Morning breaks upon the tomb...

Morning breaks upon the tomb;

Jesus scatters all its gloom.

Day of triumph through the skies,

See the glorious Savior rise.

You who are of death afraid,

Triumph in the scattered shade.

Drive your anxious cares away;

See the place where Jesus lay.

Christian, dry your flowing tears;

Chase your unbelieving fears.

Look on his deserted grave;

Doubt no more his pow'r to save.

-William Collyer

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!

O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive

to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness,

that you may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord!

For with the Lord there is steadfast love,

and with him is plentiful redemption.

And he will redeem Israel

from all his iniquities.

-Psalm 130

---------------------The Great Silence--------------------

Ancient Homily For Holy Saturday

Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him, Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying:

“Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.

“I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise.

“I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth.

“For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

“See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

“I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

“Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God.

“The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.”

"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree..."

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. -1 Peter 2:22-25

We must not conceal from ourselves that true Christianity brings with it a daily cross in this life, while it offers us a crown of glory in the life to come. The flesh must be daily crucified. The devil must be daily resisted. The world must be daily overcome. There is a warfare to be waged, and a battle to be fought. All this is the inseparable accompaniment of true religion. Heaven is not to be won without it. Never was there a truer word than the old saying, “No cross, no crown!” If we never found this out by experience, our souls are in a poor condition. -J.C. Ryle

"For I have given you an example..."

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. -John 13:12-17

It is a great act of eternal love when Christ once for all absolves the sinner, and puts him into the family of God; but what condescending patience there is when the Saviour with much long-suffering bears the oft recurring follies of his wayward disciple; day by day, and hour by hour, washing away the multiplied transgressions of his erring but yet beloved child!....While we find comfort and peace in our Lord’s daily cleansing, its legitimate influence upon us will be to increase our watchfulness, and quicken our desire for holiness. Is it so? -CH Spurgeon

Make haste, O God, to deliver me!

Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. 

-Matthew 26:14-16

Make haste, O God, to deliver me!

    O Lord, make haste to help me!

Let them be put to shame and confusion

    who seek my life!

Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor

    who delight in my hurt!

Let them turn back because of their shame

    who say, “Aha, Aha!”

May all who seek you

    rejoice and be glad in you!

May those who love your salvation

    say evermore, “God is great!”

But I am poor and needy;

    hasten to me, O God!

You are my help and my deliverer;

    O Lord, do not delay!

  -Psalm 70

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus...

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  -Philippians 2:5-11 Image

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain...

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing!”'

-Revelation 5:11-12

Praise is the most heavenly of Christian duties. The angels pray not, but they cease not to praise both day and night; and the redeemed, clothed in white robes, with palm-branches in their hands, are never weary of singing the new song, “Worthy is the Lamb.”  -Charles Haddon Spurgeon Image

Here Is Love, Vast as the Ocean...

 

Here Is Love, Vast as the Ocean 

The Gettys, Sandra McCracken

Vs 1

Here is love vast as the ocean

Lovingkindness as the flood

When the Prince of Life, our ransom

Shed for us His precious blood

Who His love will not remember?

Who can cease to sing His praise?

He can never be forgotten

Throughout heav’n’s eternal days

Vs 2

On the mount of crucifixion

Fountains opened deep and wide

Through the floodgates of God's mercy

Flowed a vast and gracious tide

Grace and love like mighty rivers

Poured incessant from above

Heav'n's peace and perfect justice

Kissed a guilty world in love

Vs 3

On the morn of resurrection

Mercy filled the thirsty grave

Where the stone of death burst open

Springs of life flowed unrestrained

Love no heart could ever measure

Joy no sorrows will outrun

Rush upon the soul believing

In the risen, reigning Son

Vs 4

Oh this love, vast love of Jesus

Bids us come and drink and live

To this weary world of longing

What more could our Savior give

Now to Christ who fully loved us

And who freed us from our sin

Be all glory and dominion 

Everlasting praise to Him

The tests of life are to make, not break us...

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. -Romans 5:3-5

The tests of life are to make, not break us. Trouble may demolish a man’s business but build up his character. The blow at the outward man may be the greatest blessing to the inner man. If God, then, puts or permits anything hard in our lives, be sure that the real peril, the real trouble, is that we shall lose if we flinch or rebel.   -Maltbie D. Babcock

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested...

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. -Romans 3:21-26

Straight through all the apparently tangled course of human history runs the accomplishment of God’s eternal plan. 

