For God Alone

At present, with so much unrest in our world, many yards in our neighborhood are displaying a sign that reads: Hope is not cancelled! In what do you place your hope? We often say things like: I hope you are doing well. Or, tomorrow, I hope to go shopping … or to play golf. Merriam-Webster defines the verb, hope, as follows: to cherish a desire with anticipation : to want something to happen or be true. A second, and archaic meaning is: to trust. As a noun, hope is defined as: desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment. For the Christian, hope is found in the eternal God alone. In Bible study class this past Sunday, we heard an excellent lesson on reverencing the name of God:  You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7) Our Bible study teacher reminded her listeners via ZOOM of the many names of God: Jehovah Jireh (The Lord will provide); Jehovah Raph...

Thomas W. Hunt (1929-2014) taught music and missions, and music in worship, at Southwestern Seminary’s School of Church Music from 1963-1987, and it was God’s gracious blessing for me to study with this faithful man of God. (T. W. Hunt authored several books, including The Mind of Christ.) One day, Dr. Hunt walked into class - a bit late, as was his usual custom, placed his large stack of books on the piano, turned to his full class, and said: The Lord awakened me early this morning and placed the following stanza on my heart: Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither by thy help I’m come, And I hope by thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart, O, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.* Then, our humble, yet deeply profound professor who was a devoted man of prayer said: I struggle with these words: prone to wander Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. After guiding his studen...