Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh;
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear,
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh;
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.
Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart
By: George Croly, 1780-1860
Listen as you read. This is a nice string quartet version.
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This week our stanza calls on the role of the Holy Spirit as our Teacher. Every line asks for Him to teach us different things, including even the third one which carries over from line 2. In our Tuning today we will focus on the first two lines, saving the last two for our Thoughts on Thursday. Let’s tune our hearts.
You Are Near
Some stanzas tell a story, using all four lines to slowly craft a single poetic thought or illustrate a solitary image. While others build to a climax as they develop, increasing in intensity as the lines build one on another. Some stanzas are a list of things about a singular topic, like two weeks ago, but not this one. It is a list of sorts of things we want to be taught but I actually think they are all taught within the context of the first one, an awareness of God’s presence.
While we will take some time to consider each of these requests, overcoming soul struggles, doubt, rebellion, while acquiring patience, when we are confident that God is with us, ever nearer than we can even perceive, we are able to handle all the other ones. This is one of the most basic doctrinal truths, and a foundational one as well. God is omnipresent, or present everywhere at the same time.
“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. Jeremiah 23:23-24 ESV
I love it when God asks a rhetorical question. Whether close at hand or far away, God is there, seeing us even in what we think are secret places. He fills heaven and earth. When we embrace this fundamental reality of God’s presence it alters our ability to deal with everything we face, and even has the effect of keeping us out of behaviors that create problems for us. So why would we not long for this more?
I dare say it is because there are things we would rather God did not know were true about us. Why else would the man of the verse above attempt to hide himself in a “secret place”? What things about your thinking, speaking and doing would you rather hide? If you are willing to sincerely ask for God to teach you He is always near, you are effectively asking Him to shine His light into even the darkest recesses of you soul. Which, by the way, is a great idea, and simultaneously a wonderful segue to the next prayer.
Soul Struggles
We all have them. Times when our soul feels a weight that is difficult for words to express. Sometimes these are of our our doing, and sometimes the doing of others. Sometimes they pass, and other times they linger for long periods.
In those especially long seasons we experience what Saint John of the Cross termed the “dark night of the soul”. That feeling that it is 3 o’clock in the morning all the time, inescapable darkness. We know the darkness will not last, for the sun always rises, but even so they are painful seasons. As it says in Psalm 30:5b, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” The darkness is always darkest before the dawn.
What weight is your soul struggling with today? I figure you probably do not have to think very hard about that. Have you asked the Holy Spirit to help you with that struggle in particular? Have you named it before the Lord and asked Him to help you bear it?
We often ask first for the struggle to be removed and find ourselves quickly discouraged when it is not. Maybe God has another purpose for your struggle than just to remind you of your need for Him. Maybe He wants to use it to develop something in you.
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12 ESV
The Spirit is waiting to give us the power we need to bear the weight of every struggle our soul will face. If this test has the purpose of developing your spiritual strength, will you ask the Holy Spirit to help you demonstrate your love for God by remaining resolutely firm and unwavering in the midst of it?
Crown of Life
Now while I did not counsel you to ask for a crown of life, I am sure you noticed that promise in the midst of that verse. And what an amazing one! As if the strength to remain steadfast were not a treasure enough, when we use it to show our faithful love to God in the trial He promises a crown of life.
While rightly viewed as the promise of life after death, there is also another promise here. It is the promise of life as God intended here and now, an intimate and personal relationship with God in love, a product of the development of fortitude through repeated victory in every test. Only the Holy Spirit can accomplish this in the life of even the most resolute follower of Jesus, but His teaching is available to all who will ask. So ask today!
Resolute Tuning!
Spirit of God, be my Teacher. Teach me to feel God’s presence always near, for it makes the difference in every circumstance. Flowing from that confidence teach me how to develop the fortitude to bear the struggle of every trial of my soul, that I may gain a more intimate relationship with my Savior, the crown of life. In Jesus name. Amen.
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Video 58.4 Transcript, 6.4
Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.
Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh;
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear,
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh;
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.
Though God is always near, I dare say closer than our breath, we often fail to live with an ongoing awareness of such. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you how to live with a constant sensitivity to His presence.
Is your soul struggling today? If not, you can probably recall a season not long ago when it was. Either way, it is only a matter of time before it does again. Ask the Holy Spirit for the strength to bear those soul struggles.
When we face difficulties, our minds find doubt rising. When we are reminded of God’s ways, our rebellious flesh balks. Ask the Holy Spirit to check, to stop or slow the progress of these attitudes.
On first glance this last line seems like a prayer for the patience required to wait until God answers prayer. With more careful examination, I think it may be a request for the same patience God exhibits between our prayer and His eventual answer. Ask the Holy Spirit for that patience.
Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.
Sing
Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time, be Resonant.
Image Attributions
God is Near – https://wilshireave.com/sermons/god-is-near/#
Dark Night of the Soul – https://billmuehlenberg.com/2015/09/20/the-dark-night-of-the-soul/
Crown of LIfe – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/watercolour-watercolor-paint-ink-1768925/
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