Simple as a sunrise And like the morning dew One covers all the mountains One shines on me and you
And simple as the smile of Christ For children as they come He took them in His arms to bless Before they play and run
And simple as the Garden Where He took His friends to pray But one by one they fell asleep Before that awful day
When they took Him with the soldiers He stayed silent as a lamb Then three nails were driven through His rough and calloused hands
Then in agony He suffers To wash away the sins Of all who come with simple hearts To find their life in Him
But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.He restores my soul. Psalm 23:1-3a ESV
Considering the chorus of the hymn, “He Keeps Me Singing”, it is amazing to realize the story behind those happy words. In 1911, Luther Bridgers was preaching at a revival at a Methodist church in Middleboro, Kentucky, while his wife and children stayed nearby in Harrodsburg, with his parents. In the night the house where they were staying caught fire and Luther’s entire family died in the flames. The following year he wrote these words:
All my life was wrecked by sin and strife Discord filled my heart with pain Jesus swept across those broken strings Stirred the slumbering chords again.
Oh! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Sweetest name I know Fills my every long He Keeps me singing as I go
As a guitar player, that line, “Jesus swept across those broken strings,” holds special meaning for me. It reminds me of those times when a string has snapped right in the middle of a hymn. In those moments, there is nothing I can do, except to keep on playing. But with that one string gone, the whole instrument goes out of tune, not to mention, it is difficult to play with a loose string hanging down. So as quickly as I can after fumbling my way through the song, I slip out and replace that worn-out string and retune my instrument. Now, whether you are a guitar player or not, I am sure that you have had a string or two break in your life. Relationships snap, our boss tells us we are being let go, and tragedies such as Luther’s loss of those most precious to him, happen in the night. But even in the middle of the worst, our Lord Jesus is still our Good Shepherd. He has not fallen asleep on the job, nor has He been taken off guard. God is closest to us in our hour of pain. It is in those times that “He makes us lie down in green pastures. He leads us beside the still waters. He restores our souls.” God knows about and shares both in our happy times as well in our deepest griefs. In those moments, His skillful hands go quickly to work, repairing, restoring and replacing our broken strings. If we don’t allow sorrow, loss or bitterness to turn us away from our Good Shepherd, He will restore our souls, stir the slumbering chords again and will truly keep us singing as we go!
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