Faithful Favor

“By this I know that Thou favorest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.  And as for me, Thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before Thy face forever.  Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting.  Amen, and Amen” (Psalm 41:11-13).  “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised” (Hebrews 10:23). 

By this I know God favors me: 

He saved my soul from condemnation. 

He stands against my enemy

And nullifies his accusation. 

The Lord is faithful, ever holy,

Yet He extends to me His favor.  

As Lamb of God, so meek and lowly,

He gave Himself to be my Savior. 

Though Satan now against me rages,

He cannot change what Christ has done!

I’ll praise the Lord through endless ages

Who fought to save me, and He won! 

I do not trust in my endeavor;

My foe is greater than I am. 

I’ll praise my faithful Lord forever

With all who magnify the Lamb!

I’m holding fast to my profession,  

For Christ is faithful, this I know!  

He cleansed my soul of each transgression

And triumphed thus against my foe! 

Lord, thank You for Your faithful love

That favors me with saving grace

And sets my hope on things above

Where I shall see You face to face. 

Until that time, Lord, let me live

To show Your faithfulness each day

With saving favor that You give

To those who trust You while they may.   

Savior and Sacrifice

“Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire; Mine ears hast Thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast Thou not required.  Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of Me, I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart” (Psalm 40:6-8).  “But Christ being come an High Priest of good things to come… neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us… who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God” (Hebrews 9:11-14). 

The sacrifices had their place

When offerings were sacrificed, 

For they were patterns of the grace

And of the truth to come by Christ. 

Come, see the volume of the book

With prophecies which God inspired!

The Lord declared where He will look

To find the Sacrifice required. 

The rivers of the blood that ran

From goats and calves and other beasts

Were shadows of God’s wondrous plan

Portrayed by sacrificial feasts. 

Yet in those sacrifices brought,

There was never was a Savior found.

The grace and truth which God had sought

In Christ alone would yet abound.

In Jesus Christ, the great I AM,

Who gave Himself to grant us favor,

We have beheld God’s spotless Lamb,

And we have found our wondrous Savior!

Lord, in the Psalms we’ve heard Your voice

Recorded long before You came! 

How greatly now our hearts rejoice

That You have purged our sin and shame! 

Our Savior and our Sacrifice,

How great was our redemption’s cost! 

You gave Yourself to pay that price,  

And we proclaim it to the lost.  

Righteously Now Remembered Not

“And now, Lord, what wait I for?  My hope is in Thee” (Psalm 39:7).  “For whoso findeth Me findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the LORD.  But he that sinneth against Me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate Me love death” (Proverbs 8:35,36).  “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 8:12). 

Our only hope is in the Lord;

Apart from Him there is no Savior,   

For Christ alone can well afford

The grace that will extend His favor. 

There’s no one else for whom we wait,

For every other hope is vain. 

How foolishly do sinners hate

The only Hope they may obtain. 

Our God has set both life and death

Before us all so we may choose

The Lord who gave His final breath

To grant us life we cannot lose.

How else could God be merciful

Unless He fully paid the cost

To ransom and to save the soul

By dying to redeem the lost?

How else could God be satisfied,

According to His righteousness,

Unless our Substitute had died

To rescue those whom He would bless? 

How else could our iniquity

Be never more recalled by God,

Forgotten thus, judicially,

Unless Christ bore our judgment rod. 

O Lord, You’ve made the choices clear:

There is no middle ground we find. 

The soul can trust you, drawing near,

Or walk in darkness with the blind. 

O Lord, we thank You for such grace

This earth has never seen before

By which You righteously erase

Our sins remembered never more!  

Intimate Intercessor

“In Thee, O LORD, do I hope: Thou wilt hear, O Lord my God… Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me.  Make haste to help me, O Lord my Salvation.” (Psalm 38:15,21,22).  “Wherefore He [Jesus] is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). 

In Christ we have our expectation,

For He will not forsake His own. 

He is the Lord of our salvation;

We trust in Him, and Him alone. 

We know we shall not be forsaken,

For this is what our Lord declares. 

We know He cannot be mistaken

And we can cast on Him our cares. 

We trust in Him for He is able

To meet the deepest of our needs. 

He satisfies us at His table

And for us ever intercedes.   

We know our Savior is not far;

He’s close enough to hold our hand. 

He walks beside us where we are

And daily gives us strength to stand. 

We trust in Him because He lives;  

He rose triumphant from the grave!

The peace and pardon that He gives   

Was bought for souls He came to save. 

O Lord, our God and Intercessor,

We stand amazed at what You do: 

You draw the heart of the transgressor

To flee from wrath and trust in You!

O Lord, You have removed transgression

From those You’ve intimately drawn!   

We join with You in intercession

To reach the lost before they’re gone. 

Immutable and Impossible

“God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath:  that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:  which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:17-19). 

God’s counsel is immutable,

Unchanging as His steadfast throne. 

What consolation to the soul

He thereby gives to all His own! 

We have His promise and His oath,

And these are two unchanging things. 

Our hope is anchored in them both,

Our soul securely to them clings. 

Our Refuge is in Jesus Christ;

There is no other Hiding Place. 

For us our Lord was sacrificed;

In Him alone is saving grace. 

The two things God can never do 

Are, first, that He cannot deny

Himself, His nature ever true,

And secondly, He cannot lie. 

In this assurance we are led

As we are trusting in the Lord.

Our Savior leads the way ahead,

And He Himself is our Reward! 

Lord, thank You for this confidence

In Your immutability. 

You cannot lie!  We’re resting hence

In this impossibility!