Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone? – Thomas Shepherd (1693)

Must Je­sus bear the cross alone,
And all the world go free?
No, there’s a cross for ev­ery­one,
And there’s a cross for me.

How hap­py are the saints above,
Who once went sor­row­ing here!
But now they taste un­min­gled love,
And joy with­out a tear.

The con­se­crat­ed cross I’ll bear
Till death shall set me free;
And then go home my crown to wear,
For there’s a crown for me.

Upon the crys­tal pave­ment down
At Je­sus’ pierc­ed feet,
Joyful I’ll cast my gold­en crown
And His dear name re­peat.

O pre­cious cross! O glo­ri­ous crown!
O re­sur­rect­ion day!
When Christ the Lord
From Heav’n comes down
And bears my soul away.

And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:27).

O Holy Night – John S Dwight (1847)

O holy night! the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope- the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!
Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here came the Wise Men from Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our Friend.
He knows our need— to our weakness is no stranger.
Behold your King, before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King, before Him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we;
Let all within us praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

 … that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11)

Covered by the Blood – Nellie Edwards (1904)

Once in sin’s darkest night I was wand’ring alone;
A stranger to mercy I stood.
But the Saviour came nigh
When He heard my faint cry,
And He put my sins under the blood.

Refrain ~
They are covered by the blood;
They are covered by the blood;
My sins are all covered by the blood.
Mine iniquities so vast
Have been blotted out at last,
My sins are all covered by the blood.

From the burden I carried now I am set free,
For Jesus has lifted my load.
O the love and the grace I received in its place
When He put my sins under the blood.

I can ne’er understand why He sought even me,
Why His lifeblood on Calvary flowed.
But sufficient for me,
Since He died on the tree,
He hath put my sins under the blood.

Now He comes to my heart and removes ev’ry care;
He bears all my cumbering load.
In a pathway replete
With His love are my feet,
Since He put my sins under the blood.

… you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Now Thank We All Our God – Martin Rinkart (1636)

Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in whom his world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us,
To keep us in his grace, and guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills of this world in the next.

All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given,
The Son and Spirit blest, who reign in highest heaven,
The one eternal God, whom heaven and earth adore;
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen (Deuteronomy 10:21)

The First Tears in the Bible

Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years … and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her (Genesis 23:1-2).

Abraham’s wife Sarah had her faults, but the Bible gives a positive testimony concerning her. God called her a princess (Genesis 17:15). She’s pictured by Paul as an illustration of spiritual freedom (Galatians 4:21-31). She’s listed as a heroine of faith (Hebrews 11:11), and raised as an example of God’s delight in a woman (1 Peter 3:1-6).

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a great woman, but she is nowhere in the Bible specified as an example of anything; but we are told twice in the Bible to make Sarah an example to be followed (Isaiah 51:1-2; 1 Peter 3:3-6).

Interestingly, Sarah is the only woman in the Bible whose age we know. Her death after more than 75 years of marriage was met with weeping from her husband. These are the first tears mentioned in the Bible, and people will continue to cry until God wipes away our tears in Heaven (Revelation 21:4). Tears are not a sign of unbelief, but of sorrow, and even as a man of faith, Abraham still sorrowed.

God made us with the ability to cry. To tell a grieving believer to stop crying is poor advice; the Bible only says that believers must not mourn like unbelievers. Unbelievers have no hope of seeing their loved one again, but as believers, we are assured that our believing dead are not only safe in the arms of Jesus, but we will be reunited with them in Heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

We’re not told that Abraham cried when God told him to leave everything behind and travel to a far-away land; he didn’t cry when his father died, Lot was captured, he sent his eldest son Ishmael away, or even when he was told to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac. When Abraham knelt beside the lifeless body of his wife and remembered, he wept. Death was the last enemy, but grief doesn’t last forever and life goes on for us left behind.

Vance Havner was one of America’s most traveled evangelists during his 72 years of ministry. Warren Wiersbe met Dr Havner shortly after his wife Sarah Havner died after 33 years of marriage. Wiersbe offered his condolences. “I’m sorry to hear you lost your wife.” Dr Havner replied with a smile, “Son, when you know where something is, you haven’t lost it.”

** An oldie but goodie from May 2019.