THE HILL OF ZION John 10:27-28, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. One on my favorite hymns of all time. The text was written by Philip Doddridge of whom we discussed yesterday. The tune is The Hill of Zion written by B.F. White and is commonly sung in sacred harp singings. Mr. Doddridge wrote the words in 1740 for Dr. Watts hymnal and was headed, The Happiness and Security of Christs Sheep. It was sung to the tune Albion and fell out common use in the 1920s. To my knowledge, the Primitive Baptists are the only church that continues to sing it. I love the words and think they match well with the tune, The Hill of Zion. In the song, we read of our Great Shepherds words of love and protection toward His sheep. The first stanza sets up these words by stating: Jesus silence breaks and what he says is greater than even an angels harp. The next lines tell us that he KNOWS his sheep, he APPROVES his sheep and nothing can separate him FROM his sheep. He feeds them well and has even greater food for them in those sweeter streams above. There, in eternal bliss under and under an unshaken throne, those sheep who are the Chosen will live forever. Nothing shall separate them from this great wonderful destiny for nothing is stronger than our Shepherds love which is always raised for our defense. The last stanza is my favorite. Enough! is the response of the sheep to the Shepherd. All that he has said and done is enough. His promises are kept no matter what transpires. Our faith in triumph cries this and our hearts know it so well that it lives on it and can die on it. Kind Readers, does our wonderful shepherd deserve any less faith than this? No, he deserves more than we can ever give. He deserves better praise then Ive ever given him. He has done enough but I have done too little. I thank God that nothing shall ever cancel what my Savior has done. My soul with joy attends this and my heart that lives on it; can die on it. That is how much I trust my Shepherd.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 13:18:15 +0000
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