O For A Heart To Praise My God

O for a heart to praise my God,
a heart from sin set free,
a heart that always feels Thy blood
so freely shed for me.

A heart resigned, submissive, meek,
my great Redeemer’s throne,
where only Christ is heard to speak,
where Jesus reigns alone.

A humble, lowly, contrite heart,
believing, true, and clean,
which neither life nor death can part
from Christ who dwells within.

A heart in every thought renewed
and full of love divine,
perfect and right and pure and good,
a copy, Lord, of thine.

Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart;
come quickly from above;
write thy new name upon my heart,
thy new, best name of Love.

This particular hymn was written by Charles Wesley in 1742.  It is a prayer for a closer walk with the Lord, for a changing of the author’s heart to be more reflective of Christ’s qualities.  It was not enough to just have a heart that is set free from sin, which I am sure he was extremely grateful for.  No, Charles Wesley’s desire was that God would also change his heart to be more submissive, meek, sensitive, humble, contrite, renewed, perfect, right, pure and good.  What a wish list!!  In Psalms 51:10, the Psalmist prays “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”  I think this is the same kind of attitude that Charles Wesley had – a desire to not only have a heart cleansed by the blood of Jesus, but that God create in him a new heart – one that would praise his God.

Couple of phrases I wanted to highlight:

• “A heart resigned” –  There have been a few times in my working career where I have resigned a job.  Resignations are not always easy, but it is something that most people will do sometime in their career.  Couple of things interesting about resignations.  Typically, when one resigns, he/she is doing so for a better opportunity.  Charles Wesley wanted a heart that had resigned from selfish desires and selfish wants.  He wanted to take a better opportunity – to have his heart become more like the Lord’s heart and be more submissive to the Lord’s leading in his life.  Secondly, resignations are typically permanent.  Once accepted by an employer, there is no going back.  It is not an area where you are allowed to waiver.  Once you have made the decision to resign, you walk away from one job and walk towards the other.  Charles Wesley wanted to “resign” from his old ways, and become a new creation.  I wish that I could maintain that kind of “resignation” mindset when it comes to the selfish desires of my heart.
• “Where only Christ is heard to speak” – Boy, how difficult this thought/challenge was for me?  I ask myself – who has a voice in my heart?  Sometimes it is me with my selfish desires.  Sometimes it is the voice of others who may or may not have my best interest in mind.  Sometimes it is the “tempter” who speaks doubt or sinful thoughts into my heart and mind.  If only I had the kind of ears that were tuned into the Holy Spirit – listening to His voice, His whisper, and none other.  Like a radio with a broken knob that is set to one station.

For those of you that have gray hair like me, you will recall a certain type of copier that was popular in the late 70’s and early 80’s.  It was one of the first copiers, and the machines were called “ditto machines.”  When I was in school, teachers used to give us “dittos” for homework assignments or tests.  The copies all had a blue-purplish tint.  Unlike today’s hi-tech copiers where you can’t tell the difference between the original and the copy, you could definitely see the difference in the “ditto” copies.  “Ditto” copies even had a distinct aroma.  Do you remember what I am talking about?

In the fourth verse of this hymn, the author prays for a renewed heart – a copy of the Lord’s heart.  I was reminded that our hearts, unfortunately, are not exact copies of the Lord’s heart, even when we try.  His heart is too forgiving, too lovely, and too gracious for ours to ever duplicate.  However, our hearts can be “ditto” copies.  We can reflect God’s heart by the mercy, grace and compassion we show to others.  We can also be a sweet fragrance or aroma.  Psalm 141:2 tells us “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.”  Paul tells us 2 Corinthians 2 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”  He reminds us a couple of verses later that “…we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” 

If our hearts are copies of His, our lives will be a sweet smelling aroma to God, to our loved ones, and to a lost and dying world around us.  I hope that your prayer today is like Charles Wesley’s – that you might have a changed heart, and that you might have a heart that is a copy of His – even if it is only a “ditto” copy.