I. “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad” (Psalm 126:1-4)
A. Do we express joy as we should for the blessings of God?
B. Delivered from the bondage of sin, do we now laugh and sing and tell everyone about Jesus?
II. Bringing in the sheaves (Psalm 126:5-6)
A. “Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4)
B. “Winners for souls are first weepers for souls.” (Spurgeon)
C. At the harvest, after the hard work of reaping, “We shall come rejoicing”
I met Paul Mays at the Spiritual Sword Lectureship a couple of weeks ago. If you are not familiar with this brother’s work, you should take a few minutes (or hours) to listen to his hymns. They can be accessed on Facebook as well as YouTube.
Brother Mays plans to publish a 1000-song hymnal in 2028 consisting only of songs written by members of the Lord’s church. I wrote something and shared it with Paul in between a couple of lectures. He took off running with it, arranging the melodies and producing a video of the song, and I wanted to share it with you here.
If you compose hymns, contact Paul so he can include it in his hymnal!
A. “Worthy of praise is Christ our Redeemer” (Titus 2:11-14)
B. “Worthy of praise…glory, honor, and power” (Hebrews 13:15)
C. “Worthy of all our soul’s adoration” (Psalm 103:1-5)
II. Second verse
A. “Lift up the voice in praise and devotion, saints of all earth before Him should bow (Colossians 3:16)
B. “Angels in heaven worship Him saying, Worthy art Thou!” (Hebrews 1:6; 2:7; Joshua 5:13-15)
III. Third verse
A. “Lord may we come before Thee with singing, filled with Thy Spirit, wisdom and power” (Ephesians 5:17-21; 2 Timothy 1:7; Acts 17:2,17; 18:4,19; 19:8-9; 24:24-25)
B. “May we ascribe Thee glory and honor, worthy art Thou!” (Hebrews 11:6)
A. “My life, my joy, my all” (Luke 9:23; Matthew 5:10-12; Mark 12:29-30)
B. “He is my strength…” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
C. “When I am sad to Him I go” (2 Corinthians 7:4; Philippians 4:4)
II. The continual friendship and blessing of being in Christ
A. “My Friend in trials sore” (Romans 8:35-39)
B. “I go to Him for blessings” (3 John 2; James 4:3; Ephesians 1:3; Luke 9:25; Acts 14:17)
III. Jesus is our guide and protector
A. “He’s so true to me” (2 Thessalonians 3:3; John 14:15; 1 Peter 5:8)
B. “Following Him I know I’m right” (Matthew 7:13-14)
IV. Christ is our trustworthy Friend
A. “I trust Him now, I’ll trust Him when life’s fleeting days shall end” (Ephesians 1:11-12; Hebrews 6:13-18)
B. “Eternal life, eternal joy” (Matthew 10:29; 2 Timothy 2:11-13)
A. “There is, beyond the azure blue, a God concealed from human sight” (Genesis 1:1; Romans 1:20)
B. “He tinted skies with heav’nly hue and framed the worlds with His great might” (Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 11:3)
II. Specific revelation
A. “There was, a long, long time ago, a God whose voice the prophets heard” (2 Peter 1:16-21)
B. “He is the God that we should know” (John 17:3; 2 Peter 3:9; John 14:6)
C. “Who speaks from His inspired word” (Romans 10:17; 2 Tim. 3:16-17)
III. The creation of man
A. “Secure is life from mortal mind; God holds the germ within His hand” (Genesis 2:7; 1:26-28)
B. “Though men may search they cannot find, for God alone does understand” (Job 38:4-7; Deuteronomy 29:29)
IV. The sacrifice of the Son
A. “Our God, whose Son upon a tree, a life was willing there to give” (Ephesians 2:14-16)
B. “That He from sin might set man free, and evermore with Him could live” (Romans 6:16-18; Ephesians 3:10-11; Matthew 25:34)
I. “Earth holds no treasures but perish with using…”
A. Where is your treasure? (Matthew 6:19; 13:22; Luke 12:15-21)
B. A greater citizenship than “American” (Philippians 3:17-21)
II. “Out on the hills of that wonderful country…”
A. Happy (Matthew 5:3-12)
B. Contented (1 Timothy 6:6-8; Hebrews 13:5)
C. Free (John 8:32-36)
D. “Loved ones are waiting and watching my coming…” (1 Thess. 2:19)
III. “Why should I long for the world with its sorrows…”
A. Sin is pleasurable, but the consequences are destructive (Hebrews 11:24-26; Luke 16:19-24)
B. No sorrow in heaven (Revelation 21:4) but singing (Revelation 15:3-4; James 5:13b)
IV. “Heaven holds all to me”
A. “Brighter its glory will be” (Hebrews 10:34; 11:16)
B. “Joy without measure will be my treasure” (Mathew 13:44)
[Lesson developed from hymn by Tillit S. Teddlie]
But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. (Acts 8:12)
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