I Want a Principle Within

I want a principle within of watchful, Godly fear,
a sensibility of sin, a pain to feel it near.
I want the first approach to feel of pride or wrong desire,
to catch the wandering of my will, and quench the kindling fire.

From thee that I no more may stray, no more thy goodness grieve,
Grant me the filial awe, I pray, the tender conscience give.
Quick as the apple of an eye, O God, my conscience make;
awake my soul when sin is nigh, and keep it still awake.

Almighty God of truth and love, to me thy power impart;
the mountain from my soul remove, the hardness from my heart.
O may the least omission pain my reawakened soul,
and drive me to that blood again, which makes the wounded whole.

You will recognize the name of the author of this hymn (Charles Wesley – one of the leaders of the Methodist movement), but you may not be familiar with this particular hymn.  Some of the phrases of this hymn are rather uncommon, and unfortunately, the desire to live this kind of holy life is also becoming more uncommon in the world today.  This song is a personal prayer for God to increase the author’s sensitivity to the sinful thoughts and actions that crept into his life.  This prayer is as important today as it was in the 1700’s when it was written, and I hope it will be your prayer too.

Couple of phrases I wanted to comment on:

• “Wandering of my will” – Have there been times in your life when you have felt like you were in the center of God’s will?  Do you feel that way now?  I wonder if at times when we no longer feel that we are in the center of God’s will, if it is because our will has “wandered.”  If we allow our desires and selfish wants to creep into our lives, these desires will gradually lead us away from that perfect will of God.   We shouldn’t ask where God went, but do some introspection about what has changed about our hearts.

• “Thy goodness grieve” – The phrase “grieve the Holy Spirit” occurs only once in the New Testament according to one of the commentaries I read and that is in Ephesians 4:30 which reads “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”  I think you have to go to the Greek to get the full understanding of that phrase.  In the Greek, the word used for “grieve” means to cause sorrow or heaviness.  We typically think of our selfish actions impacting others around us, or maybe even hurting ourselves, but recognizing that we can do things to “grieve the Holy Spirit” should cause us to pause and assess our actions. 

• “Grant me the filial awe” – If you were like me, I had no clue what this phrase meant.  I looked up the word “filial” and it means “befitting a son or daughter” or “having the relationship of a child to a parent.”  Do you remember when you were a child when your parents could do no wrong?  When you trusted them completely?  When you believed everything they told you?  You were in “awe” of what they could do.  I think the author hear wants that same kind of awe of our Heavenly Father.  A recognition that He is our Father and an acknowledgement of His omnipotence, omniscience and His wisdom.  If we had that kind of awe, it would definitely impact how we live our daily lives.

When I was in 7th grade at Jefferson Middle School in Oklahoma City, word spread that we had gotten a new assistant principal – Mr. Austin.  I don’t know about your schools, but at my middle school the assistant principal was the disciplinarian (i.e. the one who gave swats with a wooden paddle).  The rumor was the new asst. principal was tall (over 6 ft), athletic, and mean.  I was walking down the hall past the asst. principal’s office at lunch early in the school year when Mr. Austin stepped into the hallway, and said “Mr. Mowery – I need to speak with you.”  As you can imagine, my mind began to race.  What did I do?  Had my older brother ratted me out? Had someone seen me playing a prank on someone?  Why is this “evil” man calling me out?  He put his hand on my shoulder and told me that he was a friend of my Dad’s, and that they bowled in a league together.  He then told me that my Dad had given him permission to use whatever corporal punishment necessary to keep me in line.  I thought to myself “What was my Dad thinking?”  This guy didn’t need any help intimidating young, defenseless, innocent children.  Why would my Dad do this to me?  Now that I had met him and he knew who I was, I realized that there would be no grace practiced if I got in trouble because I had been forewarned.  I had to mind my “P’s and Q’s” (whatever that means).

The theme of the hymn this week is about having a principle within – being sensitive to the Holy Spirit inside us, having a knowledge of Godly principles from the Word, and following them.  When I was in middle school, Mr. Austin became my “principal without” to keep me in line, and it worked – most of the time.  But we cannot live like that forever.  We must acknowledge that there is a time in our lives when we must put away childish, foolish, sinful behaviors, and become men and women of God.  I hope that you can echo the author’s sentiment and that you earnestly desire to live a holy life, and have a principle within.  God will answer that prayer, and equip you to live a life pleasing to Him – whether Mr. Austin is watching or not.