The Great God

O Fountain of all good,

Destroy in me every lofty thought,

           Break pride to pieces and scatter it

     to the winds,

Annihilate each clinging shred of

     self-righteousness,

Implant in me true lowliness of spirit,

Abase me to self-loathing and self-abhorrence,

Open in me a fount of penitential tears,

Break me, then bind me up;

Thus will my heart be a prepared dwelling

     for my God;

   Then can the Father take up his abode in me,

   Then can the blessed Jesus come with healing

     in his touch,

   Then can the Holy Spirit descend in

     sanctifying grace;

O Holy Trinity, three Persons and one God,

   inhabit me, a temple consecrated to thy glory.

When thou art present, evil cannot abide;

In thy fellowship is fullness of joy,

Beneath thy smile is peace of conscience,

By thy side no fears disturb,

   no apprehensions banish rest of mind,

With thee my heart shall bloom with fragrance;

Make me meet, through repentance,

   for thine indwelling.

Nothing exceeds thy power,

Nothing is too great for thee to do,

Nothing too good for thee to give.

   Infinite is thy might, boundless thy love,

   limitless thy grace, glorious thy saving name.

Let angels sing for

         sinners repenting,

         prodigals restored,

         backsliders reclaimed,

         Satan’s captives released,

         blind eyes opened,

         broken hearts bound up,

         the despondent cheered,

         the self-righteous stripped,

         the formalist driven from a refuge of lies,

         the ignorant enlightened,

         and saints built up in their holy faith.

I ask great things of a great God.



By  Valley of Vision

Kept by God

Jehovah God,

Thou Creator, Upholder, Proprietor of all

         things,

I cannot escape from thy presence or control,

   nor do I desire to do so.

My privilege is to be under the agency of

   omnipotence, righteousness, wisdom,

   patience, mercy, grace.

Thou art love with more than parental affection;

I admire thy heart, adore thy wisdom,

   stand in awe of thy power, abase myself before

     thy purity.

It is the discovery of thy goodness alone that can

   banish my fear,

   allure me into thy presence,

   help me to bewail and confess my sins.

When I review my past guilt

   and am conscious of my present unworthiness

     I tremble to come to thee,

     I whose foundation is in the dust,

     I who have condemned thy goodness,

       defied thy power,

       trampled upon thy love,

       rendered myself worthy of eternal death.



But my recovery cannot spring from any cause

   in me,

   I can destroy but cannot save myself.

Yet thou hast laid help on One that is mighty,

   for there is mercy with thee,

   and exceeding riches in thy kindness

     through Jesus.

May I always feel my need of him.

Let thy restored joy be my strength;

May it keep me from lusting after the world,

   bear up heart and mind in loss of comforts,

   enliven me in the valley of death,

   work in me the image of the heavenly,

   and give me to enjoy the first fruits of spirituality,

     such as angels and departed saints know.

Valley of Vision

The Servant in Battle

O Lord,

I bless thee that the issue of the battle

        between thyself and Satan

          has never been uncertain,

          and will end in victory.

Calvary broke the dragon’s head,

   and I contend with a vanquished foe,

     who with all his subtlety and strength

     has already been overcome.

When I feel the serpent at my heel

   may I remember him whose heel was bruised,

     but who, when bruised, broke the devil’s head.



My soul with inward joy extols

     the mighty conqueror.



Heal me of any wounds received

     in the great conflict;

         if I have gathered defilement,

         if my faith has suffered damage,

         if my hope is less than bright,

         if my love is not fervent,

         if some creature-comfort occupies my heart,

         if my soul sinks under pressure of the fight.

O thou whose every promise is balm,

     every touch life,

   draw near to thy weary warrior,

   refresh me, that I may rise again

     to wage the strife,

   and never tire until my enemy is trodden down.

Give me such fellowship with thee

     that I may defy Satan,

       unbelief, the flesh, the world,

   with delight that comes not from a creature,

   and which a creature cannot mar.

