Behold Us, Lord, A Little Space

Behold us, Lord, a little space

From daily tasks set free,

And met within thy holy place

To rest awhile with thee.
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Around us rolls the ceaseless tide

Of business, toil, and care;

And scarcely can we turn aside

For one brief hour of prayer.

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Yet these are not the only walls

Wherein thou mayst be sought;

On homeliest work thy blessing falls,

In truth and patience wrought.

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Thine is the loom, the forge, the mart,

The wealth of land and sea,

The worlds of science and of art,

Revealed and ruled by thee.

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Then let us prove our heavenly birth,

In all we do and know;

And claim the kingdom of the earth

For thee and not thy foe.

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Work shall be prayer, if all be wrought

As thou wouldst have it done,

And prayer, by thee inspired and taught,

Itself with work be one.

John Ellerton 1870 

The dusty book that inspired this particular blog has, to my eyes, some slightly eccentric or thought provoking sectioning of hymns.  This one is in "Supplemental Hymns" and the subsection "Mid-Day for a City Church".

I love it - I love more the thought that at the heart of the day is the declaration of the unity of life under the Lordship of Christ.  There is no difference between prayer and toil - for work, correctly understood, and rightly done - all is for the glory of God.

I think I first grasped this reality in the setting of a library built to celebrate James V1 of Scotland/I of England whilst studying theology at University.  An easy reach you might think.  It wasn't.  I was ploughing my way through some impenetrable philosophical writing on the development of the concept of self from the classical to the (post)modern age. I began asking for God to make the work easier - I came to ask that the work I was doing would be for Him, to Him and in Him.  If only I'd known this hymn, it's verse could have given the transition from head to life better expression in these words.

God does not dwell in buildings, he never has.  God is not sought in 'sacred' work, as if it existed.  God is known by men and women as Lord over every area of life and work.  He is LORD. Those of us who live by faith in Him, live under His all-encompassing claim of Lordship.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Col 3:23-24