“Is It for Me?”

Sunday, September 03, 2023

Is it for me, dear Savior,

        Thy glory and Thy rest?

For me, so weak and sinful?

        Oh, shall I be so blessed?

(Havergal, Frances R., 1871.  “Is it for Me, Dear Savior?”)

This beloved, old hymn asks Jesus whether the great gift of salvation can really be intended for someone so flawed as me.  It’s a rhetorical question, not expressing doubt, but wonder at God’s immense grace.  The rest of the hymn follows this observation to its natural conclusion, that such love demands a response from each one of us:

Dear Savior, I must praise Thee

        And love Thee evermore.

(Chorus) O Savior, my Redeemer,

        What can I but adore

And magnify and praise Thee

        And love Thee evermore?

It’s a wonderful hymn, taking the worshiper—if he’s paying attention to the words he sings—from wonder, to a sense of his own unworthiness, to gratitude and resolve to serve faithfully.  But it’s not the whole picture, nor does it claim to be.  This hymn is written from a self-centered perspective.  The assembly does not sing, “Is it for us?” but rather, “for me?”  This is a big surprise in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Whereas man’s general assumption through the ages, and God’s own covenant with Israel, were focused on the group, Christ brought God’s plans into clearer focus for the individual. 

We should temper this self-centered view by reaffirming that God does, indeed, see the new covenant in collective terms, as well.

For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

(Romans 9.6-8)

Paul points out that God’s plan was always for “Israel,” for “the children of Abraham” as a group—but his criteria for who belongs to that group are not the directly observable, fleshly characteristics we would have expected; rather, his mercy is intended for “us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles” (Ro 9.24).

While the hymn is correct in its observation that God’s “glory” and “rest” are intended “for me”; and while God’s own word is obviously correct in grouping together the individual recipients of God’s promise into a “people” (v25), this is still not the whole picture.  While we’ve been busy navel-gazing, God had an additional, and far more obvious purpose in mind.

“It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.”

(Ezekiel 36.22-23)

This is addressed to Israel during their exile in Babylon, the punishment for their sins.  Yet the New Testament foreshadowing is apparent in God’s concern over “the nations.”  His point is that his chosen people deserve to be destroyed; but he has decided to use this opportunity to demonstrate his holiness to the nations, instead.  How?

“I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses.”

(Ezekiel 36.24-28)

God punished Israel, but after his justice had been clearly displayed, he turned to mercy, promising great blessings to the undeserving, purely because they were his people.

“Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.”

(Ezekiel 36.31-32)

He wants his people to know that it’s not about them.  It’s about him.  We struggle to comprehend this, because Jesus “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Php 2.8).  Yet, what desire did Jesus himself express to his Father, just before he began the process of his greatest humiliation?  “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son” (Jn 17.1).  The same passage that spoke of his great humility also points out that, because he subjected himself to such humiliation, “Therefore God has highly exalted him” (Php 2.9).  A similar promise is extended to us: “if we endure, we will also reign with him” (2Ti 2.12). 

This all sounds wonderful, and it brings us back to where we began: “Is it for me, dear Savior, Thy glory and Thy rest?”  Yes, these gifts are for you; and they should motivate you to praise and love him evermore; as well as to endure humiliation for his name’s sake—because while the gifts are for you, they’re not all about you!  In the same way, even as Jesus was asking his Father for glory, what end goal did he have in mind?  “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you” (Jn 17.1).  To God be the glory!

Jeremy Nettles

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