Wondrous Works and Words

"Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God" (Job 37:14).  "Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all things" (Proverbs 8:5).  "Go, stand and speak... all the words of this life" (Proverbs 8:5). 

Consider well the works of God;   

Stand still in awestruck meditation. 

With heart and soul and might applaud

His wondrous works in all creation.

The minds of those who do not care

To search the wonders of the Lord

Are fearfully yet unaware

Of judgment that they have ignored.  

But those who seek the Lord shall know

His wondrous joy that fills their hearts,

And with His words of life they'll show

The great salvation He imparts.    

O Lord, as we are standing still,

We are in awe of all You made,

Yet more astonished at Your will

In view of our redemption paid! 

How wondrous are Your words of life

Which You command us to proclaim: 

Upon the cross You fought our strife

To put away our sin and shame!

Your wondrous works and words of grace,  

O Lord, we take at Your command

To show there is a Hiding Place

Beneath Your cross to safely stand.    

Sinister Silence

"I have yet to speak on God's behalf... Because there is wrath, beware lest He take thee away with His stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee" (Job 36:2,18).  "LORD, Thou hast heard the desire of the humble: Thou wilt prepare their heart, Thou wilt cause Thine ear to hear" (Psalm 10:17).  "Open rebuke is better than secret love" (Proverbs 27:5).  "Be it known unto you all... Jesus Christ... is the Stone which was set at naught of you builders... there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:10-12). 

We have a message to declare

Which we convey on God's behalf.

Because there's wrath, we say "beware",

Though mockers scornfully may laugh. 

Because our Lord and Savior died

To pay our ransom on His cross,

God's justice has been satisfied

To spare us from eternal loss. 

Our silence, therefore, is not kind

(Though by the mocker, it's preferred),

For sinners with a humble mind

May hear the Gospel from God's Word. 

The Word of God imparts reproof

Which openly rebukes our sin. 

Though some may choose to stand aloof,

The humble let the Savior in. 

With kindness let us now proclaim

The Gospel given from above!

We're saved by Christ, no other name;

There is no place for "secret love."

Is not our silence sinister

To souls we should be cherishing? 

Should not we rather minister

The Gospel to the perishing?

We thank You, Lord, for our salvation

And for the Gospel that we carry

As we announce its proclamation

Which bids the sinner not to tarry. 

Because we know that there is wrath,

How sinister does silence seem!

Lord, use our voice upon our path

To draw the souls You would redeem.  

Turning to Trust

"Although thou sayest thou shalt not see Him, yet judgment is before Him; therefore trust thou in Him" (Job 35:14).  "They that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee: for Thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee" (Psalm 9:10).  "The curse causeless shall not come... Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him" (Proverbs 26:2,27).  "Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities" (Acts 3:26). 

A man may say he'll neither see

His Maker nor the day of wrath,

But judgment comes by God's decree

Upon the rebel sinner's path. 

Our hope is not that God will turn

To compromise His holiness,

But that the sinner may discern

The grace by which the Lord will bless. 

The wrath of God extends the curse

According to His righteous Laws. 

His judgment falls on the perverse;

The curse shall come which has a cause. 

The stone returns on him who rolled;

The pit will catch who dug it first.  

These outcomes, by the Lord controlled,

Will quench His judgment's holy thirst. 

But judgment found its satisfaction

Upon the cross of Jesus Christ! 

Be done with other vain distraction: 

Behold our Savior sacrificed! 

Our Savior on the cross devised

The way of reconciliation!

His mercy now uncompromised

Is freely given in salvation!

The Gospel now is sent to all

Who turn to Christ and in Him trust,

Responding to the gracious call

Of Him who saves us, yet is Just! 

O Lord, how gladly we have turned

To trust in You, and You alone! 

How great Your love is which was spurned,

Which in Your passion You have shown! 

The Gospel which we now proclaim

Is turning hearts to trust You, Lord,

And with those hearts we praise Your name

For blessings You alone afford. 

Mindful of Man

"His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He seeth all his goings" (Job 34:21).  "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?  And the son of man, that Thou visitest him?" (Psalm 8:4).  "As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country" (Proverbs 25:25).  "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved... The promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off" (Acts 2:21,39). 

The eyes of God are on the ways

Of every man upon this earth. 

He ponders him through all his days,

Beholding him before his birth. 

He came to visit us below

And blessed us with His visitation. 

He laid His life down to bestow

The riches of His great salvation. 

As waters that would quench our thirst,

The gladness of His good news came! 

The Lord will bless those who were cursed

When they shall call upon His name!

This promise comes to each of us

Who strayed like sheep from God afar. 

His Gospel is so marvelous

That calls and saves us where we are! 

O Lord, we occupied Your mind

Before our time on earth began. 

You saw us sinful, lost, and blind,

Yet You were mindful still of man. 

How mindful were you of us, Lord,

That You could rescue us by grace!

You have become our great Reward,

Our Savior, and our Hiding Place.