0 THOU, MY SOUL

-Krishna Pal-

(William Carey’s first convert in India}

Tune: 0 Master, Let Me Walk With Thee, or
I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day

0 thou, my soul, forget no more

The FRIEND Who all thy misery bore:

Let every idol be forget,

But, 0 my soul, forget Him not.

Jesus for thee a body takes,

Thy guilt assumes, thy fetters breaks,

Discharging all thy dreadful debt;

And canst thou e’er such love forget?

Renounce thy works and ways with grief.

And fly to this most sure relief:

Nor Him forget Who left His throne,

And for thy life gave up His own.

Infinite truth and mercy shine

In Him, and He Himself is thine:

And canst thou, then, with sin beset,

Such charms, such matchless charms forget?

Ah! no; till life itself depart,

His Name shall cheer and warm my heart;

And, lisping this, from earth I’ll rise,

And join the chorus of the skies.

OCTOBER

17, 1707--Johann Sebastian Bach marries his cousin, Maria Bach. Distinguished in the world of sacred music, he is known to have written at the top of his musical compositions, "To the glory of God."

24, 1648--The Peace of Westphalia ends the 30 years war against the German protestants. Martin Rinkart will pen the hymn, "Now Thank We All Our God" as a hymn of praise for the restoration of peace.

24, 1671--John Bunyan, still a prisoner in the Bedford Jail, is formally ordained to the office of Elder of the Baptist Church of Bedford, England.

28,....: Matthew Henry, the famous commentator of God’s Word is born to Philip and Katherine Henry.

30, 1522--Jacques Lefevre will publish in French the four Gospels.

*31,.... : This 15th day of Cheshvan, the 8th month, Jereboam ordains a feast and sacrifices unto the golden calves he made which he set up in Bethel and Dan. --(I Kings 12:25-33; 13:1-10)

31, 1517--REFORMATION DAY. On the eve of all Saint’s Day, Martin Luther nails his 95 Theses to the church door at Wittemberg, Germany, in an attempt to call into question the Pope’s abuse of the people’s faith. This is the recognized start of the Protestant Reformation. Luther is protesting the injustice of many of the church laws calling them into question.

NOVEMBER

1, 1716--John Gill makes a public profession of faith in Christ.

3, 1879--In Northfield, Massachusetts, Northfield Seminary for young women is opened for classes. They are at first held in the dining room of the home of Dwight Lyman Moody.

4, 1716--This Sunday, John Gill will be baptized and receive the Lord’s Supper. This evening, he will preach his first sermon to a group assembled in a private home for prayer. The text he will select will be the 53rd chapter of Isaiah.

6, 1935--In Chicago, Illinois, at the age of 72 years, Billy Sunday will die. His funeral will be preached by Dr. Harry A. Ironsides, the pastor of the great Moody Church. He left a baseball career when he was called the fastest man in baseball running the bases in 14 seconds. His lifetime batting average was 267, but being faithful to the call of God, he left to preach the Gospel. In 39 years of preaching he held 300 crusades and totaled up to 300 million in attendance.

9, 1572--John Knox, the great God-called reformer of Scotland, will preach his last sermon inducting his successor to his flock at St. Giles.

10, 1483--John and Margaret Luther are blessed with a baby boy. They will name him Martin. The place is Eisleben in Saxony, Mansfield County, Germany. John Luther is a miner and consents to the name of his son for it is the eve of St. Martin’s Day.

11, 1572--This Tuesday, John Knox is confined to his room with a bad cold. He calls his servants and pays them their wages.

11, 1716--Following the advice of friends, John Gill preaches this Sunday evening. His text will be I Corinthians 2:2--"For I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." His public ministry will last nearly 55 years.

12, 1660--John Bunyan is confined to the Bedford jail for preaching the Word of God to an assembly of eager hearers.

12, 1704--Matthew Henry begins his notes on the Old Testament; This is the beginning of his colossal work on the Word of God, his Commentary that bears his name.