Proclaimer Blog
The cross – mourn and rejoice with Cowper
I've got to one of the purple passages in my study of Zechariah – chapters 12 and 13. There will be mourning "when they look on me, the one whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child" (12.10). But also, "on that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness" (13.1). I like Duguid's comment in his "application" section of the EP study commentary:
The cross denotes not merely the sad reality of what we have done to God, but also the triumphant reality of what he has done for us in Christ. At the cross, my sins pierced Christ, but the blood which flowed from those wounds forms a cleansing fountain that washes them all away. As we confess our sins in true repentance, the blood of Christ purifies us from all of our unrighteousness. For that reason, when we fix our eyes on the cross, we not only weep and mourn for our sins; we glory and triumph in the grace of God that has saved us and is transforming us, and which will ultimately renew all creation.
It reminds me of Cowper's great old hymn:
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.
Washed all my sins away, washed all my sins away;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away. Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.
Be saved, to sin no more, be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more. E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die. Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.
Lies silent in the grave, lies silent in the grave;
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave. Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared, unworthy though I be,
For me a blood bought free reward, a golden harp for me!
’Tis strung and tuned for endless years, and formed by power divine,
To sound in God the Father’s ears no other name but Thine.
There's an interesting story of how this hymn came to be written on the net hymnal (turn off your sound first!).