What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.
O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, Trinity Hymnal 247, vs 3
Bernard of Clairvaux 1091-1153
Blest are the undefiled in heart,
Whose ways are right and clean;
Who never from Thy law depart,
But fly from every sin.
Blest are the men that keep Thy Word,
And practice Thy commands;
With their whole heart they seek the Lord,
And serve thee with their hands.
Great is their peace who love Thy law;
How firm their souls abide!
Nor can a bold temptation draw
Their steady feet aside.
Then shall my heart have inward joy,
And keep my face from shame,
When all Thy statutes I obey,
And honor all Thy Name.
Trinity Hymnal #557
Words by Isaac Watts, 1719 (modified to remove those mean verses about God hating vile sinners and such)
From Psalm 119
I have a new hobby: reading through the Trinity Hymnal. There is some surprising material in there. Take #9 “All You That Fear Jehovah’s Name”, for instance. Verse 2 goes like this:
The suff’ring One he has not spurned, who unto him for help has turned; from him he has not hid his face, but answered his request in grace, but answered his request in grace.
This sweetly complies with what some FV proponents have been saying, namely, that while Jesus walked the earth His relationship with His Heavenly Father was not one of meritorious achievement, but rather, one of grace through faith (cf John Barach, God’s Grace).
While this does not prove that the FV understanding of Philippians 2:9 is correct, it does prove that the conception of the Father’s gracious response to the Son’s faithfulness finds itself in the reformed tradition.
Sola Fidelity 