Treasured Truth in an Ancient Hymn

Oh the glory of little known ancient hymns! What an amazing plunge into the depths of Biblical truth, sound theology, and deep personal experience! 

This is just one reason I have loved joining periodically with brothers and sisters at Believers' Assembly in their Sunday Lord's Supper meeting. Occasionally, we would sing a hymn, totally unknown to me, from a little used song book.

And such a hymn is exactly what I found today in my list of blog drafts, written after one of those meetings, but abandoned for at least a year or so. What a treasure! Why did I neglect to finish it?  Maybe for this very moment in time?

Get ready to savor each lyric...diving deep, deep, deep into the mysteries of God!  Then glory in a favorite passage of Scripture in response to His amazing love for us, His children.

The hymn:

God in heaven hath a treasure,
Riches none may count or tell;
Hath a deep eternal pleasure,
Christ the Son, He loveth well.
God hath here on earth a treasure,
None but He its price may know—
Deep, unfathomable pleasure,
Christ revealed in saints below.

God in tongues of fire descending,
Chosen vessels thus to fill
With the treasure never ending,
Ever spent—unfailing still.
God’s own hand the vessel filling
From the glory far above,
Longing hearts forever stilling
With the riches of His love.

Thus though worn, and tried, and tempted,
Glorious calling, saint, is thine;
Let the Lord but find thee emptied,
Living branch in Christ the Vine!
Vessels of the world’s despising,
Vessels weak and poor and base,
Bearing wealth God’s heart is prizing,
Glory from Christ’s blessed face.

Oh to be but emptier, lowlier,
Mean, unnoticed—and unknown,
And to God a vessel holier,
Filled with Christ and Christ alone!
Naught of earth to cloud the glory,
Naught of self the light to dim,
Telling forth His wondrous story,
Emptied to be filled with Him.

The favorite Scripture:

6 The God who spoke light into existence, saying, “Let light shine from the darkness," is the very One who sets our hearts ablaze to shed light on the knowledge of God’s glory revealed in the face of Jesus, the Anointed One.
7 But this beautiful treasure is contained in us—cracked pots made of earth and clay—so that the transcendent character of this power will be clearly seen as coming from God and not from us.
8 We are cracked and chipped from our afflictions on all sides, but we are not crushed by them. We are bewildered at times, but we do not give in to despair.
9 We are persecuted, but we have not been abandoned. We have been knocked down, but we are not destroyed.
10 We always carry around in our bodies the reality of the brutal death and suffering of Jesus. As a result, His resurrection life rises and reveals its wondrous power in our bodies as well.
11 For while we live, we are constantly handed over to death on account of Jesus so that His life may be revealed even in our mortal bodies of flesh.
12 So death is constantly at work in us, but life is working in you.
2 Corinthians 4:6-12The Voice (VOICE)

For the story behind the song as well as music, click here:

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/589

For vocal, click here (sorry, no visual):