A Hymn
A came across this hymn today. Tell me what you think.
Why Men Don't Preach Sovereign Grace
What makes mistaken men afraid
Of sovereign grace to preach!
The reason is, if truth be said,
Because they are so rich.
Why so offensive in their eyes
Does God's election seem?
Because they think themselves so wise
That they have chosen him.
Of perseverance why so loath
Are some to speak or hear?
Because, as masters over sloth,
They vow to persevere.
Whence is imputed righteousness
A point so little known?
Because men think they all possess
Some righteousness their own.
Not so the needy, helpless soul,
Prefers his humble prayer;
He looks to him that works the whole,
And seeks his treasure there.
His language is, "Let me, my God,
On sovereign grace rely;
And own 'tis free, because bestowed
On one so vile as I.
Election ! tis a word divine;
For, Lord, I plainly see,
Had not thy choice preceded mine,
I ne'er had chosen thee.
For perseverance strength I've none,
But would on this depend...
That Jesus, having loved his own,
Will love them to the end.
Empty and bare, I come to thee
For righteousness divine:
O may thy matchless merits be,
By imputation, mine."
Thus differ these; yet hoping each
To make salvation Sure.
Now most men will approve the rich,
But Christ has blessed the poor.
First titled: "Because thou sayest, I am rich." Rev 3:17. By Joseph Hart. A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship. by William Gadsby. The Gospel Standard Societies, 1977. 8 Roundwood Gardens, Harpenden, Herts. AL5 3AJ, England. Hymn 222. Pages 183-4.
posted by Madison | 3:34 PM
6 Comments:
What kind of election? Unconditional or conditional?
Son
Is this the kind of sovereign grace you are talking about:
http://www.reformed.com/pub/fivepts.htm
I just wanted to make sure.
Dad
Madison,
If I may be so bold, the reason why this particular hymn is so dreadful is because so much of it focuses on the earthly theological disputes of men, and not on God. There is a place for the former, but a hymn is not it! There's a difference between praising God that he is as Scripture reveals him to be, and praising God that I am not like other men, like this tax-collector over there :-) This hymn smacks of the Pharisee recounting publicly how much better he is than his theological detractors. Now, don't get me wrong. Some of Joseph Hart's hymns are genuinely heart-stirring and God-honoring. But I have serious doubts about this one. Contrast this with the excellent hymns by the Arminian Wesleys. I hope we'll be singing them throughout all eternity :-)
Keep in mind also that the Gospel Standard Society (which publishes Gadsby's Hymnal, which you've cited) is a genuinely hyper-Calvinist organization. Gadsby himself amended the Gospel Standard Articles to his liking. A quick look at the Articles reveals the following sad claims:
Article 24 says that the invitations of the gospel are only intended for awakened sinners, "who have been made by the blessed Spirit to feel their lost state as sinners and their need of Christ as their Saviour."
Article 26 says "We deny duty-faith and duty-repentance, these terms signifying that it is every man's duty to spiritually and savingly repent and believe."
Article 29 says "we deny *offers* of grace; that is to say, that the gospel is to be *offered* indiscriminately to all."
Article 32 denies that the apostolic preaching sets an example for the church today. It says that we can't argue to the legitimacy of the free-offer of the gospel, from the example of apostolic preaching in the book of Acts. (They need to make this denial, for obviously the apostles *did* freely offer Christ to all in the book of Acts.)
Article 33 says that it is *wrong* "for ministers in the present day to address unconverted persons, or indiscriminately all in a mixed congregation, calling upon them to savingly repent, believe, and receive Christ."
Article 34 says that "we have no Scripture warrant to take the exhortations in the Old Testament included for the Jews in national covenant with God, and apply them in a spiritual and saving sense to unregenerated men."
All of this stuff is just abominable, of course.
Dr. Welty, thanks for your comment. I found this hymn to be quite the intersting one, especially "Election! tis a word divine."
This is not a song that will make it in my hymnal.
Wow, Madison! Your posts even draw out the big guns, I see. Dr. Welty, are you a closet blogger?
I do agree with Dr. Welty's assessment of the hymn. It does seem to unfortunately descend into a polemic against those who have more Arminian leanings.
Besides, should we not be careful with a hymn which apparently attempts to reflect what the author considers to be THE correct understanding of so great a divine mystery as the relation between sovereign grace and human responsibility?
Hi Madison,
Well, 'election' is a word divine, in the sense that it actually appears in the divinely inspired Greek of the NT, in both noun and verb form, right? :-) However, it must be admitted that the mere occurrence of this word isn't self-interpreting :-)
Hi Matt,
No comment on your direct question :-)
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