Daily Archives: February 20, 2013

Lent 2013: “God of Grace and God of Glory”

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This is one that I remember being sung on September 10, 2001 which was the official first day of Fall Quarter at my seminary. The lines “grant us wisdom/grant us courage/for the living of these days” turned out to be prophetic with what happened the next day.

God of grace and God of glory,
On Thy people pour Thy power.
Crown Thine ancient church??s story,
Bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the facing of this hour,
For the facing of this hour.

Lo! the hosts of evil ??round us,
Scorn Thy Christ, assail His ways.
From the fears that long have bound us,
Free our hearts to faith and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the living of these days,
For the living of these days.

Cure Thy children??s warring madness,
Bend our pride to Thy control.
Shame our wanton selfish gladness,
Rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom??s goal,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom??s goal.

Set our feet on lofty places,
Gird our lives that they may be,
Armored with all Christ-like graces,
In the fight to set men free.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
That we fail not man nor Thee,
That we fail not man nor Thee.

Save us from weak resignation,
To the evils we deplore.
Let the search for Thy salvation,
Be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Serving Thee Whom we adore,
Serving Thee Whom we adore.
(HT: Net Hymnal)

The tune is “Cwm Rhondda”– one of my favorite hymn tunes.

The Proverbs 31 Project: She watches over the affairs of her household…

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Proverbs 31 Project

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. — Proverbs 31:27

I hate doing housework. I would rather do just about anything than housework. I can deal with doing laundry but I will do just about anything to get out of cleaning the bathroom. Dishes stress my lower back and I keep wishing for a parsonage with a dishwasher. The problem: entropy — things go from a state of order to disorder and in order to keep the nice CPS people out of the house, cleaning needs to happen from time to time.

In today’s verse, our virtuous woman is described as “watch[ing] over the affairs of her household” and “not eat[ing] the bread of idleness”. She was on top of everything that went on in her house so the beds had fresh linens, the food was procured and prepared, sashes were made to sell to the merchants, and all was where it needed to be. If she hadn’t been so aware of the state of her household, the family could possibly go hungry, there would be no light from lamps and candles after dusk, and her servants would fare worse than the family.

For me, being aware of the affairs of my household means that I keep track of the bills that need to be paid and I make sure that we have everything we need to function. This might not be everything we *want* in life but our needs are met. Not eating the bread of idleness means keeping up on the freelance editing work, the laundry so I have clean underwear and Daniel has clean clothes, and keeping the dishes under control so that I’m not drinking instant breakfast out of a measuring cup.