How holy the standard He has established;
The measure that no man can hope to achieve.
For all men have sinned; come short of His glory
And on his own merits can gain no reprieve.

Oh! Hear the desperate cry of Your people.
A call for Your mercy to spare us, we pray.
We all do require the atonement of Jesus
Our High Priest in Heaven- your pity display.

The actions, thoughts, and words of man
Are selfish, vile, and cruel.
No place for truth; no absolutes;
He’s pleased to be a fool.

The path embarked on by their sort
Seems right and paved with ease.
Its destination overlooked
While their own flesh they please.

That path, however, leads to death,
And all must face that day.
Their gods destroyed, Your wrath unleashed,
Your glory on display.

Have mercy, Lord! Our only hope
Is found in Christ, the Way.
Forgive our sins; direct our steps-
That we your truth obey.

1. God’s glory has departed
   His law I have despised.
   The path that He has charted
   I’ve twisted and revised.
   My vain imagination,
   My pleasure and my pride,
   My lust’s infatuation,
   Has thrust God’s law aside.
2. My heart is prone to wander!
   Its passions rule the day.
   Your grace I often squander;
   I follow my own way.
   The truth I’ve contradicted
   Your will changed for my own.
   Your chast’ning now inflicted
   I reap what I have sown.

3. The guilt of my transgression
   Rests heavy on my heart.
   I come with my confession—
   Your mercy, Lord, impart!
   Forgive me, O my Savior
   And cleanse me from my sin.
   I hate my wrong behavior-
   The reprobate I’ve been.
4. My sorrow now expressing;
   Your joy I long to see.
   I yearn to have Your blessing
   Restored, O Lord, to me.
   I cannot earn Your favor.
   I stand in need of grace.
   My substitute and Savior
   Must advocate my case.

^{This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.}

We will be singing it to the tune PASSION CHORALE (“O Sacred Head Now Wounded”). One might also find AURELIA (“The Church’s One Foundation”) appropriate.

1. Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears
   Truth intended for my ears.
   To Your words I gladly yield;
   In them is Your will revealed.
   Death my soul would overpow’r.
   May Your Word of life this hour
   Fill my soul with fervency
   That my love may purer be.
2. Sinners who are hardened, Lord,
   Learn of judgment by Your Word—
   But when they their sins confessed
   Find forgiveness and are blessed.
   I rejoice since I received
   Grace to hear and then believe!
   May my love and fear increase
   Since with You I now have peace.
3. Lord, Your Word is my soul’s bread;
   By its Truth I have been fed.
   Let its waters o’er me roll;
   Quench the dryness in my soul.
   Light my path; reveal the way
   Through death’s darkness into day.
   With your truth-sword I prevail
   For Your Word will never fail.

4. Source of Truth, now hear my plea,
   Let Your words take root in me.
   Scatter them on my heart’s ground;
   Let the Spirit’s fruit abound.
   May they in my life remain
   ‘Til the heav’nly prize is gained;
   When, in glory, by Your grace
   I adore You face to face.

^{This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.}

I have also made it available to be printed in PDF, set to ST. GEORGE’S, WINDSOR.

My Heart Rejoices In My God

1. My heart rejoices in my God
   The Lord Who strengthens me.
   In Him I triumph and rejoice
   O’er all my enemies.
   There is none holy like the Lord,
   No other can compare,
   All other gods of wood and stone
   Prove empty, weak, and bare.
2. Before His face subdue your pride,
   And every scheme you’ve wrought;
   For our God sees and knows the heart,
   Discerns each plan and thought.
   The weapons of the strong give way,
   Each arrow, bow, and sword;
   The weak have found their confidence
   In their Almighty Lord.
3. The hungry have been satisfied,
   The childless womb revived;
   While those who once enjoyed success,
   Know want where once they thrived.
   The times of birth, of life and death
   Are in the Father’s hands,
   Prosperity and poverty
   Conform to His commands.
4. He raises up the poor and low,
   Supports them in their need;
   He gives a seat of honor to
   Those who for mercy plead.
   His faithful ones will be secure
   As He will guard their care;
   The wicked ones will be cut off,
   He will not hear their prayer.
5. God’s enemies will be destroyed—
   The end of all their schemes.
   His kingdom soon will be fulfilled,
   His Son will reign supreme.
   His judgment will set all aright,
   Restore the earth again;
   The God who has supplied our need
   Will rule on earth with men.

^{This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.}

I have also made it available to be printed in PDF, set to ELLACOMBE.

The PDF copy I have prepared leaves out one of his verses (which is quite good, nonetheless!), and makes some very minor alterations in language. Here are Newton’s original lyrics:

One there is, above all others,
Well deserves the name of friend;
His is love beyond a brother’s,
Costly, free, and knows no end:
They who once his kindness prove,
Find it everlasting love!

Which of all our friends to save us,
Could or would have shed their blood?
But our JESUS died to have us
Reconciled, in him to God:
This was boundless love indeed!
JESUS is a friend in need.

Men, when raised to lofty stations,
Often know their friends no more;
Slight and scorn their poor relations
Though they valued them before.
But our Savior always owns
Those whom he redeemed with groans.

When he lived on earth abased,
Friend of sinners was his name;
Now, above all glory raised,
He rejoices in the same:
Still he calls them brethren, friends,
And to all their wants attends.

Could we bear from one another,
What he daily bears from us?
Yet this glorious Friend and Brother,
Loves us though we treat him thus:
Though for good we render ill,
He accounts us brethren still.

O for grace our hearts to soften!
Teach us, Lord, at length to love;
We, alas! forget too often,
What a Friend we have above:
But when home our souls are brought,
We will love thee as we ought.

I have had several opportunities lately to try to assist people who were relocating (or at least considering it) with finding a congregation in their new locale. Most of the time, the places they have been considering have been unfamiliar to me. Like most people today, one of the ways I have begun to search out options has been to enter my search criteria on a site like Google. However, I have found, as perhaps many of you have, that using terms like “baptist church” or even “Fundamental Baptist Church” can produce many returns that I would not end up feeling comfortable recommending.

Perhaps it is an idle thought, but I have begun to wonder if there might not be some better means of identifying congregations- if not to replace terms that are already “out there,” then at least to aid in the distinguishing process? On the one hand, there are already so many labels floating around- yet, for example, if one were inclined to search for a “Reformed Baptist” congregation, if indeed such a congregation existed in a particular locality, the results that would come in such a query would require far less refining than would, say, a comparable search for a “Fundamentalist Baptist.”

I am interested to hear feedback on this. What criteria might you enter in an internet search? Do you have ideas as to how a new identifying mark might be arrived at? Does it seem to you as if we are discussing something that requires no fixing ’cause it ain’t broke? If a new term or label was suggested, how would you work to insure that it would be useful in a context outside your local church?