Wednesday, February 29, 2012

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."

1 comment:

ashik said...

I am from Dhaka, Bangladesh and am terribly sorry for this and apologize. Believe that it does not give you an true message from my country. I hope that the criminals would be arrested that Bangladeshi people's hospitality and kindness would be stronger than hatred from very few.