LBW 346, “When Peace Like a River”
Devotion
While I love the first two verses of this hymn, the last verses are my favorites. Following verses laden with the griefs and burdens of human existence, hymn-writer Spafford here overflows with Easter proclamations that Jesus lives, that he bore the whole of our sins on His cross, that by faith we will see the fullness of God’s redeeming power and that He is coming again in glory!
While we pray that we would be spared the profound grief the Spaffords knew – though we acknowledge that such tragedy afflicts believers and unbelievers alike in this fallen world – we pray all the more that we experience the joyful bliss of knowing that our sin, in its whole, has been put to death on the cross with Jesus and that He is coming again. Then, we too will exclaim, “Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”
Prayer
Prince of peace and Lord of lords, how I praise Your name and sing Your praises! Through the power and miracle of Your death and resurrection, You alone can turn my guilt into glory, my sadness into celebration, and my tragedies into triumphs. Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for the power of resurrection-living, which testifies boldly to You in my worship and witness, in my efforts of living in good and pleasant unity, in my daily walk in Your light, in my doubts-turned-to-faith and in my praising You in all circumstances. Christ is risen. He is risen in me! Amen.