Tag: Hymn

What Can Be Gained by All Our Toil?

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February 2, 2017

6:24 am

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Hymn, Music for Worship

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All Is Vanity

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 1:2–3)

The book of Ecclesiastes offers a simple answer. Apart from God, this wearisome and unpredictable world in which we live will never make sense. If we are to find meaning, purpose and hope in this life, we must acknowledge God and submit humbly to His Word.

What Can Be Gained by All Our Toil?
A Meditation on the book of Ecclesiastes

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.
(Ecclesiastes 12:13–14)

1. What can be gained by all our toil,
Where’s hope amidst such pain?
The sin that fills our fallen world
Makes all our efforts vain.

2. Apart from God there is no hope,
No purpose for this life.
The fruit of all our plans and ploys
Yields not but endless strife.

3. Without God’s grace our thoughts and toils
Are grasping for the wind.
We need the wisdom of God’s Word
That we might know our end.

4. What must we then conclude and know
When wisdom has been heard?
That God has spoken and will judge:
Fear Him and keep His Word!

5. The fear of God will make us wise,
His Word shows us the way.
It beckons us to come to Christ,
Its call we must obey.

6. For on that day when God will judge,
All secret things made known.
The only refuge from God’s wrath
Will be in Christ alone.

Words ©2016 Ken Puls

This hymn is my reflection on the book of Ecclesiastes, especially the conclusion of the book in chapter twelve. It was written during a sermon series on Ecclesiastes entitled “Real Life in a Fallen World” preached by Dr. Tom Ascol at Grace Baptist Church, Cape Coral, Florida.

Download the lyrics and free sheet music for this hymn, including an arrangement of the tune ST. COLUMBA for classical guitar.

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A Hymn for the New Year

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January 2, 2017

6:40 am

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Eternal God Exalted

God is always faithful and He is always with us. He is ever with us, not just in space: wherever we may go. He is with us in all of time: our past, our present, our future—with us every moment! We can rest in Him and trust Him as He works out His good purposes.

The heart of man plans his way,
But the Lord establishes his steps.
(Proverbs 16:9)

Eternal God Exalted

1. Eternal God exalted
Above both time and space;
You hold my life completely,
A trophy of Your grace.
Both time and space a canvas,
You craft all history
To show Your grace and power
Through eternity.

2. You planned before creation
My birth and life and death;
In mercy and in kindness
You give me every breath.
You’re everywhere in fullness,
Wherever I may go;
And all my days and moments
All at once You know.

3. Each day Your Word sustains me,
Your Spirit guides and leads;
You never will forsake me,
Your grace is all I need.
For time is but a teacher,
A patient means of grace
That I might learn to trust You,
Ever seek Your face.

4. I need not fear the future
For You’re already there;
And in the past You’ve brought me
Through every trial and care.
In every present moment
You faithfully are near;
So help me now to trust You,
Cast away all fear.

Words ©2016 Ken Puls
Download a lyric sheet and free sheet music for this hymn, including an arrangement of the tune RUTHERFORD for classical guitar.

Such Love That Brought the Savior Down

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December 19, 2016

6:22 am

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Winter Sky

1. Such love that brought the Savior down
That He would come and dwell
With sinners whom He came to save
From certain death and hell,
From certain death and hell.
Our need was great, our sin had caused
A deep and deadly rift,
Which only God could reconcile
With His most precious gift,
With His most precious gift.

2. It was God’s plan to send His Son,
A gift of love and grace,
To save a people for Himself
Out from our dying race,
Out from our dying race.
And thus to die Himself, He came
To suffer in our stead,
And e’en before He bore the cross
A manger was His bed,
A manger was His bed.

3. Let us rejoice this Christmas Day
And share our gifts and love,
The Word made flesh has now appear’d,
So sang the hosts above,
So sang the hosts above.
And thus a star and angel choir
Announce His lowly birth,
The incarnation of our Lord,
God’s love brought down to earth,
God’s love brought down to earth.

