The Words of the hymn - “Father Let Me Dedicate All This Year To Thee”.
1. Father, let me dedicate, all this year to Thee,
In whatever worldly state Thou wilt have me be:
Not from sorrow, pain or care, freedom dare I claim;
This alone shall be my prayer, glorify Thy Name.
2. Can a child presume to choose where or how to live?
Can a Father’s love refuse all the best to give?
More Thou givest every day than the best can claim
Nor withholdest aught that may glorify Thy Name.
3. If in mercy Thou wilt spare joys that yet are mine;
If on life, serene and fair, brighter rays may shine;
Let my glad heart, while it sings, Thee in all proclaim,
And, whate’er the future brings, glorify Thy Name
4. If Thou callest to the cross, and its shadow come,
Turning all my gain to loss, shrouding heart, and home;
Let me think how Thy dear Son to His glory came,
And in deepest woe pray on, “Glorify Thy Name.
NEW YEAR. 7. 5. 7. 5. ; D Lawrence Tuttiett, 1825-1897; Joseph Barnaby, 1838-1896
This hymn is usually sung at the beginning of a new year. At the beginning of the year, most people make resolution but fail to fulfill them. A resolution is a promise to oneself to do or not do certain things. According to the writer of this hymn Lawrence Tuttiett, the best resolution to make is to dedicate the new year to God the Father, and ask Him to empower us to be committed to it. God alone knows what lies ahead in any new year and beyond. He is the only one that can keep us, see us, and sustain us through its joys, sorrows, trials, pains, tribulation, persecutions, and challenges.
To dedicate is to give a lot of our time, attention, and effort to a particular activity, a cause, or a purpose because of the importance we place on it. Dedicating the year to God is to remain committed to the cause of God and to seek his face. It is to obey His commands, be committed to prayers, daily study, and to meditate on the word of God and live it (Jos 1:8-9). It is to resolve to do things pleasing to God.
Like most of the psalms of David, this hymn is a fervent prayer from the heart of one who loves God. It is a prayer to God to empower us to be able to hold on to God without waiver in whatever worldly state we find ourselves – be it joy, pain, or sorrow without murmur or complaint. Because we are not in control of where we would be born, God our Father daily loads us with undeserved forgiveness, benefits, goodness, and loving-kindness. In whatever condition we find ourselves then, we should pray that the name of God be glorified. And that in His mercy, He should let His glory and beauty shine brighter in our lives. If God decides to call us to the cross, that is the wilderness experience, and our path be dark and dreary, tedious, lifeless and dull, turning all our gains to loss, or a thick blanket of darkness should cover our heart and home; God in this state should remind us of how His Son, Jesus Christ came to His glory and in this deep woeful state, encourage and enable to pray that name be glorified.
This prayer is challenging and seem difficult to man, but with God, all things are possible to those who love and are committed to Him. For those who love God and who are called according to his purpose, all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28). That is in all things, we should give Him thanks and glorify His name. Our Christian life does not exempt us from difficult situations, trials, turmoil, persecution, and challenges of life. In fact, Christians face more challenges in life. Christ has only promised that He will be with us in all situations to strengthen, encourage, and comfort us and see us through. Whatever we pass through may not necessarily be caused by sin; it is not all the time that sin is the cause of challenges, like in the case of Job (Job 1-42). The truth is that God uses difficult situations of life to draw our attention to Him, to teach and deal with our inadequacies, to humble us, to strengthen our faith, to transform our lives into a Christ-like state, and to make us totally dependent on Him as our Provider, our Shield, our Refuge, our Good Shepherd and our Mighty Fortress. We know that God is just in his dealings with us. He said to Moses that He would be merciful to whomever He would be merciful to, and would have compassion on whomever He would have compassion on. He said He raised Pharaoh up to show His power in him and so that His name may be declared in all the earth (Ex. 9:16; Rom. 9:17).
We need to dedicate the new year to the Lord because: a) we live in a dark, confused, and wicked world; and it is only the light of Jesus that can lead us to navigate safely through the year; b) our Christian living is like a tournament with rules and regulations guiding it. There are principles and ethics for our Christian living. Hence, we need the Holy Spirit to guide us and keep us in the righteousness of God; c) like an organism, our Christian life is all about growth and strength in the power of the Holy Spirit, through challenges and joys of life. d) The redemption work of our Lord Jesus Christ has given us a place with Christ in the Kingdom of God which is worth contending for through the power of the Holy Spirit (Mat. 11:12); e) God is looking for who will have a cordial and personal relationship with Him like King David, the man after God’s own heart (1Sam. 13:14). This type of relationship is as a result of obedience and submission to the will of God; f) God is looking for who will cooperate with Him to fulfil His plans and purposes here on earth without counting the loss; g) God is looking for who, like Abraham will stand in the gap for His people (Genesis 18:17-33) and; h) God wants us to shine as His light in the world.
What do we do? i) We must repent of our sin and surrender our lives to the lordship of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, or if we have backslidden, ask for mercy to be on track again; ii) We are to deny self, take up our cross every day and follow Christ (Matthew 12:24); iii) We are to forsake the world systems that is against God; abide in, be grafted into Christ (John 15:1-17). So that we may produce good fruit that will last, and be like trees planted by streams of water (Psalm 1:3); iv) We are to live, dwell and meditate on the word of God daily (Jos. 1:8-10); v) We are to pray continuously without ceasing, all manner of prayer. Here we should know we are entering into spiritual warfare with the devil, and so do not be unaware of his schemes and devices (Eph. 6:10-19); vi) we are to witness to the truth of Christ in love, in our actions and speech (Matt. 28:18-20).
OLUFUNMILAYO TITILOLA ADEKUSIBE
Prayer:
Father help me, encourage me, empower me to commit the coming new year to You, and to Your service, in Jesus name.
Father, create in my heart a hunger and thirst for Your presence, in Jesus name.
Father grant unto me the power of prophetic dreams and revelation, in Jesus name.
Father, completely pull down the stronghold of deceit and ignorance in the heart of Christians, in Jesus name.
O God send Your angels to every state in our nation to restore peace and prosperity, shorten the evil days and move the nation forward, in the name of Jesus.
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