Commentary: Lest I forget

We tend to take our Lord for granted, I am afraid.”

Occasionally, a song, usually an old hymn, reverberates in my mind. I believe this is one of the ways God has of prompting me to do or write something to His glory. I delight in these things because they make me happy in serving the Lord Jesus.

Recently, an old song called “Lead Me to Calvary” has been on my mind as I repeat the verses in my mind. One of the verses I have been mentally repeating is, “Lest I forget Gethsemane, lest I forget thine agony, lest I forget Thy love for me, lead me to Calvary.” This dear old song was written in 1898 by Jennie Evelyn Hussey. This hymn, like so many of the past, is not sung very often today. But we tend to love what we grew up hearing.

That demonstrates the importance of having children in worship service with their parents. Proverbs 22:6 advises us to, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

This dear old hymn, in its first verse, says, “Lest I forget Thy thorn-crowned brow, lead me to Calvary.” These old songs preach their own sermons, unlike some of the modern ones. Young people tend to prefer more modern songs, and that is all right so long as they truly express adoration and worship for Jesus Christ.

The author of this hymn was concerned that people might forget the enormous sacrifice Christ made for undeserving man. So she expressed it most eloquently in this hymn. C. S. Lewis, in his great little book, Mere Christianity, observed the reasons for worship when he said, “No belief will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed.” He added, “That is why daily prayers and religious readings and church-going are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe.”

“Lest I forget Gethsemane” reminds us of the importance of remembering Christ’s dread and agony as He suffered mentally before His arrest. It was there that He asked God to remove the “cup” He was facing. But here He showed His divine strength by stating, “Nevertheless, not My will but Thine be done” (Matthew 26:39). Gethsemane was a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives that Jesus and His apostles frequented.

The last verse states, “May I be willing, Lord, to bear daily my cross for Thee.” We Christians in our country have it so easy; we hardly remember the tremendous sacrifice the Lord Jesus made for everyone who will believe in and trust in Him. We tend to take our Lord for granted, I am afraid. We sing, “Lest I forget Thy love for me, lead me to Calvary.” May every Christian remember the agony our Lord suffered that night in Gethsemane.

Calvary (Golgotha) was the place outside Jerusalem where the Lord was crucified. There, He willingly gave His earthly life that we who believe and trust in Him might live eternally. Praise God for His love of undeserving man, Amen.

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Ralph Fudge is the pastor of Big Ochlocknee Baptist Church in Coolidge, Ga., and has a Master’s degree in theology from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.