Thus might I hide my blushing face
While Calvary’s cross appears
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness
And melt mine eyes to tears
Alas And Did My Savior Bleed 1707
By: Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
ref. by Ralph E. Hudson, 1885
Listen to this modern version of this penitent hymn as you prepare to ponder the lyrics.
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Transcript may be found below, at the end of the blog.
As we continue our journey through this penitent text and hymn, make each stanza your own by praying through it. Let’s think about this.
Dissolve
There is a lot of emotion in this stanza. The first part was focused on the blushing caused by the very appearance of the cross. This second part is no less dramatic.
The use of the word dissolve here first reveals the tone. This usage has to do with one thing subsiding uncontrollably into an emotion or feeling, in this case thankfulness. The writer is praying and asking God to cause his heart to subside uncontrollably into thankfulness, and all this at the very appearance or thought of the cross.
Has that ever been your experience? Have you ever looked at the cross, pondered our Savior’s sacrifice there, and found the very seat of your emotions sinking into a state of thankfulness? Not part of it, but all of it, until you were overcome with gratitude?
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness
Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 5:20 ESV
Seeing ourselves clearly against the backdrop of the cross can have the effect of dissolving our heart in thankfulness, but we must welcome that work. We should be thankful for the work of the cross. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a heart overwhelmed with thankfulness.
From shame in the first part of this stanza to thankfulness in the latter, such is the journey of the honest soul as it acknowledges all the emotions the cross evokes. What a beautiful prayer to have our hearts dissolved in thankfulness! Are you willing to have your heart dissolved? If so, ask Jesus to do it.
RESONATE!
It really is a simple prayer, but one that must be prayed earnestly. “Jesus, dissolve my heart in thankfulness.”
If you are willing to ask, truly desiring that experience, be prepared for God to answer for there are few prayers God would like to answer more than to help your heart to sink into gratitude.
Melt
The use of the word dissolve above was not unlike the use of the word melt here, at least in some ways. The makeup of the object changes, from ingratitude to thankfulness, from something hard to something soft. But there is something in the words that is interesting.
It is the word to. The writer did not pray, “melt mine eyes with tears”, but “melt mine eyes to tears”. That is a very interesting choice.
With implies lots of tears flooding the eyes. To implies the eyes actually becoming tears, so complete is the anguish. The very nature of the eyes changes, so complete is the pain. Though I have cried tears at the thought of the cross, this seems more exhaustive, and I think I want it. How about you?
And melt mine eyes to tears
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret…2 Corinthians 7:10a ESV
Though thankful we are also grieved when we see our need for the cross. We repent and turn from our lives of self and sin and surrender to the work of repentance. Repentance leads to salvation, and in salvation there is no regret. Ask Jesus to melt your eyes to tears of repentance.
From thankfulness to tears, maybe ones of godly repentance as much as it may still be needed, and maybe ones of utter joy at the incredible, undeserved gift of salvation. Have your eyes ever melted into tears at the thought of the cross? If not, ask the Spirit to do that today.
RESONATE!
Again, a simple prayer, but with profound implications. Will you prayer, “Spirit, melt my eyes to tears”? Be ready for Him to answer.
Merciful Savior, thank You for Your work on the cross that creates a scenario where my heart can be filled with thankfulness and my eyes would melt to tears. I want to experience that kind of thoughtful emotion and the very appearance of the cross. Amen.
Emotional Thinking!
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Podcast 26.4 Transcript
Welcome to Thursday Thoughts at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s think about this.
Thus might I hide my blushing face
Saying: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. Ezra 9:6 ESV
Though these are the words Ezra spoke when he heard the sins of the returned exiles recounted, they might just as well be ours when the cross forces us to confront our sin. We should be ashamed of the lives we lived apart from the cross. Confess your shame.
While Calvary’s cross appears
And you…God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13a-14 ESV
The cross makes a way for all the wrong things to be made right, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us. We are ashamed that we are hopeless without Him, but it can lead us to the place of putting all our hope in the cross and Christ’s finished work there. Embrace the glory of the cross.
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness
Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 5:20 ESV
Seeing ourselves clearly against the backdrop of the cross can have the effect of dissolving our heart in thankfulness, but we must welcome that work. We should be thankful for the work of the cross. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a heart overwhelmed with thankfulness.
And melt mine eyes to tears
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret…2 Corinthians 7:10a ESV
Though thankful we are also grieved when we see our need for the cross. We repent and turn from our lives of self and sin and surrender to the work of repentance. Repentance leads to salvation, andin salvation there is no regret. Ask Jesus to melt your eyes to tears of repentance.
Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has come to your mind, or listen to what He is saying to you, then I will read our text once more, with the refrain.
Thus might I hide my blushing face
While Calvary’s cross appears
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness
And melt mine eyes to tears
Take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time, Be Resonant.
The post Evoking Godly Emotions appeared first on Resonant 7.
Image Attribution
Dissolve My Heart in Thankfulness – https://pixabay.com/photos/heart-ice-cold-winter-christmas-549097/
And Melt Mine Eyes with Tears – https://pixabay.com/photos/eye-tear-cry-sadness-pain-emotion-609987/
What a beautiful arrangement of a word picture. Thank you for the emotional tune up. I’ve wept over many things in the last year. Gratitude has not been on the top of the list. As I read, my eyes swelled with thankfulness!