Ransomed, Healed, Restored, Forgiven
If you’ve been around St. Martin’s for any length of time, you probably heard Henry Francis Lyte’s hymn, Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven.
“Praise, my soul, the King of heaven; to his feet thy tribute bring;
ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, evermore his praises sing:
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise the everlasting King.”
That is a lot to pack into a stanza that takes 21 seconds to sing (and that’s with holding out the last note)!
Those four words that Lyte uses to describe our salvation in Christ – ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven – are rich with meaning.
Ransomed
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20a, NIV
Healed
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 147:2-3, NIV
Restored
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dreamed.
Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Psalm 126: 1-2a
Forgiven
In [Christ Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.
Ephesians 1:7-8a
That’s a whirlwind tour of the Bible in just four words!
Our hymns are a rich reservoir of prayer. Take time this week to look over some of the lyrics that we sing. Reflect on God’s goodness to us.
A Collect for Grace
O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day: Defend us in the same with thy mighty power, and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger, but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance, to do always what is righteous in thy sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
