Small Group Prayers

In poverty, be riches,
In hunger, living food,
In dry and barren deserts,
The fount of every good;
In nakedness and sickness,
Be robes of righteous white
And health upon the sojourn
To New Jerusalem’s light.

In sorrow, be our helper;
In grief, be ever near;
In trial, be our patience;
When tempted, egress clear.
O teach us in the valley,
Though death’s deep shade be there,
To follow without fearing
And trust your perfect care.

Our many friends and family
Who yet contend with thee,
Have mercy and compassion
Upon them; let them see
That you alone can save them
From every grief and pride,
That every good they grope for
Is only at your side.

Let us be ever grateful
For every gift you send;
Both spiritual and earthly,
We get them from your hand.
Assured that all successes
Your providence doth raise,
As sacrifice we offer
Our grateful lips in praise.

As we your word do open,
Upon us now bestow
To hear and understand it
And application know,
But most of all enlighten
Those eyes within our heart,
To raise us up to glory
And see thee as thou art.

O Father in the highest,
O Son who intercedes,
And thou, O Holy Spirit
Who helps us in our need,
We now yet feebly praise thee—
Give pow’r to thee adore!—
To thee be all the glory
Now and forevermore.

—To “All Sufficient Merit,” 4/3/25

Most of this is self-explanatory—it’s prayer time during my small group—but I am pretty pleased with how the second-to-last stanza captures my pastor’s stated goal in exposition: to ask what does the text say, what does it mean by what it says, and how do we walk it out in light of the finished work of Jesus Christ?

Righteousness Applied

Thy righteousness, O God, extendeth
Far o’er the loftiest mountain height,
Ev’ry bright star beyond ascendeth,
Finding its zenith in thy light,
Where all thy servants praise thy judgments,
Blessing thy ways as all aright.

Mine own iniquity was sinking
Deeper than any ocean trench,
Still I had dug my grave, unthinking
Justice was waiting me to wrench
Into Gehenna’s terrors finally:
There worm undying, flame unquenched.

Thy lovingkindness, Jesus, sought me
Past heights of heav’n to deepest hell,
With thine atoning blood hast bought me,
Bondage to sin in me to quell,
Fitted in holy, righteous linen
That I may ‘neath thy glory dwell.

In thy great power, Savior, keep me
Till thy redeeming work is done;
Sanctify with thy grace completely;
Give thine endurance, race to run
Unto thee, Jesus, source, perfecter,
Unto thee, Father, Spirit, Son.

—To “Fragrance.” Finished 3/29/25.

Alive in Christ:
Spin me around like one of those tops,
The cheapy plastic ones,
The ones that never stop.
Let all the sin fly off
Like when you lean too far off a merry-go-round;
The gravity of joy overcome me
Like when you lean far enough in
And find yourself in the center of a star,
Massive, crushing—alive!
Spin me around, O life-giving Christ;
Whirl me with your righteous love and power,
That I may never stop.
—3/13/25

When golden rays my bleary eyelids bless,
When nature’s cheerful waking waketh me,
I meditate on all thy faithfulness
And raise anew extolling melody,
For as thy mercies rise again each morn,
I will praise the Lord who breaks the dawn.

When trial presses in upon my soul,
When guilt unto despair me doth entice,
When all thy calling deeps above me roll,
When most I feel a living sacrifice—
Although the storm be filled with nought but pain,
I will praise the Lord who sends the rain.

From youth thy word hath guarded all my ways;
Thou’st saved me from each folly I have loved,
Blessed with thy lovingkindness all my days,
My rocky cleft, my hiding place hath proved,
So as the shadows grow and dims the light,
I will praise the Lord until the night.

When from corruption’s bondage I am free
And pass from fruit to infiniter gain,
When mortal puts on immortality
And sown in dust, I rise the stuff of heav’n,
When crown of life I gain to throneward cast,
I will praise thee perfectly at last.

—2/9/25