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Melodies & Musings

Another one of my favorite hymns is Jesus, Lover of My Soul. I have always loved the music to this hymn, but the words are especially powerful. I love the words to the second verse:

Other refuge have I none;

Hangs my helpless soul on thee.

Leave, oh, leave me not alone;

Still support and comfort me.

All my trust on thee is stayed;

All my help from thee I bring.

Cover my defenseless head

With the shadow of thy wing.

What makes these words so powerful is that it sounds like a prayer to Jesus, telling Him first that we don’t have anyone else who is our refuge. Our souls would be helpless without Jesus and His Atonement. But we do have Jesus, so our souls are never helpless. Because of Him, we can repent and become better. That’s such a sweet and amazing testimony to all of us. For me, Jesus has been my refuge many times in my life, but especially these last few years living with chronic illness symptoms. I can always turn to Him and He will be there for me.

Then, we plead for Him to never leave us, and we put all of our trust in Him, that He will “abide” with us and never leave us alone. There’s my word of the year again, “Abide”. As soon as we reach out to Him, He will be there for us. He is ready to be there at a moment’s notice because He loves us so much.

I got really excited when I found that one of the scriptures that inspired this hymn was Psalm 62:6-7, which reads:

6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.

7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

The book of Psalms has been one of my favorite books of scripture for a long time, probably because it sounds like music and I love music! From these verses, Jesus is our rock, our salvation, our defence, and our refuge.

What does it mean to you to know that Jesus can be your refuge? When have you felt Jesus supporting and comforting you during a difficult time?

Watch the short video of me singing the second verse of this hymn here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TVdJK2A-s4Q

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