One of the ways I can celebrate peace and grace and keep it as a theme for the troubled times of 2022 is that saints before me have passed on this legacy of truth. Isaac Watts, the distinguished hymnwriter, based this famous hymn on the words of Psalm 90. I have the assurance that his words live on because God is sovereign, the designer of the universe, the purveyor of order, and the very essence of peace, grace, mercy, and love for us, His children.
I have the assurance that throughout the ages, this truth is eternal. I adopt this hymn each new year so that I remember that in this life, I am not alone. Others before me have dedicated their years in trust to God, and He has blessed that attitude. Here are first Isaac Watts words, then the scripture from which they were inspired:
“O God, our Help in ages past,/Our Hope for years to come,/ Our Shelter from the stormy blast,/And our eternal Home!/Before the hills in order stood,/Or earth received her frame,/ From everlasting Thou art God,/To endless years the same.” (from Psalm 90. Isaac Watts to the tune St. Anne, ascribed to William Croft. www. hymnary.org.)
Verses 14-17 of Psalm 90 proclaim the day’s pathway for me, and hopefully for you. These words are a proclamation of peace and grace and purpose: “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love/that we may rejoice and be glad all our days./Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us/and for as many years as we have seen evil./Let your work be shown to Your servants/and Your glorious power to their children./Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us/and establish the work of our hands upon us/yes, establish the work of our hands.”
Furthermore, let this doxology from Jue verse 24 bless you as you go into the world to sow your version of peace and grace today: “Now to Him Who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time, and now, and forever, Amen.” Have a blessed day ahead and thank God for it.
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