“Such Love That Brought the Savior Down”
A Hymn for Christmas
Words ©1998 Kenneth Pul
Music ©1998 Tom Wells

Listen to this hymn and download free sheet music

 

Send the Law Before the Gospel

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November 7, 2016

7:04 am

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Light on Mountain

I have many books in my library that I value and return to often. Books I especially value are ones that have helped me understand and apply God’s Word. The book that first helped me grasp the vital connection between the Law and the Gospel is Walt Chantry’s God’s Righteous Kingdom (The Banner of Truth Trust, 1980). While reading the book, I was intrigued by the use of the Law in evangelism, as it serves along side the Gospel. It is the Law that exposes our sin and shows us our great need of a Savior. We need to taste the bad news (“for the wages of sin is death”) so we can savor the sweetness of the good news (“but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” —Romans 6:23). God has called us to preach both Law and Gospel:

Our Lord predicted a surge of evangelistic power when the Spirit would come. “When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8). Next to communion with God and worship of his name, nothing will hold a greater interest for children of the kingdom than this amazing work of the Spirit in transforming souls. In the task of bringing men into the kingdom, the moral law and the gospel are the two major instruments in the arsenal of the Spirit” (God’s Righteous Kingdom, 89–90).

When I first read God’s Righteous Kingdom, I sought to summarize the content of the book in a hymn. I wrote the hymn 30 years ago on November 7, 1986 as an expression of praise for the uses of the Law in the life of a believer.

Send the Law before the Gospel,
Shine the Light revealing sin!
Men will see they need a Savior
As their hearts are bared within.
Weep you sinners under judgement;
See yourself before God’s Law!
Full deserving condemnation,
Dread the wrath of God in awe.

Come you sinners and take comfort,
You convicted and dismayed,
For God’s love is only sown in
Furrows that His Law has made.
Come you sinners, look to Jesus!
He’s fulfilled the Law’s demands.
Christ will turn your dread and sorrow
Into love for God’s commands.

Praise to God for such instruction,
Sent to show us our great need.
We must place our hope in Jesus
And in Him we shall be freed.
O believer, be encouraged!
Christ died suff’ring in our place;
Bore the sins of all His children,
That we shall come unto grace.

On the cross was Christ afflicted,
There endur’d the wrath of God.
Now the Law no more condemns us,
Satisfied by His shed blood.
God has set His Law before us;
Let His Word be our delight!
As we travel unto glory,
Persevering in His light.

God has given His commandments;
They shall never pass away.
On our hearts His Spirit writes them,
That we can through grace obey.
May His Law forever guide us
In the paths of righteousness,
As we seek His will most holy,
All our efforts He shall bless!

Words ©1987 Ken Puls
Listen to this hymn and download free sheet music.

Read more on the Founders Blog:
Hymns and God’s Law as a Rule of Life
Hymns and God’s Law as a Tutor to Christ

Fragile Jars of Clay

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September 26, 2016

6:24 am

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Treasure in Jars of Clay

This past week I enjoyed attending and leading the music at the Southern Baptist Founders Conference Southwest at Heritage Baptist Church in Mansfield, Texas. While at the conference I had the opportunity to finish writing a hymn. The idea for the hymn came earlier this year in a sermon series through the book of 2 Corinthians entitled “Gospel Power in Human Weakness” preached by Dr. Tom Ascol at Grace Baptist Church, Cape Coral, Florida.

As the church we are called to go and proclaim to the world the hope we have in Jesus. But we live in a world of darkness, blind and in bondage to sin. We face powerful foes and seemingly overwhelming odds against us. How can we press on in ministry and mission?

Paul offers encouragement and an answer to that question:

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus ‘sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us (2 Corinthians 4:5-7).

Though we are weak and frail—fragile jars of clay, God has placed in us the treasure of the gospel that He might display His sovereign, “surpassing power” to save.

Fragile Jars of Clay

1. A mission lies before us
To go and to proclaim
The hope we have in Jesus,
The glory of His name
The faint and weak He’s chosen
His power to display
By placing gospel treasure
In fragile jars of clay.

