O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer

Greatest treasure of my longing soul

My God, like You there is no other

True delight is found in You alone

Your grace, a well too deep to fathom

Your love exceeds the heavens’ reach

Your truth, a fount of perfect wisdom

My highest good and my unending need.

(“O Lord, My Rock and My Redeemer”)

I understand to some extent, I think, how the Sons of Korah felt when they sang in unison: “For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness” (Psalms 84:10 | ESV). From as far back as I can recall, I have loved being in church. Not merely in the general sense of being part of a church, but in the very specific sense of being a part of corporate worship. One of the responsibilities I enjoy most of my vocation is worshipping regularly with new friends and acquaintances around the world. A most recent opportunity found me in Mustang, Oklahoma, where I settled-in to observe and enjoy. My wife and I stood along with the other strangers-to-me nearby as we followed a rousing choral anthem with congregational singing. As I plunged gingerly into what was to me an unfamiliar chorus, I was gripped by one line—“Your grace, a well too deep to fathom.” The lyrics touched something so deep within that I cannot even now explain it, but my heart bowed and knees buckled even though I continued to stand erect among the sea of singing faces. Thinking of grace rivets me to the cross, and my heart swells with one simple truth—forgiven forever. Spiritual warfare most frequently finds me battling against the inner ugliness that struggles to wriggle free and protrude. Grace reminds me the battle is already won by the only true Braveheart; mine is to surrender to divine priority and ascend to living on the high plains of Providence. I will never exhaust the well, but I drink deeply from the fount of absolute forgiveness.