O Lord, how rich Thou art to us

1
O Lord, how rich Thou art to us,
  Thy love reveals the measure!
The boundless riches of Thyself,
  In spirit here we treasure.
2
Thou art the Word, e’en God Himself,
  With God in the beginning;
Incarnate in the flesh with us,
  And God to us defining.
3
Thou art the tabernacle true,
  In Thee we see God’s glory;
For God Thou art the temple too,
  In Thee is God’s full story.
4
Thou art the only Son of God,
  The Father e’er declaring,
That we may have the life divine.
  God’s very nature sharing.
5
Thou art the Son of Man like us,
  And truly share our nature,
That we may be the sons of God
  And grow to Thy full stature.
6
Thou art the Christ, the Lord of all,
  By God Thou art anointed;
The One who is the All in all,
  For God and us appointed.
7
Thou art the Savior crucified,
  Whence issued blood and water,
That we might be redeemed to God,
  And life divine may enter.
8
Thou now art Jesus glorified,
  From whom descends the Spirit;
The all-inclusive Spirit comes
  To us with all Thy merit.
9
Thou art the very light of life
  That shineth in the darkness;
The light divine that shines with God
  Within our hearts in fulness.
10
Thou art the very life divine,
  Which all our spirits quickens;
The life which brings us out of death
  And all our being strengthens.
11
Lord, Thou art God’s reality,
  The truth that meets God’s pleasure;
The truth that brings Thyself to us,
  That we may know Thy measure.
12
Thou also art the way of life,
  Which unto glory leads us;
The way of Thy reality,
  Which into vict’ry speeds us.
13
Thou art the resurrection too,
  All death Thy life doth swallow;
’Tis by Thy resurrection pow’r,
  We bear the cross and follow.
14
Thou art the spotless Lamb of God,
  Who died for our redemption;
Thou art the Spirit-giver too,
  For our regeneration.
15
Thou art the serpent made of brass,
  Who saveth us from evil;
Thou on the tree wast lifted up,
  To crush for us the devil.
16
Thou art the Shepherd and the door,
  For us to leave the sheepfold,
By Thee we have full liberty
  And share the pasture freehold.
17
Thy washing keeps us always clean,
  In function like the laver;
Thus we are kept in fellowship,
  Partaking of Thy favor.
18
Thou art the heav’nly riven rock,
  With living water flowing;
We drink of this refreshing stream,
  Thy quenching power knowing.
19
Thou art the heav’nly well, in Thee
  Is living water ever;
We drink of Thine eternal life,
  And thirst no more forever.
20
Thou art the heav’nly bread of life,
  Thy food divine doth flourish;
With all Thy riches bountiful
  Our spirits Thou dost nourish.
21
Thou even art our breath of life
  Thyself we breathe in spirit;
By Thee we live, in Thee we walk,
  Thy riches we inherit.
22
Thou art the grain of wheat divine,
  That died and rose with glory,
To bring forth us as many grains
  To form Thy glorious Body.
23
Thou art the true and heav’nly vine,
  And we in Thee are branches;
In Thee abiding, Thou in us,
  We share in all Thy riches.
24
Thou art the Bridegroom from above
  To take the Bride, Thy Body;
That we may be with Thee as one,
  In life and love and glory.
25
Thou art the ladder Jacob saw,
  By Thee the heav’n is open;
In Thee we are the house of God,
  And earth is joined to heaven.
26
O Lord, Thou art the great “I AM,”
  Who all our need doth furnish;
Enjoying Thee as all in all,
  God’s purpose we accomplish.

Copyright Living Stream Ministry. Used by permission.

This hymn may be used as five separate hymns as follows: (1) Verses 1 to 8 and 26, (2) Verses 1 and 9 to 13 and 26, (3) Verses 1 and 14 to 17 and 26, (4) Verses 1 and 18 to 21 and 26, (5) Verses 1 and 22 to 26

10
Sonny Seria

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

L17 Thy washing keeps us always clean,

In function like the laver;

Thus we are kept in fellowship,

Partaking of Thy favor.

WASHING:

[John 15:3; 1 Cor. 6:11]

Ephesians 5:26 - "That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word,"

"According to the divine concept, water here refers to the flowing life of God, which is typified by flowing water (Exo. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4; John 7:38-39; Rev. 21:6; 22:1, 17). The washing of the water here is different from the washing of the redeeming blood of Christ. The redeeming blood washes away our sins (1 John 1:7; Rev. 7:14), whereas the water of life washes away the blemishes of the natural life of our old man, such as the “spot or wrinkle or any such things” mentioned in v. 27. In separating and sanctifying the church, the Lord first washes away our sins with His blood (Heb. 13:12) and then washes away our natural blemishes with His life. We are now in such a washing process, that the church may be holy and without blemish (v. 27)." - footnotes 3, Eph. 5:26

FELLOWSHIP:

John 13:5 - Then He poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

"... there is the need for the washing with the Holy Spirit, the word, and life. This is the washing away of their dirtiness that their fellowship with the Lord and with one another may be maintained; it is not the washing away of their sins by the blood (1 John 1:9). - footnotes 2, John 13:5


Sonny Seria

Regina, SK, Canada

L5 Thou art the Son of Man like us,

And truly share our nature,

That we may be the sons of God

And grow to Thy full stature.

In the fullness of the time came God sent forth His Son (like us, but without sin) that He might redeem us and that we might receive the sonship. Christ’s redemption brings us into the sonship of God that we may enjoy the divine life. He predestinated us unto sonship and regenerated us to be His sons. Hallelujah, we are sons and heirs also through God. (Galatians 4:4-6)


Jovic Liwag

Lucena City, Quezon Province, Philippines

13

-Thou art the resurrection too,

John 11:25a - Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.