2. With such a task before us,
How can we stand and fight
Against the powers of evil
That rage at all that’s right?
God strengthens us with armor;
Calls us to wield His Word.
We boldly preach His gospel;
The outcome is assured.

3. So great the work before us
To shine the gospel light
Into a world in darkness,
Unto the dead of night.
But God has saving power
To give the blind their sight,
For He dispels the darkness
And says, “Let there be light!”

4. The labor hard before us,
The battle rages long.
Alone we cannot bear it;
Our foes are much too strong.
But God has chosen weakness,
The feeble and the frail.
He lifts us up in power
To conquer and prevail.

5. This mission now before us,
We gladly will obey,
Though we be unassuming,
Frail, fragile jars of clay.
For great the precious treasure
Our God has placed within,
His pow’r alone can save us,
The battle He must win.

Words ©2016 Ken Puls
Download a lyric sheet and free sheet music for this hymn, including an arrangement of the tune LLANGLOFFAN for classical guitar.

God’s Law Made Precious

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September 16, 2016

6:39 am

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New Covenant

One of the amazing results of God’s grace is that it changes our relationship to God’s Law. The Law “is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12). This Law, summarized in the Ten Commandments, reveals the character and glory of God. It it sets forth a rule of life, teaching us to love God first and foremost, and to love others. We should walk in it with delight (Psalm 119:35) for it defines what we were created to do as image-bearers of God.

But if we are not in Christ, the Law offers no satisfaction; it can only condemn us. We can never fulfill its exacting demands. The Law weighs us down as a heavy yoke. It shows us clearly that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). It beats us down and threatens us with the punishment of death due our sin (Romans 6:23).

The Law cannot save us, nor can it offer us a way to find joy and favor with God. If we are to walk in the Law with delight, we must have Christ. It is Christ alone who makes us right with God. In Christ the Law no more condemns us (Romans 8:1). His death paid the wages due our sin. His life provided for us a perfect righteousness. We are not saved by works or attempts at obedience (Ephesians 2:9) to God’s Law. In Christ our obedience to the Law is rooted in grace and expressed in gratitude.

The Law in the Old Covenant was engraved on tablets of stone; now in the New God writes it on our hearts:

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33).

The Law in the Old Covenant was a “ministry of death” (2 Corinthians 3:7); now in the New it is our great delight, made precious by the shed blood of Christ.

“For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man” (Romans 7:22).

The Law That Once Was Placed by God

1. The Law that once was placed by God
On tablets made of stone
Is now engrav’d on ev’ry heart
Whom Christ has called His own.
These Words that once condemned for sins
And showed the wrath of God
Are now the Christian’s great delight,
Made precious by the blood.

2. The Lord is God and He alone
Is worthy of our love;
For He has raised us from the pit
To dwell with Him above.
The Lord is jealous of our love;
All idols He abhors,
But those, in Spirit and in Truth,
Who seek Him He adores.

3. How precious are the Names of God,
His nature they declare;
But those who use His Name in vain,
The wrath of God will bear.
And precious is the Sabbath Day,
The gath’ring of the church,
Who come expectant of their Lord,
His Word to know and search.

4. The Lord has said that we must love
And honor we must give
To fathers, mothers He has giv’n
To teach us how to live.
All murder, theft, adultery,
All coveting and lies;
These sins the Christian must forsake,
Lest him God will chastise.

5. All those who cast aside these Words
And spurn them in this day
Do show that they are not of God,
Despite what they may say.
For what are these Ten Words but this:
The will of God revealed?
For unto love to God and man
The saints are saved and sealed.

Words ©1992 Ken Puls
Download free sheet music (PDF) for this hymn and an arrangement of the hymn tune ALL SAINTS NEW for classical guitar.

More Hymns and Songs by Ken Puls
More hymns arranged for Classical Guitar

Cherished Hymns for Guitar

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August 5, 2016

6:35 am

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Guitar, Hymn, Music, Music for Worship

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Announcing a new album: a collection of favorite hymns for classical guitar.

