Holy Spirit, Joy divine,
Cheer this saddened heart of mine;
Bid my many woes depart;
Heal my wounded, bleeding heart.

Holy Spirit, Light Divine (1817)

By: Andrew Reed, (1787-1862)

Listen to this karaoke version as you prepare to ponder this old hymn. Please make certain to enjoy the podcast below.

Here is podcast content always available to Subscribers, sometimes to Free Members, and occasionally to everyone.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library? Click here.  Or check out some other samples at our Free Member Content Library.  We have lots of tools and options designed to help you be Resonant!  Check them out today!!

Everyone enjoy this podcast and transcript below!  It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures and reflections shared.

Transcript may be found below, at the end of the blog.

We began our journey of resonance toward Pentecost with this lessor known hymn last week. We celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the early followers of Jesus Christ.  Like them, He cheers us to live a joy-filled life. Let’s think about this.

Not Knowing What to Pray For

Now sometimes we know what to pray for. Comfort for a friend who is grieving a loss. Strength for a family member who is facing dilemma. Peace for ourselves in the midst of a storm, sometimes of our own making.

But sometimes, I would suggest oftentimes, we do not know what to pray for. We often pray for a change in the symptoms of a problem, when we should be trying to discern and cry out for the infirmity or cause. It’s like praying your boat won’t sink, instead of praying for the storm to cease. Jesus always knew what to pray for.

And so does the Holy Spirit.

Bid my many woes depart;

The line before asks Him to cheer saddened hearts. That is a good prayer. This line asks Him to remove the cause of the sadness. Bid the woes depart, the many woes, that are causing my heart to be sad.

We don’t have to know what to pray for. We can ask the Spirit to do it for us. Our part, asking Him for the help. His part, being that help.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26 ESV

We are weak and frail and sometimes so much so that we do not even know what to pray for.  Our griefs and woes leave us speechless before our gracious Lord. Even then the Spirit works to send those woes packing.  That cheers our hearts and creates an environment for joy to take root. We are responsible to cultivate that sprout, by regularly asking Him to pray for us, effectively removing the weeds of woe that would otherwise choke the life from our joy.

Will you welcome Him to do that work for which He is uniquely equipped?

RESONATE!
Looking to the Spirit to speak to our woes, as opposed to speaking to them ourselves, makes a lot of sense. Often we do not have much authority to make them depart, but He always does. Even when He does not immediately answer this prayer, turning it over to Him helps. Try it now. Ask Him to bid your woes depart.

Seeing the Progression that Leads to Healed Hearts

There is an interesting progression in this stanza that is easy to overlook since each line is strong enough to stand alone. It is really beautiful when you see it. Think about it for just a few moments.

1. We acknowledge the Spirit is the joy of God. That creates a standard we can measure our countenance against, and when we do, we will often find ourselves lacking, or falling short, of our inheritance. So we determine to do something about it.
2. We respond by asking the Spirit to cheer our hearts, which when set against the reality of His joy are clearly sad. As He does this work, we realize there are woes, or causes of our sadness, which are deeper than we first recognized.  This leads us to a franker, more honest prayer.
3. We ask Him to tell our woes to depart, to leave us. We may not even understand the real cause of some of them, but we ask not simply to be cheered, but delivered, from them entirely. As He does that gracious work, we begin to see there is one final prayer we must pray.
4. We ask for healing. As the Spirit delivers us from the cause of our woes, we come to find that they have left wounds, and often, we are still bleeding even after they have gone. We invite the Spirit to heal our hearts.

And He does it all.

Heal my wounded, bleeding heart.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 ESV

What has broken your heart? What has caused you wounds? Maybe you are still bleeding. Have you brought those woes to the Spirit and asked Him to heal your heart? If not, do so right now. List them off and ask for His healing.

Seriously. If anything came to mind you have not brought to Him, don’t put it off. Stop and do it right now.

If you already have, and nothing new is coming to mind, thank Him again for the healing He has brought and will continue to bring.

RESONATE!
Thank the Holy Spirit for His work of joy in your wounded heart. You have faced many woes, and there may even be some places you are still bleeding, but you can trust He is able to heal them. Ask Him to remind you to bring all your sadness to Him without hesitation.

Are these thoughts helping you to develop greater spiritual awareness?  Sign-up in the form to the right above to get updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Image Attributions
Many Woes – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/sad-cry-tear-emotion-mood-face-1533965/
Wounded, Bleeding Heart – https://pixabay.com/photos/broken-heart-heart-bleeding-heart-2318143/

Holy Spirit, Pow’r divine,
Cleanse this guilty heart of mine;
In Thy mercy pity me,
From sin’s bondage set me free.

