Dear Church Family,
God has given us many gifts. Music ranks fairly high on a lot people’s list of gifts they enjoy. Many of you sing with gusto as we worship. With little prodding if asked to name your Top Ten hymns, you could come in a just a few minutes with many more than ten. It would not surprise anyone if you listed such classics as “Amazing Grace,” “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” and “A Mighty Fortress.”
You may have picked up over the last 15 years that I like to sing. I would list those three in the first paragraph and about fifty more to fill my Top Ten list. Many Getty-written hymns would be there as they sing of great truths of the Christian faith. We could sing “In Christ Alone” every Sunday for a year and never get the full meaning of the eternal themes in it. Sarah has shared on the ‘Music Ministry Blog’ the powerful impact a song with Biblical truth made in her life this week.
I had an encounter with such a song while in seminary. Life was okay, but the load of the class work seemed to get heavier. One Sunday the second hymn in the worship service was one I had never heard before. The tune was catchy. The words struck deep in my soul. When the hymn ended, I did something I had never done before. I kept the hymnal open and kept reading the words. Even during the sermon, the hymnal sat between by eyes and my open Bible. The first stanza goes like this:
Trembling soul, beset by fears, Thy God reigneth!
Look above, and dry thy tears: Thy God reigneth!
Though thy foes with power assail, naught against thee shall prevail;
Trust in Him—He’ll never fail: Thy God reigneth, Thy God reigneth!
Since I was involved in ministry at that church, I was in the sanctuary for the second worship service. I could not wait to get to that second hymn. The pastor noticed the conviction with which I sang. I told him that it was the best hymn I had ever sung. It was a great proclamation of the rule of God over everything in heaven and earth. I went as far as to say we should sing it every Sunday. This hymn is not in many hymn books. I commend it to you. You can find the right of the lyrics at this website https://hymnary.org/text/trembling_soul_beset_by_fears
The words of the other four stanzas are just as incredible! If you click on ‘Recording’ near the top you can hear the tune played. Sing along and rejoice that your God reigns over all things.
Pastor Gillikin