Hymn: “I Will Sing of My Redeemer” – Phillip P. Bliss (1838-1876
Tune: MY REDEEMER
This is one of those songs which is often sung too trippingly to catch all the words. It certainly is cause for joy, but if we are not careful, its poignancy may be missed. I’m not sure we should ever approach the cross-event lightly… even in our singing!
Our pardon has been written up and the seal has been applied, making it official. We are no longer held accountable for that for which we have been charged – our sin. Though guilty as charged, the Great Governor - he who governs all – has responded to our plea for leniency. Clemency is ours. The paperwork is completed; our pardon is secured… sealed by the blood of the Lamb. Thanks be to God!
We, who were once owned by the purveyors of sin, have been bought back by our Maker. The enormous debt we owe has been paid in full; that rubber stamp has been inked and applied to our documentation, and we go throughout the rest of our earthly existence, paperwork in hand, as freedmen… and freedwomen. To quote a spiritual from the black American tradition: “Free at last, free at last. I thank God, I’m free at last!”
In one of this hymn’s stanzas, Bliss says: “In his boundless love and mercy, he the ransom freely gave.” Ransomed, pardoned, debt-paid, freed. And all this was done “at the cross where I first saw the light”
Slow the song down a bit and take in the words. Find new richness in the text of this old gospel song.
Fernando Ortega
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU5hhE9cN6A
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