-J. Gresham Machen

For whoever would save his life will lose it...

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? -Matthew 16:24-26

In an age when comfort and convenience are unspoken articles of our modern bill of rights, the Christian faith is not a license to entitlement, a prescription for an easy-going spirituality, or a how-to manual for self-improvement. The cross of Jesus runs crosswise to all our human ways of thinking. A rediscovery of the hard and the unpopular themes of the gospel will therefore be such a rediscovery of the whole gospel that the result may lead to reformation and revival.  -Os Guinnes

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom...

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,

 and the one who gets understanding,

for the gain from her is better than gain from silver

and her profit better than gold.

She is more precious than jewels,

    and nothing you desire can compare with her.

Long life is in her right hand;

    in her left hand are riches and honor.

  -Proverbs 3:13-16

Not until we have become humble and teachable, standing in awe of God's holiness and sovereignty. Acknowledging our own littleness, distrusting our own thoughts, and willing to have our minds turned upside down, can divine wisdom become ours.   -J.I. Packer

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence...

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,

    for my hope is from him.

He only is my rock and my salvation,

    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

On God rests my salvation and my glory;

    my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Trust in him at all times, O people;

    pour out your heart before him;

    God is a refuge for us. 

 -Psalm 62:5-8

So teach us to number our days...

So teach us to number our days

    that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Return, O Lord! How long?

    Have pity on your servants!

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,

    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

    and for as many years as we have seen evil.

Let your work be shown to your servants,

    and your glorious power to their children.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,

    and establish the work of our hands upon us;

    yes, establish the work of our hands!

 -Psalm 90:12-17

All to Honour Jesus

 

All to Honour Jesus 

CityAlight

V1

Father, may I serve like my Saviour

Give me eyes to see what you see

Teach my sinful heart to be humble

Help me be your hands and feet

V2

Father, may I love like my Saviour

As He had compassion on me

May I work for justice and mercy

For the ones in greatest need

CHORUS

God of love would you lead me

Take this heart, make it holy

Help me serve

through the strength of Christ

All to honour Jesus with my life

All to honour Jesus with my life

V3

Father, may I tell of my Saviour

How He offers hope for the lost

Help me share the grace and forgiveness

That he showed me at the cross

CHORUS

God of love would you lead me

Take this heart, make it holy

Help me serve

through the strength of Christ

All to honour Jesus with my life

All to honour Jesus with my life

BRIDGE

Praise my Saviour for His mercy

Praise the Servant King

All to Jesus be the glory

All to honour Him

Praise my Saviour for His mercy

Praise the Servant King

All to Jesus be the glory

All to honour Him

All to honour Him

CHORUS

God of love would you lead me

Take this heart, make it holy

Help me serve

through the strength of Christ

All to honour Jesus with my life

All to honour Jesus with my life

“He has done all things well..."

And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” -Mark 7:37

Let us remember it, as we look back over the past days of our lives, from the hour of our conversion. “Our Lord has done all things well!” In the first bringing us out of darkness into His marvelous light,—in humbling us and teaching us our weakness, guilt, and folly,—in stripping us of our idols, and choosing all our portions,—in placing us where we are, and giving us what we have—how well everything has been done! How great the mercy—that we have not had our own way!  -J.C. Ryle

But my kindness shall not depart from thee...

For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. -Isaiah 54:1

That your love may abound more and more...

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. -Philippians 1:9-11

Since then we have a great high priest...

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 

-Hebrews 4:14-16 Image

Our Lord Jesus Christ, the word of God, of his boundless love, became what we are that he might make us what he himself is.  -Irenaeus

Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Where shall I go from your Spirit?

    Or where shall I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

If I take the wings of the morning

    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me,

    and your right hand shall hold me.

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

    and the light about me be night,”

even the darkness is not dark to you;

    the night is bright as the day,

    for darkness is as light with you.

 -Psalm 139:7-12

If God is present at every point in space, if we cannot go where He is not, cannot even conceive of a place where He is not, why then has not that Presence become the one universally celebrated fact of the world? ... Men do not know that God is here. What a difference it would make if they knew. -A.W. Tozer

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell...

