Thousands of Tongues

Certain men and women throughout history have a special gift of praise. Their songs please God and lift us up in our spiritual walk. 

Charles Wesley was such a man. He understood the stink of sin, and the power of Jesus' blood to spiritually purify the "worst" sinner. The man was full of praise, and his spiritual life continues to bless believers around the world -- even though he died in 1788!

He wrote this hymn to commemorate the first anniversary of his conversion to Jesus Christ. The first verse of this hymn is actually verse seven of his original poem.

The hymn is based on Scripture from Revelations 5:11. “I…heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands.”

O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!

My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
That bids our sorrows cease;
’Tis music in the sinner’s ears,
’Tis life, and health, and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.

He speaks, and, listening to His voice,
New life the dead receive,
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
The humble poor believe.

Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb,
Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come,
And leap, ye lame, for joy.

In Christ your Head, you then shall know,
Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below,
And own that love is heaven.

Glory to God, and praise and love
Be ever, ever given,
By saints below and saints above,
The church in earth and heaven.

Help From God During Financially-Troubling Times

Everywhere I turn, I see people who are miserable and frightened about the economy. I know personally how scary it is with cash flow problems at work... but at least I have a job. Many of my friends and acquaintances do not. Some haven't held a career-type position for a couple of years.

It looks grim. As I write this, the "experts" expect America's economic problems to continue for two to five years.

But, in spite of what news sources, government reports, and the doom-and-gloom secular prophets tell us, Believers have a God-authorized "secret weapon": Proclamation.

What is "proclamation"? It is simply speaking God's written word to the circumstances we face.

And this is a great financial scripture to proclaim over scary financial circumstances:

And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

II Corinthians 9:8 (NLT)

I know this in my head, but I am really starting to learn this in my heart: the more I trust in God and focus on Him, not my circumstances, the more worry-free I become. Trust builds on trust. And God can build on small amounts of trust, just like Jesus mentioned in the mustard seed parable.

God bless you all, especially readers going through trying financial and economic times. Remember one of God's special names in the Scriptures: The LORD who Provides. And if God spoke and our universe and our planet came into being, then a weak economy is no problem for our God!