My Sins, My Sins, MySavior
Wow, I love hymns. I never really knew how much I miss singing them and speaking the gospel-saturated truth that is in most hymns until I was deprived of hymns at Urbana06. Thankfully, during the same convention, I attended the “Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs” workshop during the last seminar session–it was an amazing 2 hours of worship through classic hymns. The pastor/worship leader only led with his voice and the grand piano, but most of the time, it felt like the Spirit himself leading us in confession and praise… giving us words to speak when we had not sufficient words to express what we felt in light of the greatness of glory of God’s grace.
During that time of intercession, I learned of the following old hymn. I led my church in reading these lyrics during this past Winter Retreat–honest truths that we can never know too much.
My sins, my sins, my Savior!
They take such hold on me,
I am not able to look up,
Save only, Christ, on Thee;
In Thee is all forgiveness,
In Thee abundant grace,
My shadow and my sunshine
The brightness of Thy face.My sins, my sins, my Savior!
How sad on Thee they fall;
Seen through Thy gentle patience,
I tenfold feel them all;
I know they are forgiven,
But still, their pain to me
Is all the grief and anguish
They laid, my Lord, on Thee.My sins, my sins, my Savior!
Their guilt I never knew
Till with Thee in the desert
I near Thy passion drew;
Till with Thee in the garden
I heard Thy pleading prayer,
And saw the sweat-drops bloody
That told Thy sorrow there.Therefore my songs, my Savior,
E’en in this time of woe,
Shall tell of all Thy goodness
To suff’ring man below;
Thy goodness and Thy favor,
Whose presence from above
Rejoice those hearts, my Savior,
That live in Thee and love.
(Words: John S. B. Monsell, Hymns of Love and Praise, 1863)
