To Your Temple I Draw Near

1. To your temple I draw near;
Lord, I love to worship here.
Here are sacrament and Word;
Here believers meet their Lord.

2. I through Christ am reconciled;
I through Christ become your child.
Abba, Father, give me grace
In your courts to seek your face.

3. While your glorious praise is sung.
Touch my lips, unloose my tongue,
That my joyful soul may bless
Christ the Lord, my righteousness.

4. While the prayers of saints ascend,
God of love, to mine attend.
Hear me, for your Spirit pleads;
Hear, for Jesus intercedes.

5. While I listen to your law,
Fill my soul with holy awe
Till your gospel brings to me
Life and immortality.

6. While your ministers proclaim
Peace and pardon in your name
Through their voice, by faith, may I
Hear you speaking from the sky.

7. From your house, when I return,
May my heart within me burn,
And at evening let me say,
"I have walked with God today."

----

I picked this selection today to point out some contrasts and parallels between this and "Here I Am to Worship" from the blog on Monday which received a little bit of disagreement. This hymn, like the other, is perhaps best placed at the start of a service. This hymn, like the other, also uses the word "I" quite a bit. Although, I would contend, that this hymn is much more suitable for Lutheran worship because it focuses on Christ and teaches many truths about the Lutheran faith.

While both songs use "I," this one consistantly puts the focus back on what Christ does. Stanza one says that "I draw near" and "I love to worship" but is immediately followed up with the gifts received at worship from God. Stanza two says that I am reconciled through Christ -- Christ's action, not mine. The central theme of this song is about Christ.

Some of the truths this hymn teaches include: which gifts we receive at church, how we are reconciled through Christ and become his child, how God hears our prayers and Jesus intercedes on our behalf, functions of law and Gospel, and that pastors stand in the stead of Christ. Additionally it is a prayer to God with many requests ultimately asking that he bless our worship.

All of these things are true Lutheran teaching and the hymn overall keeps the Gospel central. Especially nice is that the language of this hymn is very easy to understand. It teaches clearly. The few words that may be difficult for some (like "reconciled") provide a good teaching opportunity for the pastor.

Still want to "freshen" it up a bit? While I think the tune it has works well and is simple and nice, you could try a different one. In the lower-righthand side of the hymnal it lists the meter: 77 77. In the back of the hymnal, specifically page 950, under 77 77 there are listed 8 other tunes that may work with this text. Or write your own!

Salvation Unto Us Has Come

1. Salvation unto us has come
By God's free grace and favor;
Good works cannot avert our doom,
They help and save us never.
Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone,
Who did for all the world atone;
He is our one Redeemer.

2. What God did in His Law demand
And none to Him could render
Caused wrath and woe on every hand
For man, the vile offender.
Our flesh has not those pure desires
The spirit of the Law requires,
And lost is our condition.

3. It is a false, misleading dream
That God His Law had given
That sinners can themselves redeem
And by their works gain heaven.
The Law is but a mirror bright
To bring the inbred sin to light
That lurks within our nature.

4. Yet as the Law must be fulfilled
Or we must die despairing,
Christ came and has God's anger stilled,
Our human nature sharing.
He has for us the Law obeyed
And thus the Father's vengeance stayed
Which over us impended.

5. Since Christ has full atonement made
And brought to us salvation,
Each Christian therefore may be glad
And build on this foundation.
Your grace alone, dear Lord, I plead,
Your death is now my life indeed,
For you have paid my ransom.

6. All blessing, honor, thanks, and praise
To Father, Son, and Spirit,
The God who saved us by His grace-
All glory to His merit!
O Triune God in heaven above,
You have revealed your saving love;
Your blessed name be hallowed!

----

This hymn teaches justification by grace alone. This is filled with doctrine - teaching us about justification - that it is free, that is is received through faith looking to Christ alone, that the Law shows us our sin, that the Law condemns us and that we cannot redeem ourselves, that the Law needed to be fulfilled, that Christ fulfilled the Law for us, that Christ did it all for us. And for all that - it closes, we thank and praise him. Bonus points for being Trinitarian - this hymn points to the one and only true God - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

There is virtually nothing I can criticize about this hymn - it is filled to the brim with a very clear and concise summary of what God's Word has to say about justification. The hymn is Gospel proclamation through and through - there are no wasted words. My only complaint is that some excellent stanzas were left out of our hymnal.