I’m grateful to Ligonier Ministries for sponsoring the blog this week. They want you to know that a 40th anniversary edition of The Holiness of God is available when you provide a donation of any amount. Many would echo me when I say it’s one of the best and most formative books I’ve ever read.

Today’s Kindle deals include a selection of newer books and classics.

(Yesterday on the blog: Either/Or or Both/And?)

J.V. Fesko considers the “ordo amoris” and draws out an interesting point of encouragement. “For the last several decades, politics has become a battle of sound bites; more recently, our nation has undone 400 years of literacy by plying cultural memes as an engine of political and cultural warfare. In an otherwise bleak landscape, Vance’s invocation of Augustine’s order of love means that, whether right or wrong, he has appealed to a substantive idea rather than a sound bite or meme.”

Joshua reflects on the silence of death. “Muffled tears and soft words broke the moment now and again, like small pebbles tossed onto the calm, unbroken surface of a lake. However, all these noises seemed swallowed up within the silence itself – the silence was roaring. One would expect the normal reaction to death and loss to be tears and grief; but when you come face to face with the beast itself, silence often feels most natural.”

Paul Levy reminds us that sin casts a long shadow.

You may enjoy this new song from Bryan Fowler. “What is the truth / That ever anchors me / Amidst the waves of all my guilt / That Christ has shed / His blood and pardoned me / At the cross, at the cross.”

Aubrynn shares some prayers she prays as she faces scrupulosity. They will be helpful, though, even for those who do not.

Erin writes transparently about an especially difficult time in her life and faith. “I’m done waiting to be thankful. Today I give God praise that the dark thoughts have been absent. Even if they return tomorrow, that doesn’t erase the fact that I’ve had three days without them, and it doesn’t erase the fact that God heard my prayers and the prayers of those who love me. Tomorrow’s troubles don’t negate today’s blessings, and nothing can take away God’s goodness.”

…if you, my friend, fail to nourish your soul, you have no cause to be surprised when your soul feels dry, when your faith feels parched, when you seem only to whither and fade.

The Jesus admired by liberals and skeptics would never have been convicted of blasphemy and crucified.
—Michael Horton

It is amazing what struggles people will endure when they do so for a purpose they believe in. It is amazing what struggles people will deliberately bring upon themselves when they believe such struggles are the means to a desirable end. Athletes endure endless hours of training, excruciating times of preparation, and the pain of pushing themselves to the very edge of their endurance. And they do it all for the glory of a trophy, medal, or personal best. Students endure long hours, late nights, and difficult exams when they believe that their studies will eventually lead to a comfortable and fulfilling career. Women endure the struggles of pregnancy, the pains of labor, and the midnight feedings all for the joy of being a mother to a child.

But what of the trials we do not choose for ourselves, the trials that are thrust upon us without our desire and without our consent? What of the trials that do not lead to achieving a goal or attaining a sense of fulfillment? What of the trials that arise from without instead of within, from the mysteries of God’s providence rather than the longing of our hearts?
In such times, it is a tremendous blessing for Christians to consider why God has created us and why God has called us to live in this world. The chief end of man, the Catechism says sublimely, is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. This is the chief and meta purpose, the purpose that encompasses all we are, all we do, and all we experience. It is the purpose that suffuses every lesser circumstance as well—including our times of suffering.
So what is the chief end of suffering, we might ask? The chief end of suffering is to glorify God and enjoy him. The chief end of trials is to glorify God and enjoy him. The chief end of affliction is to glorify God and enjoy him. The purpose of our lives is the purpose of our times of struggle, loss, grief, illness, and bereavement.
God may be accomplishing many things through our times of difficulty. He may be shifting our gaze from earth to heaven and causing us to have a greater longing for his presence. He may be refining our hearts and increasing our faith. He may be using our trials to bless and encourage others or to set an example they can follow. He may be making use of our suffering to show the world around us that our love for him is deep, real, and lasting and that we will love him in the darkness as much as we claim in the light.
But in all of it, we can be certain that there is a higher purpose and a higher calling: to glorify God and enjoy him. Those who reject God have no higher purpose and no higher calling, for they will not glorify God and they will not enjoy him. But we can commit ourselves to glorifying him—praising him, worshiping him, proclaiming our confidence in him—even when our bodies, minds, and hearts are broken. And we can commit ourselves to enjoying him—loving him, maintaining a relationship with him, and finding pleasure in his promises—even when so much of what we love has been taken from us.
We can, we must, glorify him and enjoy him, for this gives purpose to our lives and this gives purpose to our sorrows. There is no circumstance that is ultimately purposeless for there is no circumstance outside our mandate to glorify our God and to enjoy him both now and forevermore.

