THE PRECIOUS BLOOD

THE PRECIOUS BLOOD

Blessed Lord Jesus,
Before Your cross I kneel and see the heinousness of my sin,
MY iniquity that caused You to be 'made a curse',
the evil that excites the severity of divine wrath.
Show me the enormity of my guilt by
the crown of thorns,
the pieced hands and feet,
the bruised body,
the dying cries.
Your blood is the blood of the incarnate God,
its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought.
Infinite must be the evil and guilt that demands such a high price.
Sin is my malady, my monster, my foe, my viper,
born in my birth,
alive in my life,
strong in my character,
dominating by faculties,
following me as a shadow,
intermingling with my every thought,
my chain that holds me captive in the empire of my soul.
Sinner that I am, why should the sun give me light,
the air supply breath,
the earth bear my tread,
its fruit nourish me,
its creatures subserve my ends?
Yet Your compassions yearn over me,
Your heart hastens to my rescue,
Your love endured my curse,
You mercy bore my deserved stripes.
Let me walk humbly in the lowest depths of humiliation,
bathed in Your blood,
tender of conscience,
triumphing gloriously as an heir of salvation. Amen

from THE VALLEY OF VISION -- Prayers of the Puritans published by Banner
of Truth

Behold the Savior of mankind
Nailed to the shameful tree!
How vast the love that Him inclined
To bleed and died for ME!

Hark, how He groans, while nature shakes,
And earth's strong pillars bend!
The temple's veil in sunder breaks;
The solid marbles rend.

'Tis done! the precious ransom paid!
'Receive my soul!' He cries;
See where He bows His sacred head!
He bows His head and dies!

But SOON He'll break death's envious chain,
And in full glory shine;
O Lamb of God was ever pain,
Was ever love, like Thine?

Samuel Wesley (1662-1735)

Good words to ponder on this Lord's day in preparation for the
celebration of Good Friday and Easter.