Lenten Hymn
Lenten Hymn
Lord, who throughout these forty days
For us didst fast and pray,
Teach us with Thee to mourn our sins,
And close by Thee to stay.
As Thou with Satan didst contend
And didst the victory win,
O give us strength in Thee to fight,
In Thee to conquer sin.
As Thou didst hunger bear and thirst,
So teach us, gracious Lord,
To die to self, and chiefly live
By Thy most holy Word.
And through these days of penitence,
And through Thy Passiontide,
Yea, evermore, in life and death,
Jesus! with us abide.
Abide with us, that so this life
Of suffering overpast,
An Easter of unending joy
We may attain at last!
WE DON’T KNOW a lot about the forty days Jesus spent in the desert before His temptation. We know it was a time of fasting and probably of prayer. When the devil came to Him, the conquering words of Scripture were quick on Jesus’ tongue, so it may have been a time of meditation, a time of special communion with his Father.
This song draws the comparison between Jesus’ forty days in the desert and the forty days of Lent. Traditionally, the Lenten season is a time of fasting. People “give up” something for Lent. The idea is not to punish ourselves, but to put aside something that may distract us from our communion with God. It is a time for special devotion to God, a time when He may “abide with us” in a special way. Lent is a time to refocus on our relationship with Christ.
The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness, where he was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him.
Mark 1:12-13
From the book
