Oh God Beyond All Praising

This song has been going through my head a lot today; even though the video looks a little sketch, it's actually a really lovely rendering of the song.



Here are the lyrics:

O God beyond all praising,
we worship you today
and sing the love amazing
that songs cannot repay;
for we can only wonder
at every gift you send,
at blessings without number
and mercies without end:
we lift our hearts before you
and wait upon your word,
we honor and adore you,
our great and mighty Lord.

Then hear, O gracious Savior,
accept the love we bring,
that we who know your favor
may serve you as our king;
and whether our tomorrows
be filled with good or ill,
we'll triumph through our sorrows
and rise to bless you still:
to marvel at your beauty
and glory in your ways,
and make a joyful duty
our sacrifice of praise.

I'm not sure if this is related news or not, but this slightly inaccurate story with the ominous headline "US missionaries injured by Muslim mob in Bangladesh" is about an attack that my father-in-law and mother-in-law experienced yesterday. They are in B-desh exploring some teaching opportunities with a church that our church has a close relationship with; they called last night to say that their van had been attacked by a mob. It might be the case that the mob was incited by someone who had a bit of a vendetta against Christians. Either way, it was terrifying - no one was seriously injured, but they spent quite a bit of time crouched over in their seats with their hands covering their heads while glass shards and rocks and dirt clods showered over them. God was kind in allowing all of the Christians, including several church planters who did not have the protection of the van, to be spared from serious harm.

The founder of the church there in B-desh came to the Lord out of Islam after he plotted and carried out an attack on a Christian who was witnessing to him. When the Christian healed and returned, not for vengeance but for forgiveness, this Muslim man came face to face with one of the inexplicable truths of the Christian faith and was compelled to investigate more. May these recent attackers somehow see the face of Christ in the response of their victims, especially those who live and work in the area.

And that's the link between this story and this song ... for anyone who is suffering in Christ's name: "And whether our tomorrows / be filled with good or ill, / we'll triumph through our sorrows / and rise to bless you still: / to marvel at your beautyand glory in your ways, / and make a joyful duty / our sacrifice of praise."

What is friendship?

I've been reading Tim and Kathy Keller's book on marriage, and I really enjoyed their description of friendship (since marriage is not less, but more, than friendship). This paragraph is towards the beginning of the chapter and applies to ALL friendship:

What is friendship? The Bible, and particularly the book of Proverbs, spends much time describing and defining it. One of the prime qualities of a friend is constancy. Friends “love at all times” and especially during “adversity” (Proverbs 17:17). The counterfeit is a “fair-weather friend” who comes over when you are successful but goes away if prosperity, status, or influence wanes (Proverbs 14:20; 19:4, 6, 7). True friends stick closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24).

They are always there for you. Another of the essential characteristics of friendship is transparency and candor. Real friends encourage and affectionately affirm one another (Proverbs 27:9; cf. 1 Samuel 23:16-18), yet real friends also offer bracing critiques: “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Proverbs 27:5-6). Like a surgeon, friends cut you in order to heal you.
Friends become wiser together through a healthy clash of viewpoints. “As iron sharpens iron, so friend sharpens friend” (Proverbs 27:17).

Tim and Kathy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage, page 112.