"All coldness from my heart remove."

"All coldness from my heart remove."
Hymn: “Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me” – Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676); translated by John Wesley

Common Tunes: ST. CATHERINE, RYBURN

What a prayer! It seems like it needs no further explanation or discussion. But then, this hymn-line would be much too short an entry! On the other hand, I know that if this could happen in my life, I would indeed be a different follower of Christ.

I’ve never been very formulaic in my public prayers. Whether off the cuff or written out, I usually simply speak my mind/heart. I’m known to be blunt with my honesty sometimes, even to the point of someone saying afterwards, “I can’t believe you actually said that in a prayer.”

I take my praying seriously, and that means I talk to God as openly as possible, reining myself in as needed depending on my human audience; however, I’m carrying on a conversation with the Almighty while my fellow mere mortals listen in!

If, on the other hand, I prayed using a formula, I think I should add "All coldness from my heart remove" to all my prayers – public and private.

The great formulaic prayer – the one we call “The Lord’s Prayer” or the “Our Father” – includes the phrase “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Our coldness of heart against individuals and/or groups usually stems from having been (in our opinion) wronged. There are those who have left the organized church and are cold toward her because they were at some point disenfranchised over a life choice or a lifestyle – or their honesty. Others of us have placed our heart in the deep freeze over disagreements with family members and former friends.

Speaking of honesty, most of us know the chill-down-the-spine feeling we get when we have to pass certain people in the hallway between Sunday School and worship. The coldness of heart surges into our system, and we try desperately to avert our eyes for fear that our mouth might say what our mind is thinking. Too honest? Am I alone in this? I think not!

Worst of all is the child of God whose very outlook on life has cooled to the point of freezing – the one whose heart is frozen hard as a rock due to countless, endless experiences which have lowered their spiritual temperature to depths they could never have anticipated – and likely would never admit.

We were not redeemed for such an attitude as this. We were ‘set on fire’ at our salvation-time, and for many of us, the heating scale has been on the decline ever since.

Once upon a time, some angry, disappointed people were traveling on a road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Along the way, a stranger joined them and allowed them to vent their confusion, their crisis-of-faith. At their destination, they invited the stranger to remain for dinner saying, “Stay with us.” At table, they recognized him as the Christ. We know the story; it is one of those we see unfold almost as a staged drama. As the scene concludes, after the main character has left the stage, the actors say to one another, “Were not our hearts warmed within us as he talked with us…?” Indeed, when he walks with us and talks with us and tells us we are his own, our hearts begin to thaw.

Lord Jesus, stay with us. Continue the warming of hearts until they are again afire with love and not near-hate for our fellow believers and others outside the faith family. Lord Jesus, stay with us, that we may walk so near yourself that we can do no less than reenact your lifestyle. Lord Jesus, stay with us. All coldness from our heart our hearts remove; may every act, word, thought be love. Amen.

 Listen in on a Family Reunion Singing This Stanza 

Though not the tune with which most of us associate the text,

this is a really 'sweet' video

St. Olaf Choir Sings Egil Hovland's "Stay with Us" -
One of my all-time favorite choral pieces

“Hide me, O my Savior, hide till the storm of life is past.”

Hymn: “Jesus, Lover of My Soul” – Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Tunes: MARTYN, REFUGE

This kind of hiding is not like a children’s game; it is rather a plea for Christ to cover us or tuck us away near to the heart of God during a rough patch… a difficult stretch… possibly only a more-than-we-can-handle day.

I remember vividly a Glorieta Music Week preacher telling a room full of hymn-lovers that we should never sing this hymn again because it encourages us to hide instead of fighting, taking a stand or being “out there,” taking on the world as it comes. I remember my brain screaming, “What?! Is this guy serious?” He may have been a famous pulpiteer with a large following, but on that one, he was wrong.

There are days we need to be covered, drawn nearer, shadowed ‘neath the wings of the Almighty. The storm of life may be as simple as feeling inadequate or insignificant; it may be a family or worldwide tragedy; it may be a prognosis. Whatever it is, we seek refuge in the cleft of the Rock of Ages.

An old southern gospel song that I cherish to this day is “Where Could I Go But to the Lord?” Along with today’s Wesley hymnline and many others like it from scripture and from hymnal-pages, we get the answer to that toe-tapping question: nowhere.

I am not ashamed to tell you that with Corrie Ten Boom, I often cry out to God for a hiding place where my attention is drawn from the momentary or long-term thunder storm or tornadic activity in which I find myself – drawn instead to the hope and eventual joy with which I emerge to forge ahead, at least until the next down pour. I don’t think that makes me less brave; I think it makes me more reliant on the Source of any spiritual bravery I might muster to outlive the storm.

Rock of Ages, let me hide in thee once again… and again, and again. I have nowhere else to go. Amen.

Hear Fernando Ortega Sing This Hymn (REFUGE tune)

“Let music swell the breeze. And ring from all the trees sweet freedom’s song.”

