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. Please make certain to enjoy the video below.
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Everyone, enjoy this video, and the transcript below.
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 tune our hearts.
Embarrassment or Shame
There is a huge difference between these two words which may not be apparent at first glance. When we think of how we feel when it comes to having our sin revealed the contrast becomes even more stark. Embarrassment seems to be more apt to describe getting caught for doing something you know you should not be doing. Shame may have some of that connotation buts adds true remorse for having engaged in the activity at all.
When you think of your need for the cross, which do you think better describes your feeling? Are you embarrassed that you need a Savior, or do you feel shame that your sins sent Him to the cross? Be honest with yourself and answer that.
For each of us there is probably a mingling of both of these feelings, and understandably so. They are akin to one another after all, but in order for us to appreciate the gravity of the cross we must move past the first and into the second. Which is it that primarily causes you to hide your face?
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, and maybe even in some measure the lives we live under it. Confess your shame.
When we see the cross and realize how needful it was because of our sin the reasonable response is to become red in the face with embarrassment and shame. But we need not hide our blushing face for it is a mark of the Spirit’s work in us helping us embrace those feelings and deal with them at the cross. Welcome the Spirit to do that work in you.
Spirit, help me embrace my shame.
RESONATE!
As you confront your embarrassment and shame, allow the Spirit to come and help you. Denying them does not help and neither does wallowing in them. Acknowledge them and prepare for the other work the Spirit wants to do you in. Take a moment and do that right now.
In Light of the Cross
We deal with many emotions as we ponder the beauty of the cross. The important first step in doing so is being able to see the cross clearly. If we simply hide our face, burying it in our hands, we will fail to see the glory of this gruesome device that wrought such splendor in our souls.
When was the last time you really looked at the cross? Looked at in and thought about what it really represents to you? The value of such an exercise is not lost on us as Christians, evidenced by the fact that so many churches have an empty cross situated prominently in most of their worship spaces.
But what does that symbol mean to you? What do you see when you look at it? Consider the treasure of being able to see it clearly and what the Scripture says about what it means to us.
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.
It is the cross that causes us to blush. The cross was needful because we had no way back to God without it. When we understand this we are for the first time able to truly see the cross. Give thanks to God if you have seen the cross as your only path to redemption.
Father, thank You for helping me see the cross clearly.
RESONATE!
Take a few moments to simply look at a cross, either the one above or any other. Ask the Spirit to help you see it clearly, for all that it represents to you. Then repeat that exercise every time you see it. It will help you cultivate gratitude more than embarrassment.
Jesus, thank You for the cross and Your finished work there. Teach me how to marvel at it, after I have wrestled with the feelings of embarrassment and shame it evokes. Then help me to be at peace with it, and because of it. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
Humbled Tuning!
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Video 26.4 Transcript
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.
Thus might I hide my blushing face
While Calvary’s cross appears
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness
And melt mine eyes to tears
When we see the cross and realize how needful it was because of our sin the reasonable response is to become red in the face with embarrassment or shame. But we need not hide our blushing face for it is a mark of the Spirit’s work in us helping us embrace our shame.
Spirit, help me embrace my shame.
It is the cross that causes us to blush. The cross was needful because we had no way back to God without it. When we understand this we are for the first time able to truly see the cross. Give thanks to God if you have seen the cross as your only path to redemption.
Father, thank You for helping me see the cross clearly.
From shame to thankfulness, 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.
Jesus, dissolve my heart in thankfulness.
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.
Spirit, melt my eyes to tears.
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.
The post Lift Your Eyes to See the Cross appeared first on Resonant 7.
Image Attributions
Thus Might I Hide My Blushing Face – https://pixabay.com/photos/burnout-man-face-head-portrait-268906/
While Calvary’s Cross Appears – https://pixabay.com/photos/jesus-christ-god-gospel-bible-3279880/
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