Cherished Hymns for Guitar

The great hymns of the faith are a treasure for the church.  They unite our voices in worship today to the voices of saints of old.  Early in the 1980s I began transcribing hymns for classical guitar. I played them for my own enjoyment and for preludes at church. When I began serving my first church leading music in worship, I used the transcriptions to accompany our singing. Since that time I have transcribed hundreds of hymn tunes. This album includes some of my favorite and cherished hymns.

Click here to download free sheet music (PDF) of these hymns arranged for classical guitar.

Click here for more hymns arranged for classical guitar; and here for additional music for classical guitar, including music by Bach, Christmas music, Wedding music, and student pieces.

And Can It Be?

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June 4, 2016

8:34 am

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Amazing Love

And can it be that I should gain
An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou my God shouldst die for me?

‘Tis mystery all, the Immortal dies:
Who can explore this strange design?
In vain the first born seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
‘Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above.
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race.
‘Tis mercy all! Immense and free!
For O my God it found out me.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus and all in Him is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown through Christ my own.

Words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Download a transcription of this hymn for classical guitar (PDF sheet music) to the tune SAGINA.

More hymn tunes for classical guitar
More music for classical guitar

Hymn Tunes for Guitar

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May 13, 2016

6:48 am

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Guitar, Hymn, Music

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Guitar and Mountains

If you enjoy hymns and playing classical guitar, check out the growing online collection of free PDF downloads: Hymns for Classical Guitar. Several hymns have just been added:

O God Our Help in Ages Past  (ST ANNE)
Amazing Grace How Sweet the Sound  (NEW BRITAIN)
I Am Thine O Lord  (I AM THINE)
Sweet Hour of Prayer  (SWEET HOUR)
Abide with Me  (EVENTIDE)
Hallelujah Praise Jehovah  (RIPLEY)
Holy, Holy, Holy  (NICAEA)

You are welcome to copy and share these hymns with friends and fellow guitar enthusiasts. Please copy the full page with the website address and the “Used by Permission” notice at the bottom (see Permissions).

Find more music for classical guitar.

Sufficient Is the Word of God

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March 14, 2016

6:11 am

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Hymn, Music for Worship, Worship Song

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Bible Sketch

Sufficient is the Word of God
That we may know His will,
And trust each day His providence
By faith content and still.
The secret things belong to God;
Our lives are His to lead.
But He has given us His Word
And that is all we need.

How vain the questions in my heart
To know what lies ahead,
When I neglect to read His Word
And know not what He said.
I need not look beyond His Word
To know His will for me;
If I but walk within its light
My path I’ll plainly see.

Our God has purposed and designed
Each moment of each day,
And though we rise and make our plans
‘Tis He directs our way.
Thus we should say when we arise:
“Lord-willing I shall stand.”
For we, except His Word reveals,
Know not what He has planned.

For who can search the mind of God,
Know what tomorrow brings?
And who can grasp His providence
To understand all things?
Our future rests within God’s hands
And we must leave it there;
Content to walk each day by faith
Within His loving care.

Tomorrow need not cause us fear,
For God knows what will be.
Sufficient that we know His Word
To walk obediently.
Where He has spoken, Let us hear,
Upon His Word we stand.
Where He is silent, Let us rest,
And trust His kind, good hand.

Words ©2000 Kenneth A Puls

This hymn is a reminder that God’s Word is sufficient for us to know His will for us. We “do not know what the future will bring” and so we must learn to say “if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:13–17). “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29). We do not know what the future holds, but we can trust God in His providence and walk in obedience to His Word.

I wrote the hymn during a time of uncertainty. I had graduated from seminary, but was still searching for full time employment in teaching or ministry. I needed to preach truth to myself and rest in God’s providence. In an interesting turn of providence, in the same month I wrote the hymn (July 2000), I also began training to develop online courses and teach as an online instructor at Dallas Baptist University. I later used the knowledge from that training to develop the Founders Study Center when God gave me a full time job with Founders Ministries in 2003. God is good in all He provides.

Download the lyrics and  free sheet music (PDF) for this hymn, including chord charts for acoustic guitar, an arrangement of the tune for Classical Guitar, and an arrangement of the tune for Instrumental Ensemble.

—Ken Puls