Praise the Lord! He is the resurrection and the life!

-All death Thy life doth swallow;

1Co 15:54b - “Death has been swallowed up unto victory. ”

The victory over Satan, God’s enemy, over the world, over sin, and over death!

-'Tis by Thy resurrection pow'r,

Phi 3:10 - To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

The power of Christ’s resurrection is His resurrection life! The reality of the power of Christ’s resurrection is the Spirit!

-We bear the cross and follow.

Mat 16:24 - Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

Before the Lord’s crucifixion, the disciples followed Him in an outward way. But now, after His resurrection, we follow Him in an inward way. Because in resurrection He has become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) dwelling in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22), we follow Him in our spirit!


Hiram Chalcedony Guyo

Lucena City, Quezon, Philippines

9 Thou art the very light of life

That shineth in the darkness;

The light divine that shines with God

Within our hearts in fulness.

John 1:4 - In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John 12:46 - I have come as a light into the world, that everyone who believes into Me would not remain in darkness

We just need to take Christ as our light and continue on believing in Him so that we would not remain in darkness.


Janeth

Lucena, Quezon, Philippines

6

Thou art the Christ, the Lord of all,

By God Thou art anointed;

The One who is the All in all,

For God and us appointed.

(Acts 2:36)fotenote 1a

The Lord was made Lord, the Lord of all, to possess all; and He was made Christ, God's Anointed (Heb.  1:9), to carry out God's commission.

Praise the Lord!

Thou art the Christ, the Lord of all,

By God Thou art anointed;

The One who is the All in all,

For God and us appointed.


Mistica G

Lucena, Quezon, Philippines

11

Lord, Thou art God's reality,

The truth that meets God's pleasure;

The truth that, brings Thyself to us,

That we may know Thy measure.

James 1:18 says "He brought us forth by the word of truth.." Praise the Lord, truth denotes the reality of the Divine Trinity especially of the person of Christ (ftnote1, 1John 2:21).


Maisha Parkar

Round Rock, TX, United States

17 Thy washing keeps us always clean,

In function like the laver;

Thus we are kept in fellowship,

Partaking of Thy favor.

Praise the Lord for the laver which; washes away the filth of the world, exposes our true condition, and affords us a way to approach God in a proper way.


Andrew Codia

Houston, Texas, United States

Saints,

I felt it will help if we use the tune of Hymn 1276.

Amen.


Sue-Ellen Cox

United States

(For the saints in Africa) Perhaps you could find another tune which would fit and break it up; singing one verse and then another. The words are rich and full and beautiful. Praise to our All-Mighty God! Halleleujah! We love You Lord Jesus!!!


Kitty Joubert

Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa

Isn't it a little bit confusing for young people to sing? We wanted to enjoy the song, but the music is just ONE verse long and the words very difficult to understand for youngsters. The words are rich and full. Please arrange it so that the young ones can go on and on singing for the 26 verses?

Hymns, #187 has twenty-six stanzas that speak of the fullness in the Lord Jesus. When we read through this hymn, we sense the fullness of the Lord Jesus. Whatever we need He is; He is neither poor nor empty. The Lord Jesus possesses life, but He does not merely have a great measure of life; He has the fullness of life like a waterfall. He does not merely have love; He has the fullness of love. John 3:16 says, "God so loved the world." However, the verse does not end here; it continues: "That He gave His only begotten Son." The words so and that show that the love which was in God entered into the Son. The love of God was rich in God. When the love of God entered into the Son, it became the fullness of love. The love of God with which He loves the world is rich, but when the only begotten Son came, God's love became the fullness. When we receive God's love, we are receiving what is in the Son, not what is in the Father. Hence, the love we receive is the fullness of love.

Hymns, #187 has twenty-six stanzas which speak of all the items of Christ as our enjoyment in the Gospel of John. The twenty-one chapters of the Gospel of John are full of the riches of Christ for our enjoyment. Christ is the tabernacle (1:14), the Lamb (v. 29), the ladder (v. 51), the living water (4:14), the bread of life (6:35), the light (8:12), the way, the reality, the life (14:6), the door (10:9), and the Shepherd (v. 11). One of the first items of Christ in John is that Christ came as the Lamb. This was the first testimony given to Him by John the Baptist who said, "Behold, the Lamb of God" (John 1:29). Eventually, John testified in the book of Revelation that this One will be the Lamb of God on the throne for eternity (Rev. 22:1). The Lamb is the opener for us to enter into the enjoyment of God. If fallen man wants to enjoy God, he needs to pass through the entrance of redemption. He needs the redeeming Lamb as the entrance into the enjoyment of God.

In John the Lord tells us that He is the great I Am. The Lord referred to Himself in this way three times in John 8. In verse 24 He said, "Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins." In verse 28 He said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am." Finally, in verse 58 He said, "Before Abraham came into being, I am." As the great I Am, He is what we need. It is as if the Lord were saying, "I am what you need." We can fill in the blank after the phrase I am for whatever we need. The Lord says, "I am the light, I am the way, I am the life, I am the truth, I am the door, I am the Shepherd, I am the ladder, I am the bread of life, I am the living water, etc." The Gospel of John reveals the wonderful fact that Christ is the great I Am. This means that He is everything to us for our enjoyment. The message of the Gospel of John is that God in Christ through the Holy Spirit is our enjoyment.