a loathsome worm.
You claimed ownership of me when I disowned myself;
You love me as a son,
   and weep over me the way you did over Jerusalem.
Love brought you from heaven to earth,
   from the earth to the cross,
   from the cross to the grave.
Love caused you to be
   weary, hungry, tempted,
   scorned, scourged,
   buffeted, spat upon,
   crucified, and pierced.
Love led you to boy your head in death.
My salvation is the point where
   perfect created love
   and the most perfect uncreated love
      meet together;
   for you welcome me,
   not like Joseph and his brothers,
   loving and sorrowing, but loving and rejoicing.
This love is not intermittent, cold, changeable;
   it does not cease or abate for all my enmity.

Holiness is a spark from your love
   kindled to a flame in my heart by your Spirit,
   and so it ever turns to the place
      from which it comes.
Let me see your love everywhere,
   not only in the cross,
   but in the fellowship of believers
   and in the world around me.
When I feel the warmth of the sun
   may I praise you who are the Sun of righteousness
      with healing power.
When I feel the tender rain
   may I think of the gospel showers
      that water my soul.
When I walk by the riverside
   may I praise you for that stream
      that makes the eternal city glad, and washes white my robes
      that I may have the right to the tree of life.
Your infinite love is a mystery of mysteries,
   and my eternal rest lies
   in the eternal enjoyment of it.

Faith

My God,

I bless you that you have given me eyes of faith,
   to see you as Father,
   to know you as a covenant God,
   to experience your love planted in me;
For faith is the grace of oneness
   by which I communicate my right to have you:
Faith casts my anchor upwards
   where I trust in you
   and engage you to be my Lord.
O be be pleased to live and move within me,
   breathing in my prayers,
   inhabiting my praises,
   speaking in my words,
   moving in my actions,
   living in my life,
   causing me to grow in grace.
Your plentiful goodness has helped me believe,
   but my faith is weak and wavering,
      its light dim,
      its steps tottering,
      its increase slow,
      its backslidings frequent
It should climb the heavens, but it lies groveling in the dust.
Lord, fan this divine spark into a glowing flame.
When faith sleeps, my heart becomes
   an unclean thing,
   the fount of every loathsome desire,
   the cage of unclean lusts
   all fluttering to escape,
      the poisonous tree of deadly fruit,
      the open ditch of earthly weeds.
Lord, awake faith to put forth its strength
   until all heaven fills my soul
   and all impurity is cast out.

O Great Three-in-One

Author of all blessings I enjoy,
   of all I hope for,
You have taught me
   that neither the experience of present evils,
   nor the remembering of former sins,
   nor the reproaches of friends,
   are able to change a sinner's heart,
   unless you kindly act to reveal your grace
   and give life to that dead sinner
   by effectively working by your Spirit's power.
You have shown me
   that the visible outpourings of God's love in the soul are more valuable than physical health
   and that often spiritual comforts are at their highest when physical well-being is at its lowest.
You have given me the blessing of music
   as a channel of your grace.
Help me to take my place in joining in that new song
   which elect angels and perfected saints
   now sing before your throne and before the Lamb.
I bless you for balancing every distress with joy;
   too much of the former might weigh me down,
   too much of the latter might puff me up;
I see your wisdom in giving me a taste of both.
I love you
   for giving me clusters of grapes in the wilderness
   and drops of heavenly wine that cause me to long to have my fill.
Apart from you I quickly die,
   without you I starve,
   far from you I thirst and droop;
But you are all I need.
   Let me continually grasp the promise
   'I will never leave you, nor forsake you.'

Privileges

O Lord God,

Teach me to know that grace goes before, accompanies, and follows my salvation,
   that it sustains the redeemed soul,
   that not one link of its chain can ever break.
From Calvary's cross, wave upon wave of grace
   reaches me,
   deals with my sin,
   washes me clean,
   renews my heart,
   strengthens my will,
   draws out my affection,
   kindles a flame in my soul,
   rules throughout my inner person,
   consecrates my every thought, word, and work,
   teaches me your immeasurable love.

How great are my privileges in Christ Jesus!
Without him I stand far off, a stranger, an outcast;
   in him I draw near and touch his kingly scepter.
Without him I dare not lift up my guilty eyes;
   in him I gaze upon my Father-God and Friend.
Without him I hide my lips in trembling shame;
   in him I open my mouth in petition and praise.
Without him all is wrath and consuming fire;
   in him all is love, and rest for my soul.
Without him gaping hell and eternal anguish are below me;
   in him hell's gates are barred to me by his precious blood.
Without him darkness spreads its horrors in front of me;
   in him an eternity of glory is my boundless horizon.
Without him all within me is terror and dismay;
   in him every accusation is changed to joy and peace.
Without him all my circumstances call for my condemnation;
   in him they all minister to my comfort,
   and are to be enjoyed with thanksgiving.
Praise be to you for grace,
   and for the unspeakably great gift of Jesus.

God All-Sufficient

O Lord of Grace,

The world is before me this day,
   and I am weak and fearful,
   but I look to you for strength;
If I venture forth alone I stumble and fall,
   but in the Beloved's arms I am firm
      as the eternal hills;
If left to the treachery of my heart I shall shame your Name
   but if enlightened, guided, upheld by your Spirit,
      I shall bring you glory.
O be my arm to support,
      my strength to stand,
      my light to see,
      my feet to run,
      my shield to protect,
      my sword to repel,
      my sun to warm.

To enrich me will not diminish your fullness;
All your lovingkindness is in your Son,
I present him to you in the arms of faith,
I urge his saving Name as the One who died for me.
I plead his blood to pay my debts of wrong.
Accept his worthiness for my transgressions,
   his sinlessness for my transgressions,
   his purity for my uncleanness,
   his sincerity for my duplicity,
   his truth for my falsehoods,
   his meekness for my pride,
   his constancy for my backslidings,
   his love for my malice,
   his fullness for my emptiness,
   his faithfulness for my treachery,
   his obedience for my lawlessness,
   his glory for my shame,
   his devotedness for my waywardness,
   his holy life for my unholy ways,
   his righteousness for my dead works,
   his death for my life.