I WILL SING OF MY REDEEMER

 

 

 

 

Dennis C Stevenson Jr

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2020

All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

Contents

1.     I Will Sing of My Redeemer

2.     A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

3.     Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow

4.     Fairest Lord Jesus

5.     Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed

6.     I Sing the Mighty Power of God

7.     O God, Our Help in Ages Past

8.     And Can It Be That I Should Gain

9.     O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing

10.  Christ the Lord Is Risen Today

11.  When Morning Guilds the Skies

12.  Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

13.  There is a Fountain

14.  Rock of Ages

15.  All Hail the Power of Jesus Name

16.  Amazing Grace

17.  How Firm a Foundation

18.  There Is a Balm in Gilead

19.  Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty

20.  Blessed Assurance

21.  I Need Thee Every Hour

22.  My Faith Looks Up to Thee

23.  O Worship the King

24.  The Solid Rock

25.  Just As I Am

26.  Crown Him with Many Crowns

27.  What a Friend We Have in Jesus

28.  Jesus Loves Me

29.  He Leadeth Me

30.  Revive Us Again

31.  My Jesus, I Love Thee

32.  Jesus Paid It All

33.  Sweet By and By

34.  Take My Life and Let It Be

35.  It Is Well With My Soul

36.  All The Way My Savor Leads Me

37.  Like a River Glorious

38.  Take Time to Be Holy

39.  ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust In Jesus

40.  How Great Thou Art

41.  Trust and Obey

42.  My Faith Has Found a Resting Place

43.  When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder

44.  At Calvary

45.  I Surrender All

46.  Count Your Blessings

47.  There Is Power In The Blood

48.  Have Thine Own Way, Lord

49.  The Old Rugged Cross

50.  Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

51.  In The Garden

52.  Wonderful Grace of Jesus

 

 

 

 

I grew up I grew up singing hymns in church. As a boy, I learned every verse of hundreds of songs. I liked to pretend I could read the notes and sing all the different parts (those around me might not have appreciated it very much). Singing these hymns defined what it meant to go to church.

Years later I look back on those great hymns and I am amazed by what a treasure they have been in my life. With age and perspective, I have a fresh appreciation for how they taught me who God is and how I ought to love Him.

There is something about hearing a piano play the introduction to one of these songs that immediately transports me back to a simpler time. Music has this ability to capture our hearts and imagination in a powerful way that grounds us to place and time.

As I reviewed the hymns in this book, I was shocked how many I could still sing. Often, I could sing multiple verses. The words simply flowed one after the other.

I have stored up your word in my heart,

that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:11

 

While the great hymns of our faith are not the same as God’s word, they point directly to God’s word. When we think of songs like Amazing Grace or Jesus Loves Me or Christ the Lord is Risen Today, the scripture almost jumps off the page.

These hymns are full of truth. They proclaim God’s greatness. They celebrate God’s love displayed in Jesus’ willing sacrifice at the cross. They point to the practical matters of living a holy life in this fallen world. Again and again they return to the simple faith upon which our Christian lives are built.

I owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women who penned those lyrics. Someday in heaven I would like to thank them personally. Their contribution to my spiritual growth has been profound.

I wrote this book to celebrate these great hymns of our faith. Even though they have been replaced by more modern songs, they still have a lot to offer.

I’ve returned to those comforting and familiar words and explored the faith they proclaim. Each song is full of biblical truth that we need in our lives today. We would be wise to remember the lessons they have taught us. The Spirit of God will certainly use them to teach us new lessons again.

There are many ways you could use this book. You might want to read through and enjoy the pleasant trips down memory lane as each new hymn comes up. You might want to refresh your heart with the familiar words and spend time meditating on the spiritual truth they contain. You might use this as a guide for fifty two days or 52 weeks to lead your heart and mind to consider God and what He has done for you.

It’s up to you.

My prayer is that you’ll be inspired and humbled. Not because my words are so great, but because these great songs point back to our amazing God. You’ll find scripture in every hymn. Use it to focus your attention on God and the tremendous effort He has displayed to show you how much He loves you.

I’ve developed a resource kit to help you enjoy this book and enhance its purpose of leading you back to God. I’ve assembled links to performances of all the hymns I shared in the book. I’ve also found the complete lyrics and linked to them as well. Finally, I developed a devotional workbook should you want to journal or reflect more deeply on the truth these songs teach us about God.

You can get this resource kit for free on my website at https://dennis-stevenson.com/HymnResources. I hope you take advantage of it. I really enjoyed researching and picking the performances to share with you.

Most of all, I hope you enjoy these great hymns and let them remind you of the spiritual reality that can change your life.

Bless the LORD, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name!

Psalm 103:1

 

 

 

 

I will sing of my Redeemer,

And His wondrous love to me.

On the cruel cross He suffered,

From the curse to set me free.

Sing oh sing, of my Redeemer,

With His blood, He purchased me.

On the cross, He sealed my pardon,

Paid the debt, and made me free.

Philip P. Bliss

 

 

Sing a song to your Redeemer. Lift up His name and be glad. Rejoice for He has purchased you back from slavery and death and given you a glorious new future.

Therefore, the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

Isaiah 51:11

This great hymn draws our attention to our Redeemer. Jesus, the Son of God, gave Himself for us so that we could find peace with God. He exchanged His glory and majesty for a human life and suffered and died a humiliating death as a criminal when He had done nothing wrong.

We were lost, dead in our sins, and unable to do anything to earn God’s favor. But Jesus came to earth and traded places with us, giving us His righteousness and taking the penalty for our sins.

No matter how hard we try, we cannot escape the centrality of the gospel in our lives. Because God loved us, we have a future instead of everlasting punishment. Because Jesus said, “Not as I will, but as You will,” (Matthew 26:39) and accepted the shame of the cross, we stand before God clothed in His righteousness.

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

1 Timothy 1:15

As sinners we lived under a guilty verdict. From the very first moment of our lives, we were contaminated by sin and offensive to God. We could do nothing on our own to change our status before God. Our first sin sealed our fate.

Yet while we were in this terrible situation, Jesus came. He did not ask us to clean ourselves up. He did not demand a certain level acceptable behavior before He would entertain our salvation. While we were indelibly stained by our sin and rebellion, He took our place and gave us His righteousness.

Now we stand before God as sons and daughters. We have an inheritance with His Son. We have a home prepared for us in Heaven and the Holy Spirit of God dwells in us as the guarantee that everything we have not yet received will come to pass.

We have received such a wonderful gift. It must change us and change our perspective. This song calls upon us to express love to our Redeemer in song. Let us respond to Him with the love that He showed to us in the first place.

 

We love Him because He first loved us.

1 John 4:19

 

We cannot match the grandness of His display of love. We do not need to. We aren’t trying to pay Him back. It was a gift of grace. (Ephesians 2:8-9) Our response is to receive it and give all glory back to Him.

Singing seems like so little in contrast to the great gift we have received. As the song reminds us of the suffering and pain He endured on our behalf, it seems like we should do much more. Yet this is the great wonder of the gospel. We could not work our way to redemption on our own. Nor can we pay back the price of the gift we have received.

Instead, let us turn our attention to the glory of God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Let us point our lives toward Him and declare His majesty. He is great and greatly to be praised. It is right that we stop and sing of our Redeemer. Let us talk daily of His wondrous love.

I will praise my dear Redeemer;

His triumphant power I’ll tell,

How the victory He giveth

Over sin and death and hell.