1:24 AM

O Come and Mourn

o come and mourn with me awhile
o come, ye, to the Savior's side
o come, together let us mourn:
Jesus our Lord is crucified

seven times He spake sev'n words of love
and all three hours His silence cried
for mercy on the souls of men
Jesus our Lord is crucified

o love of God, o sin of man -
in this dread act your strength is tried
and victory remains with love:
Jesus our Lord is crucified

o break, o break hard heart of mine
my selfish love and guilty pride
His pilate and His judas were
Jesus our Lord is crucified

a broken heart, a fount of tears -
ask and they will not be denied
a broken heart love's cradle is
Jesus our Lord is crucified

o love of God, o sin of man -
in this dread act your strength is tried
and victory remains with love
Jesus our Lord is crucified
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this song is so beautiful - especially with the new tune. but the most beautiful thing about it is the Gospel, breathtakingly described here.
1) first off, we notice the irony of mourning the very act that brings us to God. and yet mourning is appropriate, for the Lover of our souls has subjected Himself to all kinds of suffering. weird, huh? but i guess that's what maundy thursday and good friday are all about...
2) amazing too that Christ, in the middle of excruciating pain and grief at being separated from the Father, is speaking words of love, and His silence is crying for mercy on us. talk about dedication.
3) my 2nd favorite part of this song is the chorus, because it sets up a great mental image. i envision a boxing ring, but it could be anything i guess. in the left hand corner is "sin of man" and across the way is "love of God." the love of God triumphs, and the evidence? that Jesus our Lord is crucified.
4) more on the mourning thing comes up in verse three, where we are telling our hearts to break because it is our sins that crucified our Savior. and the thing is that God does so much with broken hearts: they are "love's cradle" and we should be asking for them. how backwards in the world's economy - to ask for brokenness. but God binds up the wounds He makes, because He loves us and because of the sacrifice of Christ. evidence? "for He wounds, but He binds up; He shatters, but His hands heal." (job 5:18); "moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of His people, and heals the wounds inflicted by His blows." (is. 30:26); "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." (ps. 147:3)
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new book to add to my list of favorites is, suprisingly, something i read for my african-american literature post-vietnam class. it's called mama day, and it joins the very very short ranks of books that have made me cry, but in a good way.

i accidentally slept through a class today. haven't done that since freshman year. stupid lauren.

i can't wait to have a good mattress again. :-D

RUF summer conference or bust, baby!

oh, and guess what (for those of you who didn't know) - i'm going to the derek and sandra concert on friday night. i am so excited i could.............................EXPLODE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

officially i am in a weird mood.

4 comments:

iconoclasm said...

Do you take requests?

Lauren said...

maybe... what'd you have in mind?

odds are decent it's already on my list. :)

iconoclasm said...

#315 70's looking Baptist Hymnal, "Soldiers of Christ in Truth Arrayed" by Basil Manly Jr. I just saw it the other night and I didn't have a chance to get a good look at it. He was one of the founders of Southern.

Lauren said...

i looked it up and read it, and it's not really in line with my lenten theme... i'm doing hymns that deal directly with the passion/resurrection/etc. you know, those hymns that are often categorized as "blood hymns." well, by me anyway...