Author Archives: Matt Jury

Give Me a New, a Perfect Heart

Posted on by under Music

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO TUNE IN NEW WINDOW/TAB

Give Me a New, a Perfect Heart

Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

Give me a new, a perfect heart,
From doubt, and fear, and sorrow free;
The mind which was in Christ impart,
And let my spirit cleave to Thee.

Purge me from every sinful blot,
My idols all be cast aside,
Cleanse me from every sinful thought,
From all the filth of self and pride.

O take this heart of stone away!
Thy sway it doth not, cannot own;
In me no longer let it stay;
O take away this heart of stone!

Cause me to walk in Christ my Way;
And I Thy statutes shall fulfill,
In every point Thy law obey,
And perfectly perform Thy will.

Now let me gain perfection’s height;
Now let me into nothing fall,
Be less than nothing in Thy sight,
And feel that Christ is all in all.

The original version (written in 1742) has 28 stanzas.

The Anticipation of Worship

Posted on by under Michael P V Barrett

We must worship with the anticipation that God will graciously manifest His acceptance of our worship with unmistaking evidences of His presence. Too often we go through “worship motions” routinely and thoughtlessly without any expectations of consequence. To expect nothing is to get nothing. But God has promised to draw nigh to those who draw nigh to Him. What Isaiah saw was visionary symbolism, so we should not necessarily expect physical quaking or visual theophanies, nevertheless, we have every right to expect God to move within our hearts as with our hearts we give voice to praise.

Michael Barrett, The Beauty of Holiness, pp. 149-160