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. -Colossians 1:19-20 Image

The love, therefore, wherewith God loveth, is incomprehensible and immutable. For it was not from the time that we were reconciled unto Him by the blood of His Son that He began to love us; but He did so before the foundation of the world, that we also might be His sons along with His Only-begotten, before as yet we had any existence of our own.  -Augustine

You Will Make All Things New

 

You Will Make All Things New

 New Sovereign Grace Music 

VERSE 1

We can feel it in the suffering everywhere

Are we hopeless, are we broken, past repair? 

VERSE 2

Are you with us? Have You left us in the dark? 

Can you hear us? Do our cries still move Your heart?

CHORUS

Jesus, you will make all things new 

Jesus, you will make all things new 

VERSE 3

You will heal us, You will mend what death has torn 

Life will spring up, joy will bloom instead of thorns 

BRIDGE

The blind will finally see, the lame will run and leap 

The dead will rise and breathe for You have conquered

And every tear that fell will cry out “it is well”

The dark will be dispelled for You have conquered 

The Lamb for sinners slain is coming soon to reign

Our hope is not in vain for You have conquered 

For the word of God is living and active...

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. -Hebrews 4:12

 

We need to confess to God our sin of neglecting His Holy Word. We have time enough—we take time—to read the writings of fellow-sinners, yet we have little or no time for the Holy Scriptures. The Bible is a series of Divine love letters, and yet many of God’s people have scarcely broken the seals.  -A.W. Pink

The voice of the Father will be heard...

The voice of the Father will be heard as He sets before us a widely opened door and receives us into blessed fellowship with Himself. When we pray for the Spirit's help, it will no longer be in the fear that prayer is too great an effort for us. Instead, we will simply fall down at the Lord's feet in our weakness. There we will find the victory and power that comes from His love. -Andrew Murray Image

Glory in His holy name!

Glory in his holy name;

    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

Seek the Lord and his strength;

seek his presence continually!

-Psalm 105:3-4

O Lord our God, grant us grace to desire Thee with our whole heart; that, so desiring, we may seek, and seeking find Thee; and so finding Thee may love Thee; and loving Thee, may hate those sins from which Thou hast redeemed us.   -Anselm

With rev'rence let the saints appear...

With rev'rence let the saints appear,

And bow before the Lord;

His high commands with rev'rence hear,

And tremble at his word.

 

How terrible thy glories be!

How bright thine armies shine!

Where is the power that vies with thee,

Or truth compared to thine?

 

Thy words the raging winds control,

And rule the boist'rous deep;

Thou mak'st the sleeping billows roll,

The rolling billows sleep.

 

Justice and judgment are thy throne,

Yet wondrous is thy grace;

While truth and mercy, joined in one,

Invite us near thy face.

-Isaac Watts

"Because I go to the Father..."

“It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”  -John 16:7–11

"It was the whole Trinity, which at the beginning of creation said, "Let us make man". It was the whole Trinity again, which at the beginning of the Gospel seemed to say, "Let us save man"." -JC Ryle Image

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord...

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;

    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

For the Lord is a great God,

    and a great King above all gods.

In his hand are the depths of the earth;

    the heights of the mountains are his also.

The sea is his, for he made it,

    and his hands formed the dry land.

   Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

    let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

For he is our God,

    and we are the people of his pasture,

    and the sheep of his hand.

          -Psalm 95:1-7

Jesus, Our Judge and Our Savior

Jesus, Our Judge and Our Savior 

 Sovereign Grace Music

Call now, O sinner, on your coming Judge

To be here even now as your Savior

Fall now, O sinner, on the mercy and grace

Of Jesus, our Judge and our Savior

Who is He we shall meet at the end of life’s road

The One who will judge every heart, every soul

Who is He who will one day sift the tares from the wheat?

Jesus, our Judge and our Savior

Call now, O sinner, on your coming Judge

To be here even now as your Savior

Fall now, O sinner, on the mercy and grace

Of Jesus, our Judge and our Savior

Who is He who will end all the sin and the pain?

The One who was dead yet who rose up again?

Who is He heaven praises as the Lamb who was slain?

Jesus, our Judge and our Savior

Call now, O sinner, on your coming Judge

To be here even now as your Savior

Fall now, O sinner, on the mercy and grace

Of Jesus, our Judge and our Savior

For the Lord will come down and the trumpet will sound

At the mighty command of the Lord

And the saints will arise, meet the Lord in the skies

To be joyful in Jesus forever

Call now, O sinner, on your coming Judge

To be here even now as your Savior

Fall now, O sinner, on the mercy and grace

Of Jesus, our Judge and our Savior

I will bless the Lord at all times...