Give me a draught of the eternal fountain

   that lieth in thy immutable, everlasting love

     and decree.

Then shall my hand never weaken,

   my feet never stumble,

   my sword never rest,

   my shield never rust,

   my helmet never shatter,

   my breastplate never fall,

     as my strength rests in the power

       of thy might.
Valley of Vision

A Minister's Convictions

O God of love,

I approach thee with encouragements

derived from thy character,

for I am not left to feel after thee

in the darkness of my nature,

nor to worship thee as the unknown God.

I cannot find out thy perfections,

but I know thou art good,

ready to forgive, plenteous in mercy.

Thou hast displayed thy wisdom, power,

and goodness in all thy works,

and hast revealed thy will in the Scripture

of truth.

Thou hast caused it to be preserved, translated,

published, multiplied,

so that all men may possess it and find

thee in it.

Here I see thy greatness and thy grace,

thy pity and thy rectitude,

thy mercy and thy truth,

thy being and men’s hearts;

Through it thou hast magnified thy name,

and favoured mankind with the gospel.

Have mercy on me,

for I have ungratefully received thy benefits,

little improved my privileges,

made light of spiritual things,

disregarded thy messages,

contended with examples of the good,

rebukes of conscience,

admonitions of friends,

leadings of providence.

I deserve that thy kingdom be taken away from me.

Lord, I confess my sin with feeling, lamentation,

a broken heart,

a contrite spirit, self-abhorrence,

self-condemnation, self-despair.

Give me relief by Jesus my hope,

faith in his name of Saviour,

forgiveness by his blood,

strength by his presence,

holiness by his Spirit:

And let me love thee with all my heart.
-Valley of Vision

Valley of Vision

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,

Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,

where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;

   hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold

   thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox

   that the way down is the way up,

   that to be low is to be high,

   that the broken heart is the healed heart,

   that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

   that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

   that to have nothing is to possess all,

   that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

   that to give is to receive,

   that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,

   deepest wells,

   and the deeper the wells the brighter

   thy stars shine;

Let me find thy light in my darkness,

   Thy life in my death,

   that every good work or thought found in me

   thy joy in my sorrow,

   thy grace in my sin,

   thy riches in my poverty

   thy glory in my valley.

The Fullness of Christ

O God,

Thou hast taught me

         that Christ has all fullness and

     so all plenitude of the Spirit,

   that all fullness I lack in myself is in him,

     for his people, not for himself alone,

    he having perfect knowledge, grace,

       righteousness,

     to make me see,

     to make me righteous,

     to give me fullness;

   that it is my duty, out of a sense of emptiness,

     to go to Christ, possess, enjoy his fullness

       as mine,

     as if I had it in myself, because it is

       for me in him;

     that when I do this I am full of the Spirit,

       as a fish that has got from the shore to the sea

       and has all fullness of waters to move in,

      for when faith fills me, then I am full;

   that this is the way to be filled with the Spirit,

     like Stephen, first faith, then fullness,

     for this way makes me most empty,

     and so most fit for the Spirit to fill.

Thou hast taught me that the finding of

     this treasure of all grace in the field of Christ

     begets strength, joy, glory,

     and renders all graces alive.

Help me to delight more in what I receive

    from Christ,

   more in that fullness which is in him,

     the fountain of all his glory.

Let me not think to receive the Spirit from him

      as a ‘thing’

   apart from finding, drinking, being filled

      with him.

To this end, O God,

   do thou establish me in Christ,

   settle me, give me a being there,

   assure me with certainty that all this is mine,

     for this only will fill my heart with joy

       and peace.

 From Valley of Vision

Isaiah 58:5- 14

5    Is such the fast that I choose,
    a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
    and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
    and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of wickedness,
    to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
    and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If  you take away the yoke from your midst,
    the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry
    and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be as the noonday.
11 And the Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your desire in scorched places
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
    whose waters do not fail.
12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
    you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
    the restorer of streets to dwell in.
13 “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
    from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
    and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
    or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,
    and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”