I love to read the old Methodist hymns. I like the newer songs as well, but some of these old hymns have a depth that is not always matched by our modern choruses and praise and worship songs. I first heard about the old Methodist Hymns by listening to Leonard Ravenhill sermons. So when I saw an old hymnal in a local church, I quickly snatched it up and asked to borrow it. Here is one of the many that caused my heart to flow with praise and gratitude to God.
Divine Condescension
O God, of good the unfathomed sea!
Who would not give his heart to thee?
Who would not love thee with his might?
O Jesus, lover of mankind,
Who would not his whole soul and mind,
With all his strength, to thee unite?
Thou shin’st with everlasting rays;
Before the insufferable blaze
Angels with both wings veil their eyes;
Yet free as air thy bounty streams;
On all thy works th mercy’s beams,
Diffusive as thy sun’s, arise.
Astonished at thy frowning brow,
Earth, hell and heaven’s strong pillars bow!
Terrible majesty is thine!
Who then can that vast love express
Which bows thee down to me,—who less
Than nothing am, till thou art mine!
High throned on Heaven’s eternal hill,
In number, weight, and measure, still
Thou sweetly orderest all that is,
And yet thou deign’st to come to me,
And guide my steps, that I, with thee
Enthroned, may reign in endless bliss.
— Johann A. Scheffler. Translated by John Wesley
Bible Quick Takes 