I will bless the Lord at all times;

    his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul makes its boast in the Lord;

    let the humble hear and be glad.

Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

    and let us exalt his name together!

I sought the Lord, and he answered me

    and delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant,

    and their faces shall never be ashamed.

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him

    and saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps

    around those who fear him, and delivers them.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

       -Psalm 34:1-8 Image

Oh, the breadth of the love of Christ!

Do you think, Christian, that you can measure the love of Christ? Think of what His love has brought you-justification, adoption, sanctification, eternal life! The riches of His goodness are unsearchable! Oh, the breadth of the love of Christ! Shall such a love as this have half our hearts? Shall Jesus' marvelous loving-kindness and tender care meet with but faint response and tardy acknowledgment? O my soul, tune your heart to a glad song of thanksgiving! Go through the day rejoicing, for you are no desolate wanderer, but a beloved child, watched over, cared for, supplied, and defended by your Lord. -Charles H. Spurgeon Image

“You are the light of the world..."

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. -Matthew 5:14-16 Image

Remember, a small light will do a great deal when it is in a very dark place. You put one little tallow candle in the middle of a large hall, and it will give a good deal of light. -Dwight L. Moody

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy...

"But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect..." -1 Peter 3:15

The task of the people of God is to proclaim the kingdom of God, which is a universal kingdom extending to every aspect of human life. In a secular society, religion cannot remain a department of life. It must be the expression of a faith that extends over the whole of life, or it will be nothing.   

-John Lawrence

The Spirit himself bears witness...

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. -Romans 8:16-18

The Lord afflicts us at times; but it is always a thousand times less than we deserve, and much less than many of our fellow-creatures are suffering around us. Let us therefore pray for grace to be humble, thankful, and patient.  -John Newton

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you...

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

    my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

    beholding your power and glory.

Because your steadfast love is better than life,

    my lips will praise you.

So I will bless you as long as I live;

    in your name I will lift up my hands.

   -Psalm 63:1-4

Christ Our Wisdom

 

Christ Our Wisdom 

Sovereign Grace Music

Christ our wisdom, we are humbled

When You hide Your ways from us

You have purposes unnumbered

Each one good and glorious 

Help us trust when we grow weary 

Free us from our anxious thoughts 

Give us grace to see more clearly  

You are God and we are not    

Christ our wisdom, be our gladness

When we fail to understand

You ordain all joy and sadness

To fulfill Your perfect plan

Help us know You rule with power

Over every raging flood

In our most uncertain hour 

You are God and we are loved

 

Christ our wisdom, we will follow

Though the way ahead is veiled

As we journey through the shadows 

Grant us faith where sight has failed 

Help us cling to Your commandments 

Strengthened by Your faithful Word 

We will never be abandoned 

You are God and we are Yours  

Christ our wisdom we adore You

For the beauty of the cross

Once in foolishness we scorned You

But Your blood has ransomed us

Help us sing the endless mercies

Of Your humble heart to save 

Christ our wisdom, Christ our glory

You are God forever praised

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

Why do the nations rage

    and the peoples plot in vain?

  The kings of the earth set themselves,

      and the rulers take counsel together,

      against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,

  “Let us burst their bonds apart

     and cast away their cords from us.”

  He who sits in the heavens laughs;

      the Lord holds them in derision.

  Then he will speak to them in his wrath,

      and terrify them in his fury, saying,

  “As for me, I have set my King

      on Zion, my holy hill.”

  I will tell of the decree:

    The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;

     today I have begotten you.

  Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,

       and the ends of the earth your possession.

  You shall break them with a rod of iron

      and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”

  Now therefore, O kings, be wise;

       be warned, O rulers of the earth.

  Serve the Lord with fear,

       and rejoice with trembling.

  Kiss the Son,

       lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,

       for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

 -Psalm 2

When you walk through fire you shall not be burned...

But now thus says the Lord,

He who created you, O Jacob,

He who formed you, O Israel:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

    I have called you by name, you are mine.

  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

    and the flame shall not consume you.

     -Isaiah 43:1-2

As sure as ever God puts his children in the furnace, He will be in the furnace with them. -CH Spurgeon 

Blessings in disguise...

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. -Hebrews 12:11

Good when He gives, supremely good;

Nor less when He denies:

Afflictions, from His sovereign hand,

Are blessings in disguise.

   -Brother Lawrence Image