I have no merit
to woo or delight Thee,
I have no wisdom
or pow’rs to employ;
Yet in thy mercy,
how pleasing thou find’st me,
This is Thy pleasure:
that Thou art my joy.
Great Is Thy Faithfulness (1923)
By: Thomas Chisholm (1866–1960)
Listen to this modern version of this popular 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.
We continue our journey through this popular hymn which declares the faithfulness of our God, true in every season, experienced by hearts of faith. Let’s tune our hearts.
Turkish Delight
If something has “delight” in its name, you would immediately be led to believe it is probably pretty, well….delightful right?
I think I first heard of Turkish Delight when I read “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” as a child. Edmund had found his way through a wardrobe into an enchanted snow-blanketed wood when along came a horse-drawn carriage. I could not understand how he would be so easily lured into it by a confection, but pleasure can be like that, a little irrational.
For those unfamiliar with Edmund’s favorite sweet, Turkish Delight (or Lokum) is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios, hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; traditional varieties are often flavored with rosewater, mastic, Bergamot orange, or lemon. Though that all sounds very good, Edmund’s response to the offer of it from the White Witch still did not make sense to me.
There is a sense in which the opening lines of this stanza may have the same effect on some, albeit with the opposite effect. There is nothing in me that delights God? Is He like a fickle child, waiting for the right combination of starch and sugar to come galloping by?
Hardly. But it does reveal a few things about our understanding of our pleasure and God’s. This stanza does two things. It reminds us of our inability to please God, and of His desire to change that.
I have no merit
to woo or delight Thee,
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:8 ESV
Though we do not like to admit our utter depravity, we must remember that to do so makes even more of the faithfulness of God. There was nothing in us that deserved the grace He has poured out on us, and until He did we could not please Him, not in the least. There are simply not enough pistachios and walnuts in the world to change our standing before God. Until there is more to us than the flesh, we simply can not please Him.
Fortunately for us, that is not the end of the story.
To woo is to gain the love of someone. To delight is to please someone greatly. There is nothing in me that can evoke either of these feelings in the heart of my God. While that is a sad reality it is important to acknowledge and in so doing highlight His mercy.
I do think it is important to notice the sequence. I can not gain His love. I cannot even please Him greatly. Yet, that is the word that starts the second half of this stanza and explains the difference God made in our dire circumstance, and how. We will go there on in our next Thursday Thoughts, but first we must examine a few other areas we may be inclined to think could be used to incline God’s affection toward us.
RESONATE!
The beginning of intimacy with God starts with honesty. We must acknowledge before God, confess or agree with Him about our helpless, hopeless condition. We could not make Him love us, or even please Him greatly, while we operated solely in our flesh. Take a moment to thank Him for revealing this to you, for until you saw this clearly, you simply were not able to please Him.
I Have No…
This acknowledgement reminds me of a line from another of my favorite stories, “The Lord of the Rings”. The wizard Gandalf is leading the little party through the mines of Moria and comes to a fork in the road. He had studied and memorized many things that had gotten them this far but at this moment he humbly confesses, “I have no memory of this place.” How many travelers would benefit from their leader doing the same?
Gandalf the Gray knew many things, but he also knew his limitations. His followers benefitted from that many times. We would benefit from the same humble acknowledgement.
Gandalf ends up being called Gandalf the Wise, and there is only one way for us to earn the same moniker.
I have no wisdom
or pow’rs to employ;
Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, Jeremiah 9:23 ESV
We may have some abilities, all having come to us from the gracious hand of God, yet none of them are enough to overcome the separation caused by our sin. We could fashion no way back to Him. Why would we even try?
There is a way for us to enjoy the faithfulness of God, but it hinges on our willingness to acknowledge we have no memory of how to do so, and no power to bridge the chasm between us. You can fill in the sentence with any other number of things, “I have no….”, but they are still only part of the equation. We will examine the most important part, God’s contribution, in the latter half of the stanza.
RESONATE!
Thank God for the gifts of wisdom and power and whatever else He has given you. There are expressions of His kindness to you. But then thank Him for the revelation they were not enough to redeem you. Thank Him for the ability to acknowledge your shortcomings, but most of all for the knowledge of Him.
Father, thank You for all the things You have deposited into my life, the way You have fashioned me. Thank You for the humility to confess even they would never be enough to earn your love or affection. Thank You most of all for the knowledge of Your faithfulness revealed to me by Your Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
Humble Tuning!
Keep coming back, and we will work to help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence. We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.
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Video 46.4 Transcript, 23.4 Reframed
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.
I have no merit
to woo or delight Thee,
I have no wisdom
or pow’rs to employ;
Yet in thy mercy,
how pleasing thou find’st me,
This is Thy pleasure:
that Thou art my joy.
To woo, to gain the love of someone. To delight, to please someone greatly. There is nothing in me that can evoke either of these feelings in the heart of my God. While that is a sad reality it is important to acknowledge and in so doing highlight His mercy. Acknowledge your lack of merit.
God, I confess I have nothing to merit your affection.
We may have some abilities, all having come to us from the gracious hand of God, yet none of them are enough to overcome the separation caused by our sin. We could fashion no way back to Him. Thank Him for those gifts and the revelation they were not enough to redeem you.
Lord, thank You my capacities, but most of all for the knowledge of you.
Even still, the Lord makes a way for me to be found pleasing to Him. None of that lies with me. It is His mercy, not getting what we deserve. It is all His work, so none can boast, other than boasting in Him. Make your boast in Him today, then repeat that every day, for eternity.
Spirit, help me boast in God today, and forever.
To find eternal joy in God is the greatest blessing this life affords. What is more, it is difficult for us to fathom that there is nothing that gives God greater pleasure than for us to find that joy. Marvel at that incredible mystery again today and rest in it, in Him.
Jesus, thank You for the joy I have in You, and the pleasure it is to You.
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 Whoa! No Merit to Woo? Nope. REPOST appeared first on Resonant 7.
Image Attributions
I Have No Merit to Woo or Delight Thee – https://pixabay.com/photos/turkish-delight-süßigkeit-meals-5034986/
I Have No Wisdom or Powers to Employ – https://pixabay.com/photos/wizard-gandalf-lego-magic-sorcerer-2021410/
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