June 11, 2020 (Thursday)
Charles Spurgeon wrote of our dependence upon God: “We need, oh, what do we not need? We are just a bag of wants, and a heap of infirmities.” Yes, we have all kinds of needs. God is asking us to depend upon Him to supply them all, and to give Him all the glory when those needs are met (Philippians 4:19).
But we humans have a problem. After asking the Lord to help us prosper and improve ourselves, and receiving that for which we humbly prayed, we tend to grow proud and claim our success as a result of our own efforts. We see that happening to people in the Bible, like the man who became so successful and prosperous that he developed a storage problem. “Where do I put all this stuff?” was his problem. He mused, “I’ll build bigger barns.” I’m somebody now, and people respect me because I’m rich. I have greater riches because of who I am and I worked hard to get to where I am. I deserve to enjoy the fruits of my labor, so I’ll just sit back, relax, and say to myself, “You are rich and you deserve it. Stop being so miserly. Spend some of that money on yourself. Enjoy all the pleasures you have denied yourself. “Eat, drink and be merry; tomorrow you die.” But tomorrow never came to him. He died that night and those who had a claim on his fortune began spending freely what had been his.
When people rise into places of influence and power, there is always the temptation to think of themselves more highly than they ought to think. Uzziah, Isaiah’s cousin who was King, took it upon himself to do as he pleased with actions intended only for priests. The old saying “too big for his britches” applied to him. This is the way in which very successful people are tempted. They tend to take the place of God in their minds and they believe they deserve that kind of appreciation and adulation. It’s not so much the wealth that brings great men down as it is their pride and arrogance. It can happen to you; it can happen to me; it can happen to anyone. Uzziah, who had been King, became a leper. Nebuchadnezzar, for all practical purposes, ruled the world, wanted to be worshiped and was struck down, living out his days as a wounded beast before death mercifully claimed him.
When we find ourselves doing so well in life that we begin to have thoughts of grandeur, we need to remember the Scripture verse that warns us, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8 NIV).
Two sets of lyrics are printed below. The first matches the music.
None of Self and All of Thee
Words:Theodore Monod, 1875
Music: James McGranahan, 1886
1 O the bitter shame and sorrow
That a time could ever be
When I let the Saviour’s pity
Plead in vain, and proudly answered:
All of self and none of thee!
2 Yet he found me; I beheld him
Bleeding on th’accursed tree,
Heard him pray: Forgive them, Father!
And my wistful heart said faintly:
Some of self and some of thee!
3 Day by day his tender mercy,
Healing, helping, full and free,
Sweet and strong and, ah! so patient,
Brought me lower, while I whispered:
Less of self and more of thee!
4 Higher than the highest Heaven,
Deeper than the deepest sea,
Lord, thy love at last has conquered;
Grant me now my supplication:
None of self and all of thee!
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The Poem with slightly different lyrics and music:
Oh, the bitter pain and sorrow
That a time could ever be,
When I proudly said to Jesus,
“All of self, and none of Thee.”
All of self, and none of Thee,
All of self, and none of Thee,
When I proudly said to Jesus,
“All of self, and none of Thee.”
Yet He found me; I beheld Him
Bleeding on th’ accursed tree,
And my wistful heart said faintly,
“Some of self, and some of Thee.”
Some of self, and some of Thee,
Some of self, and some of Thee,
And my wistful heart said faintly,
“Some of self, and some of Thee.”
Day by day His tender mercy,
Healing, helping, full and free,
Brought me lower while I whispered,
“Less of self, and more of Thee.”
Less of self, and more of Thee,
Less of self, and more or Thee,
Brought me lower while I whispered,
“Less of self, and more of Thee.”
Higher than the highest heaven,
Deeper than the deepest sea,
Lord, Thy love at last has conquered:
“None of self, and all of Thee.”
None of self, and all of Thee,
None of self, and all of Thee,
Lord, Thy love at last has conquered:
“None of self, and all of Thee.”