“Let music swell the breeze. And ring from all the trees sweet freedom’s song.”
Hymn: “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” – Samuel F. Smith (1808-1895)
Tune: AMERICA

Long before the term “surround sound” was coined, this hymn-line captured the essence of music coming at you from all directions. We musicians can picture this happening: we can see thousands of staves filled with quavers and semi-quavers swirling through the air, engulfing us with the richness of a great choral or symphonic sound. I personally think Eric Whitacre might be the composer of the sound I audiolize – that’s like visualize, but for sound!

It’s almost like a scene from Walt Disney’s FANTASIA… one of the pleasant, exuberant sections, not one of the scary ones! With a grand flourish, Mickey’s baton pulls sound from every direction: it is a cacophony of pitches, but they all make sense – they “make music.”

In this case, the song is one of freedom. “Do you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men? It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again.”* People all around the world from every nation have had their freedom songs… their rallying cry set to music… at various times in their history. Their singing added to their resolve to do something about their incarcerated condition – their confinement to a situation from which there seems to be no escape.

This is a week to cherish our freedom as Americans: that’s why I chose a patriotic hymn. But it’s a time to be concerned for freedom of all God’s people who find themselves enslaved… traded, abused, neglected. Christian people cannot stand by and enjoy their freedom while others have none. Our concern must move us to action.

“Freedom! O Freedom! Freedom is coming, O yes I know.” (Traditional South African Song)

Listen to This Song

* - from the Broadway show LES MISERABLES (listen)

[Disclaimer: I realize this is not really a hymn as such; it is a patriotic song. There is a danger on weeks like this to hoist the flag in front of the cross and to miss the opportunity to worship and be grateful to the One who gave us life and liberty at the same time. So, I'm approaching it from the angle of "God... the Author of liberty" in the final stanza.]

“For the joy of human love… for all gentle thoughts and mild.”

“For the joy of human love… for all gentle thoughts and mild.”

Hymn: “For the Beauty of the Earth” – Folliott S. Pierpoint (1835-1917)
Common Tune: DIX

Unless you are a hermit or a real loner, you will agree with this hymnline because few of us can exist without some kind of human affection – from spouses, family members, close friends, folks at church, people with whom we work, etc. We know the warming effect of someone’s entrance into the room and that racing-forward smile when you greet someone special at the airport… just outside security, of course!

I think it is a universal emotion: love. While all cultures do not base their marriages on love, those people MUST have others they care about and enjoy – someone without whom they could hardly exist. This world-wide finding joy in the reciprocated fondness for another human is at the heart (no pun intended) of our relishing this life promised to us in abundance.

In these joy-based relationships, we don’t fear one another. Instead we have gentle thoughts and mild reactions. This gentleness and this mildness are peaceable, calm, kind, pleasant; one of the synonyms is “easy-going.” In other words, we don’t have to constantly work to keep these affiliations intact; such connections become a natural part of who we are and who THEY are.

Some of us have found a life-mate whose presence brings us this kind of joy. We are fortunate indeed to have joined our lives with theirs... and in some cases attached ourselves to the larger loving pool of their family. Some have bound themselves through other means and avenues of friendly interaction. If you fall into either of those categories, you need to sing with confidence the line which follows in this text: “Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise” – because these loving relationships are God’s provisions, and they have been rationed out in just the right proportions to keep us ever happy and ever blessed.


Hear This Hymn Sung

“With healing balm my soul he fills and every faithless murmur stills.”

Hymn: “Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above” – Johann Schütz (1640-1690)
Common Tune: MIT FREUDEN ZART

Murmuring: have you ever heard that word used in a positive context? By definition, this is a soft, indistinct sound made by a person or group of people speaking quietly or at a distance; the quiet or subdued expression of a particular feeling by a group of people.” In common usage, these “soft, indistinct sounds” and “subdued expressions” have become forces that can eventually lead to a mutiny if not detected and quieted.

With forty-plus years in local church ministry, I am well familiar with murmuring – and not once do I recall this to have developed into a movement of support or praise.

This happens inside us individually. Understand? There are constant whisperings in our spirit that are faithless – not faith-based. Sometimes that “still small voice” that nags at us is not the one Elijah heard; instead, it is a complaining, grousing attitude that works against us – one that will not (and I reluctantly use the phrase) shut up and leave us alone.

When we realize this is happening, we have to deal with it; we have to quieten those negative voices that demand our attention and command our approval… and possible action. Our only choice is to “shut ‘er down” and put an end to “every weight and sin that so easily beset us” or drag us down… throw us off course… ultimately defeat us. (Hebrews 12:1)

Fortunately, this hymnline reminds us that there is a salving of the soul, a filling of the Spirit that attacks for us the viral attack of those low-toned murmurings. The Great Physician… or Pharmacist… is near to fill that which has been prescribed for us to be able to quiet those undertones and replace them with resolve.

I’m not comfortable with exorcism; I guess the Linda Blair movie messed me up on that! However, there are times when I have to say, “In the name of Jesus, away with you, faithless murmur. Leave me alone. I will not listen to you anymore.”

Somebody pass me that healing balm!


This hymn from Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church