Hymns: I Sought the Lord

I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the old hymns.

Today’s song is I Sought the Lord from around 1878.

3 I find, I walk, I love, but O, the whole
of love is but my answer, Lord, to Thee!
For Thou wert long beforehand with my soul,
always Thou lovedst me.

I don’t remember singing this one much. And I don’t see many performances on YouTube. But I’ve often heard it quoted in sermons. It gives glory to God and credit to Him for our salvation. When I get to heaven, if someone asks me what got me here, how would I answer?

• I’m here because I lived a perfect life. 😀
• I didn’t lead a perfect life, but at least I did my best. 😀
• I’m here because I guessed the right religion to adhere to. 😀
• I’m here because everyone in my tribe gets to heaven. 😀
• I’m here because everyone in the world gets to heaven. 😀
• I’m here because, by God’s grace, and through the work of the Holy Spirit, I repented and trusted in Jesus, who paid for my sins on the cross.
• I’m here because God chose me before the foundation of the world.

I would choose the last answer and/or the second last one. These reflect an ongoing debate in the evangelical world. Some dislike the notion of us taking any credit. It’s 100% God’s doing. Yet, it isn’t something that just happens. We are called to repent and believe, and we are blamed if we don’t. So, it’s us – but God is working in the background.

Whatever the theological outlook, people tend to give the credit to God. The Wesleys were opposed to the notion of God choosing people, which people like Augustine and Calvin emphasized. Yet, when I look at one verse from Charles Wesleys hymn, And Can It Be, He clearly gives the credit to God for his salvation:

4 Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quick'ning ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth and followed Thee.

Perhaps some might argue that some might not rise forth and follow Jesus when their heart is set free. But I like to think that God does choose us. And no one who wants to repent and believe would be rejected because they’re not chosen. If you do it, you are chosen – however you want to understand that 😀.

Here are a few verses that emphasize God’s role and our role:

John 6:28-29 (Jesus answering a question put to Him)

²⁸ Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

1 Timothy 2:3-4
³ This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴ who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 

Ephesians 2:8-9
⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

John 6:37
³⁷ All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

I remember some being uneasy with the initial cover of Bob Dylan’s album, Saved. It looks like several are wanting to be saved, and only one is chosen. But who’s to say that God doesn’t save each of them in turn. They’re reaching out to Him because God is drawing them to Him.

So Dylan gives the credit to God for His salvation:

I was blinded by the devil
Born already ruined
Stone-cold dead
As I stepped out of the womb
By His grace I have been touched
By His word I have been healed
By His hand I’ve been delivered
By His spirit I’ve been sealed
I’ve been saved
By the blood of the lamb

Here are some other versions of today’s hymn – some just audio.