2 Chronicles 7-9; Proverbs 30:21-33

Thursday's Bible Reading: 2 Chronicles 7-9; Proverbs 30:21-33

In 2005 I heard Haddon Robinson preach an excellent sermon on a passage of Scripture that is part of today's Bible reading. "The Wisdom of Small Creatures" is based on Proverbs 30:24-28. For a superb outline click here. To purchase a recording (MP3 download, $3.50; Audio CD, $5.99) click here.

Newsflash: John Newton predicted global warming. In the popular hymn "Amazing Grace," written c. 1772, Newton alluded to a worldwide heatwave.

The first three stanzas of Newton's hymn are commonly sung today:

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The stanza generally sung fourth was added by an unknown author sometime before 1829:

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.
(See Cyberhymnal.org for more details.)

The final three stanzas of Newton's original hymn are generally neglected today. The third stanza, which was the original ending, alludes to a future time of global warming:

The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

Lyrics from Cyberhymnal.org.
For more information about the song click here.