Examine yourselves

Perhaps when you start reading my blog, you see the word Worship and see the songs and say, "okay, just a sight about songs this person likes to sing"; so you move on without scrolling down. But that is not all I have on my blog. If you read my first two blogs you will understand the why and what of what is contained in each blog. So I ask you to read the whole blog before you decide if it's worth reading. Thanks! I would also ask you to lift me up in prayer and if you have a prayer request, feel free to share it with me and I will surely pray for you as well.

August 20, 2015

Worship: Give them all to Jesus by Evie Tournquist, I Surrender All sung by Brian Luttrell (original words of verses 1 & 2 and refrain by Judson W. Van DeVenter)

Are you tired of chasing pretty rainbows?
Are you tired of spinning round and round?
Wrap up all those shattered dreams of your life
And at the feet of Jesus, lay them down.

Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus
Shattered dreams, wounded hearts, and broken toys.
Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus
And He will turn your sorrows into joy.

He never said you only see sunshine,
He never said there would be no rain.
He only promised a heart full of singing
About the very thing that once brought pain.

Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus
Shattered dreams, wounded hearts, and broken toys.
Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus
And He will turn your sorrows into joy.

Copied from hymnlyrics.org

https://youtu.be/6k5DKcmKAwI

"I Surrender All"

All to Jesus I surrender
All to Him I freely give
I will ever love and trust Him
In His presence daily live

I surrender all
I surrender all
All to Thee, my blessed Savior
I surrender all

All to Jesus I surrender
Humbly at His feet I bow
Worldly pleasures all forsaken
Take me, Jesus, take me now

I surrender all
I surrender all
All to Thee, my blessed Savior
I surrender all

Lord, I give to You all I ever have
And everything I was and everything I am
Now I lay it down, I lay it at Your feet
To Your grace, to Your power I surrender all

Lord, I give myself to thee
Fill me with Thy love and power
Let Thy blessings fall on me

I surrender all
I surrender all
All to Thee, my blessed Savior
I surrender all

Copied from: A-Z Lyrics

https://youtu.be/4K2yuZtVfLg

Personal:

Well it’s getting late again, but I did what I should have done from the beginning and that was to have everything ready before I start. I pray that dialogue continues with Rachael and my wife and brings her back to God and her family and me. Glen silent so far, must be busy. Worship was good today. First Give All to Jesus then I surrender all. Lord this is the hardest thing for me, and I’m sure most people, to do. May I every day be a little farther along on the road of surrender. Amen

Word:

Ps 22:25-23:1 5 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. 26  The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever! 27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. 29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. 30 Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it. ESV

Ps 22:25-23:1 25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows. 26 The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise him — may your hearts live forever! 27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, 28 for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. 29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him — those who cannot keep themselves alive. 30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. 31 They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn — for he has done it. NIV

“May your hearts live forever!” What a strange and curious phrase. What does it mean? Certainly we can’t take it literally, as if he wished that they would never die. He knew that was the lot of all mankind under the curse of Adam. So what is he trying to say? I believe “heart” here stands for their life itself, not so much the physical but their spiritual life.

 If you compare the various versions you can almost divide them between the older versions and the newer. To illustrate this let me compare the KJV  with the New American Standard. I do this because many will say these are the most literal translations.

KJV: The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

NASB: The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the LORD. Let your heart live forever!

Except for the New Living Translation all modern translations translate this more as a blessing or benediction while the older versions translate it as a declarative statement of what happens as a result of coming to Lord and the feast He provides.  Certainly if one comes in sincerity they will live. Therefore, one could speak declaratively in this instance. However, not all who come, come sincerely. We see this even in the eating of the Lord’s Supper in 1 Cor. 11:27-30 where some eat unworthily of the Lord ’s Supper. So, I think the blessing is a more appropriate way to translate this.  Then it contains a promise to those who come sincerely and a warning to those who come with wrong motives. Let all examine ourselves to see which one applies to us!

That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God's judgment upon yourself. 1 Cor. 11:28-29

Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you — unless, of course, you fail the test?

2 Cor 13:5 NIV