Sacrifice of Praise 5. I am not skilled to understand

Now those of you who know my theological preferences are well aware of my enthusiasm for P T Forsyth. No mean theologian, a precursor of Barth some fellow enthusiasts claim, and certainly someone whose theological legacy perdures like a rich quarry of high quality Aberdeen granite that carries long term promise of productivity. So it's a comment on the theological perception and intellectual sure-footedness of Dora Greenwell that she and Forsyth collaborated on a book on prayer entitled, The Power of Prayer. Now don't let the Victorian portrait fool you - you might think she'd look out of her depth at a quite good house group - but she'd wipe the floor with the lot of us if it came to serious theological engagement with the meaning of the Cross, the relations of human and divine suffering, and the mystery and reality of the provident purposes of God. In that short essay on 'prayer as will', she probes deeply into the truth of God's will as it encounters human volition, and recognises that finally faith has to rest not in answers and certainty, but in a knowing trust in God revealed on the cross. One of her poems, for a long time a favourite in hymn-books, is an uncomplicated meditation on the trust-worthiness of God in Christ, no matter what.

I am not skilled to understand

I am not skilled to understand
What God hath willed, what God hath planned;
I only know at His right hand
Is One Who is my Saviour!

I take Him at His word indeed;
“Christ died for sinners”—this I read;
For in my heart I find a need
Of Him to be my Saviour!

That He should leave His place on high
And come for sinful man to die,
You count it strange? So once did I,
Before I knew my Saviour!

And oh, that He fulfilled may see
The travail of His soul in me,
And with His work contented be,
As I with my dear Saviour!

Yea, living, dying, let me bring
My strength, my solace from this Spring;
That He Who lives to be my King
Once died to be my Saviour!

Comments

[Kevin Davis]

Thanks for pointing us to her. I had never heard of her, but I love Forsyth, so that's a good enough recommendation for me. This hymn, by the way, was recently covered by Aaron Shust, a CCM artist of some talent. He kept the verses (stanzas) the same but added a chorus. His version is called, "My Savior, My God" and can be listened to at his MySpace Music page: http://www.myspace.com/aaronshust