I do not share many guest articles but do like to do so occasionally, especially when the circumstances warrant it. This is one of those times. This article was written by Kristyn Getty as a means of explaining the context of a new hymn, “God of Every Grace.” I trust you’ll enjoy the hymn even more as you learn when and why it was written.

Sixteen years ago we were invited to sing “In Christ Alone” at the opening of the Dove Awards. We had recently moved to the US, and although we were very honored to participate, our hearts were heavy. My beautiful cousin Lindsay had just passed away from cancer. We were very much singing for our family. I struggled to sing.
Earlier that day I remember turning to 1 Corinthians 15 and reading of the hope of the resurrection. I was struck by Paul’s concluding charge: “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Cor 15:58).
There are many things we experience in this life that will only find their resolution, their answer, their ultimate comfort when we are home with the Lord. What do we do when we have to continue to walk with the question, with the ache, with the limp? We know the Lord will “work all things to the good of those who love him,” but what if that good is not known in this lifetime? There are some pains I don’t yet know and can’t imagine.
The new hymn “God of Every Grace” began with a melody and some lyrics from our friend Bryan Fowler. The song spoke of walking through struggle with faith. It spoke of God as the God of every grace, calling us to see even our trials as somehow, mysteriously, serving God’s good purposes according to his good plans. It resonated with us.
Shortly after the school shooting in Nashville in March 2023, I was sitting outside with my daughters while they were playing, wrestling with this tragedy and the ongoing weight of it. I also pondered the memory of my cousin and the pain her family continues to carry. Many of the ideas and lyrics for this hymn began to form in my head that day.
Alongside Bryan and Matt Boswell, we continued to shape the verses and add the chorus over a couple of months. We felt strongly about keeping the lyric directed to the Lord, personal and honest. The line “all your children home together” was a very moving thought for me as a mother—that desire for a family to be all together again. Only in Christ is this possible.
We are all tempted at different times to give up, to give in, to let our circumstances steal our hope. This hymn is a prayer for his daily strength, for regular recalling of our hope, for faith to keep following, for rest in the truth that he knows, he sees, he counts the tears. We hope you can sing this prayer with us.
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” -1 Peter 5:10-11
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Here are the lyrics:
O let not this world of sorrowsSteal my only hope awayFor the power of Your gospelShines within this jar of clayIn affliction You bring wisdomThat my comforts can displaceHow my true and greatest treasureIs in You, the God of grace
Now to the God of every graceWho counts my tears, who holds my daysI sing through sorrows, sing with faithO praise the God of every grace
Weary with the weight I carryGive me wings of faith to riseFor You know each grief that lingersThrough the watches of the nightSurely You have borne our sufferingsAt the cross took up our painAnd You lead us on to gloryAs we trust You, God of grace
Now to the God of every graceWho counts my tears, who holds my daysI sing through sorrows, sing with faithO praise the God of every grace
There’s a dawning hope before usThat I know is soon to breakAs I wait upon Your mercyWhich will swallow every acheCries of joy and songs of victoryWhen we enter heaven’s gatesAll Your children home togetherAll with You, the God of grace
Now to the God of every graceWho counts my tears, who holds my daysI sing through sorrows, sing with faithO praise the God of every grace
Now to the God of every graceWho counts my tears, who holds my daysI sing through sorrows, sing with faithO praise the God of every graceO praise the God of every graceO praise the God of every grace
© 2023 Getty Music Publishing (BMI) / Messenger Hymns (BMI) – adm. at MusicServices.com // Be Essential Songs (BMI) / BryanFowlerSongs (BMI) – adm. at EssentialMusicPublishing.com