1
O Head once full of bruises,
So full of pain and scorn,
Mid other sore abuses,
Mocked with a crown of thorn:
O Head e’en now surrounded
With brightest majesty,
In death once bowed and wounded
On the accursed tree:
So full of pain and scorn,
Mid other sore abuses,
Mocked with a crown of thorn:
O Head e’en now surrounded
With brightest majesty,
In death once bowed and wounded
On the accursed tree:
2
Thou Countenance transcendent!
Thou life-creating Sun!
To worlds on Thee dependent—
Yet bruised and spit upon
O Lord, what Thee tormented
Was our sins’ heavy load,
We had the debt augmented
Which Thou didst pay in blood.
Thou life-creating Sun!
To worlds on Thee dependent—
Yet bruised and spit upon
O Lord, what Thee tormented
Was our sins’ heavy load,
We had the debt augmented
Which Thou didst pay in blood.
3
We give Thee thanks unfeigned,
O Savior, Friend in need,
For what Thy soul sustained
When Thou for us didst bleed.
Grant us to lean unshaken
Upon Thy faithfulness,
Until, to glory taken,
We see Thee face to face.
O Savior, Friend in need,
For what Thy soul sustained
When Thou for us didst bleed.
Grant us to lean unshaken
Upon Thy faithfulness,
Until, to glory taken,
We see Thee face to face.
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CHRIST NEEDING BROKEN VESSELS
TO BE CHANNELS OF LIVING WATER
Christ does not need whole vessels; instead, He needs broken vessels. This is because only broken vessels can be channels of living water. Whole vessels can only be cisterns of dead water. The biggest problem today is that it is hard to find any wounds or scars in most Christians. Most of us do not have any wounds, scars, marks of death, or experiences of the cross. Even though we have been saved and truly have Christ’s life in us, this life has no way to come out. The reason is not that our behavior is too poor or too good but that we are too whole and too impregnable. Because we have no wounds, Christ has no way to be released from within us.
THOSE WHO ARE IN GOD’S HAND
HAVING MANY WOUNDS
No one who is a good vessel in God’s hand can be whole; rather, he must be full of scars and wounds. A certain sister may have believed in the Lord for over a decade, yet because her life has been easy and smooth, she has no wounds at all. She got married to a husband who is considerate, she gave birth to a son who is obedient, and she found a job that is easy and smooth. Everyone says that she is very fortunate; actually, it is not so. Many times the work that God carries out in someone who is truly in His hand is the work of breaking, smiting, and splitting. Jesus the Nazarene, the One who was the most acceptable to God, also experienced many sufferings while He was on the earth. He was called “a man of sorrows” (Isa. 53:3), and He was full of bruises and wounds. Hence, a person who is in God’s hand, if he is highly regarded or esteemed by God, will have many wounds as the result of God’s work in him. What kind of work is this? This is the work of breaking. If God favors us, His hand will work in us in many ways, and we will thus have many scars and wounds. These scars and wounds will become outlets for the flow of living water.
The Crucified Christ
Chapter 1 (LSM)
CWWL, 1952, vol. 1
Detroit, MI, United States
In verse 2, "augmented" means made greater, or more intense.