Saturday, January 26, 2013

Grace for those Groaning

“And where is now my hope?  As for my hope, who shall see it?” (Job 17:15).  “Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto Thee.  Hide not Thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble… By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin… The LORD… hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to loose those that are appointed to death” (Psalm 102:1-20).  “The curse causeless shall not come” (Proverbs 26:2).  “Thou shalt be His witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard” (Acts 22:15).

The Lord hears the voice of the prisoner groaning.
He sees the affliction much deeper than skin.
God’s Law had been broken; we needed atoning. 
The curse was not causeless; it came for our sin.

With what shall we measure the length and the breadth,
The height, and the depth of our Savior’s great love
That caused to Him ransom such sinners from death
Whose groaning He heard and beheld from above?

He hid not His face when we cried in our sorrow
He heard when we groaned and we lifted our prayer!   
When all we could see was a hopeless tomorrow,
Our Savior then lifted our souls from despair!  

The curse, nonetheless, which iniquity brought,
Without His atonement could not be denied.
Our Lord laid His life down, and if He had not,
We all would have perished; the curse would abide.

O Lord, as we ponder how hopeless we were
And as we consider the cost of Your grace,
Our hearts are amazed that Your love could endure
The death of the cross as You groaned in our place!

O Lord, we give thanks for this costly salvation
You purchased to open the doors of our prison!
You purged all our sins!  You removed condemnation!  
Our hearts leap with gladness because You are risen!

We thank You, O Lord, for the groaning You stirred
That caused us to seek You (though You sought us first).
Now send us wherever You will with Your Word
Declaring Your Gospel that blesses the cursed!

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