To Thee, O Dear, Dear Saviour

To Thee, O dear, dear Saviour!
My spirit turns for rest,
My peace is in Thy favour,
My pillow on Thy breast!
Though all the world deceive me,
I know that I am Thine,
And Thou wilt never leave me,
O blessèd Saviour mine.

In Thee my trust abideth,
On Thee my hope relies,
O Thou Whose love provideth
For all beneath the skies;
O Thou Whose mercy found me,
From bondage set me free,
And then forever bound me
With threefold cords to Thee.

My grief is in the dullness
With which this sluggish heart
Doth open to the fullness
Of all Thou wouldst impart;
My joy is in Thy beauty
Of holiness divine,
My comfort in the duty
That binds my life in Thine.

Alas, that I should ever
Have failed in love to Thee,
The only one who never
Forgot or slighted me!
O for a heart to love Thee
More truly as I ought,
And nothing place above Thee
In deed, or word, or thought.

O for that choicest blessing
Of living in Thy love,
And thus on earth possessing
The peace of Heav’n above;
O for the bliss that by it
The soul securely knows
The holy calm and quiet
Of faith’s serene repose!

John Samuel Bewley Monsell 1863

There is a great deal in our cultures that reinforces this inward trajectory of thought and energy; much that commends it as good. “Self belief” seems to be the rubric of validity for what is helpful and true; that only with '”self-belief” will there be any peace in a persons life.  There is a problem here though, that sort of self-belief is the antithesis of Biblical faith; I’d go as far as to say that sort of self-belief is the enemy of faith in Jesus Christ.

Martin Luther saw sin for what it was – a turning in on the self, focussing on the self in open rebellion to God.  When we are most caught up in our own sinfulness, it is then that we are most caught up in ourselves – our own thoughts, desires, hopes, dreams, aspirations, comfort and importance.  It is then in self-satisfaction that sin is most keenly seen in the everyday.

For the Christian though there is someone who we do believe in; that obviously is Jesus Christ.  Our faith in Him is the exact opposite of “self-belief” it is the surrender of self, knowing that there is no good within ourselves, to Him who is only good.  Our confidence before God is not within ourselves, it is not about how we feel about approaching God in prayer and praise and work and service and thought and deed. 

Our confidence before God is only in Jesus.  Monsell captures it brilliantly in this hymn – we have now found rest in Jesus, if we have entrusted our lives to Him.  We need to stop believing that we can do – that we can impress God and present ourselves before Him as people he must love because of what we can do, have done and will do.  We need to stop believing in ourselves and rest our faith in Jesus.  He will bring us before God as His own, because of who He is, what He has done and what He has promised.

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew’s Gospel 11:25-30