Holy Spirit, Light Divine (1817)

By: Andrew Reed, (1787-1862)

Listen to this karaoke version as you prepare to ponder this old hymn. Please make certain to enjoy the podcast below.

Here is podcast content always available to Subscribers, sometimes to Free Members, and occasionally to everyone.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library? Click here.  Or check out some other samples at our Free Member Content Library.  We have lots of tools and options designed to help you be Resonant!  Check them out today!!

Everyone enjoy this podcast and transcript below!  It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures and reflections shared.

Transcript may be found below, at the end of the blog.

We began our journey of resonance toward Pentecost with this lessor known hymn last week. We celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the early followers of Jesus Christ.  Like them, He empowers us to live a guilt-free life. Let’s think about this.

The “Man”, and the Best Samaritan

The image above evokes the sense of pity for the need of the one being carried. If you are familiar with the parable of The Good Samaritan, it probably conjures recollections of Jesus’ teaching on loving our neighbors, that is anyone who has a need. [Luke 10:25-37] Jesus teaches that we should show mercy, by affirming the actions of the Samaritan.

When you see that image, when you think of that image, in what role do you normally see yourself. Obviously, the context of Jesus teaching asks us to continually consider what kind of neighbor we are being, so your inclination may be to see yourself as the Samaritan, ever hoping to aspire to the example Jesus set forth in this teaching about the “Good” Samaritan. The concept is so prevalent that this term is used, even among people who have no idea this way of living, to which many aspire was taught by our Lord.

For today’s purposes though I to ask you to see yourself as a different character in the story. I want you see yourself as the one being carried, in Luke he is simply referred to as “a man”, though the other characters have recognizable stations in life. This generalization hopefully allows you to see yourself as simply one in need of help or mercy.

You have no greater need than to be delivered from the consequences of sin, immediate and ultimate. There is no better “Samaritan” than our Lord. The unnamed figure in the story was accosted by robbers, and I would argue your sin has left you feeling the same way at some point. Defenseless, beaten, robbed, and left for dead.

In Thy mercy pity me,

I have often wondered if the victim in the parable had brought this on themself in some way. I have likewise wondered if they were even able to ask for help. But it is little consequence really, because the result is a helpless scenario where one capable of showing mercy intervenes.

So I wonder what has assaulted you? What sin has come and overwhelmed you? Beaten and robbed you? Left you for dead? Whether it was yours or someone else’s, Jesus pitied you before you could even ask. Asking in this context simply appropriates the mercy already available.

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, Titus 3:5 ESV

RESONATE!
The power of the Holy Spirit is ready to help you anytime you ask. Where do you need His pity, His sorrow over your misfortune? Ask Him to search you and reveal any areas where you might not even realize you need it, and then as He does confess them. He desires to wash and renew you. Marvel in that mercy again today. Take some time to let Him do that in you today.

The Robbers

There is one more character I would like you to consider today. The robbers. Those terrible people who came and committed the beating and robbing of our unnamed traveler. We do not normally give them much thought.

Imagine for a moment what they deserve. Certainly punishment of some kind. Had they been caught at the time Jesus told the story, that punishment would likely have been far worse than today. But let us just consider their punishment in our context. Probably jail, until trial. Once convicted possibly prison for theft, and attempted manslaughter. I mean these are horrible people, right?

They deserve to pay for the wrongs they had done. They possibly would have been shackled with the consequences of their actions for quite some time. And that would be just.

But imagine for a moment, the unnamed character showing up at the sentencing and pleading for mercy. Having received mercy himself from the Samaritan, it changed his life and he asks the charges be dropped, and the punishment reduced to time served. It would be a shocking turn of events, right? And unmerited demonstration of mercy.

Kind of like what you have received from the Best Samaritan.

From sin’s bondage set me free.

Yes, that’s right. You are one of the robbers. But you already knew that, even if you have never admitted it. You have been set free from far more than any court of law could sentence you.  You are free from the punishment of the law of sin and death.  Thanks be to the Spirit of life.

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2 ESV

RESONATE!
You have been set free, so walk in that freedom. You were a robber, but now you are a child of God.  All thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Ask Him to help you live in the power of that miracle every moment of every day. Then give Him thanks that doing so is available as you simply yield your life to Him.

Are these thoughts helping you to develop greater spiritual awareness?  Sign-up in the form to the right above to get updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Image Attributions
Pity Me – https://pixabay.com/photos/window-church-window-3616886/
Sin’s Bondage – https://pixabay.com/photos/hand-faust-violent-ward-victory-749676/