Hymnal Page Scan: Evening Light Songs 175. Sitting at the feet of Jesus | Hymnary.org

Audio Recording:

1 Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
Oh, what words I hear Him say!
Happy place! so near, so precious!
May it find me there each day;
Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
I would look upon the past;
For His love has been so gracious,
It has won my heart at last.

2 Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
Where can mortal be more blest?
There I lay my sins and sorrows,
And, when weary, find sweet rest;
Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
There I love to weep and pray;
While I from His fullness gather
Grace and comfort every day.

3 Bless me, O my Savior, bless me,
As I’m waiting at Thy feet;
Oh, look down in love upon me,
Let me see Thy face so sweet;
Give me, Lord, the mind of Jesus,
Keep me holy as He is;
May I prove I’ve been with Jesus,
Who is all my righteousness.

This is a hymn we can use when we are working on developing an awareness of Jesus’s presence with us. I have been working with grounding exercises and often struggle with orienting myself to the present moment. If you are familiar with them, they are exercises where you focus on several objects in your environment…or focus on the chair beneath you and feel it supporting you…or focus on the feeling of your feet touching the floor. When you do these exercises, they bring the present moment into your awareness. And if you are like me, and parts of your mind are frozen in the past…frozen in times before I got sick…still trying to freeze time and get a different outcome… then becoming aware of the present moment actually causes stress instead of relieving stress like it is supposed to do. But if I remember to scan the invisible spiritual realm with an eye of faith, I can see that Jesus is there with me. That awareness can make it feel safe enough to start updating to the present moment. And we can use the words of this hymn to keep our focus on Him.

The 1st verse begins by saying, “Sitting at the feet of Jesus, Oh, what words I hear Him say!” So we will start by becoming aware of our visible environment, and then we will scan the invisible spiritual realm. Visible realm: Take time to feel the chair or the floor you are sitting on underneath you. Notice several objects in your environment that help you connect to your present-moment environment.  Notice several sights and sounds and feel the floor underneath your feet. Notice what information your five senses are picking up on. Invisible realm: Then, scan the room with an eye of faith. See yourself seated at the feet of Jesus. Take time to listen for His voice. What would He be saying to you? Feel how happy a place it is to be sitting so near to Him. Feel the joy of being in His presence. Then from that place of safety, you can look over the past with Jesus’s help and remember how gracious He has been to you. 

The 2nd verse says, “Sitting at the feet of Jesus, Where can mortal (humans) be more blest?” Take time to think about that – How blessed you are to b in His presence…in His care. There is nowhere you could be more blessed…this is the most blessed place a human can be. You are being watched over by the Good Shepherd. See Him looking at you like He knows who you are…He calls you by name. He knows what you need before you ask. Now, as it says in the 2nd verse, lay your sins and sorrows before Him. He will provide sweet rest for the weary. You can weep before Him if you need to. Envision yourself gathering grace and comfort from His fullness. 

Let’s take a minute to talk about what “His fullness” means. Colossians 1:19-20 (NIV) says, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Christ), and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” The Berean Study Bible says the term “fullness” means “the entirety of God’s nature and attributes are fully present in Christ…This affirms the full deity and humanity of Christ, essential for His role as mediator between God and humanity.” So, Christ is fully God and fully Man, which is essential to…or, uniquely qualifies Him for His role…as mediator between God and man – He has both natures. The Berean Study Bible says that, “Christ’s divine fullness makes Him supreme over all creation and sufficient for our salvation and spiritual needs.” The Amplified Bible (AMP) is a translation that gives meaning, definitions, and explanations of the text inside of brackets. If we read through the AMP for v.19, we will see an explanation of the term “fullness” in the brackets that goes along with what the Berean Study Bible’s notes were saying. The AMP says, “For it pleased the Father for all the fullness [of deity—the sum total of His essence, all His perfection, powers, and attributes] to dwell [permanently] in Him (the Son).” Colossians 1:19 Commentaries Biblehub.com

So “fullness” means fullness of Deity. Jesus is fully God and fully man. He has both natures. And He is mediator between God and man. Remember, that even after we are regenerated (saved), our sin natures are not completely taken away. That will happen when we are made perfect after death. Until then, we are still sinful. So we still need a mediator between ourselves and God. Jesus is our mediator. And what we are learning about here is that all of our spiritual blessings are mediated through Him. It pleased God for all the fullness of God to dwell in Christ. We are blessed out of that fullness.

Let’s look at 2 more verses that will help us understand this:

1) John 1:16 (NIV) says, ““Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.”” The Berean Study Bible’s note on this verse says, “The term ‘fullness’ suggests the abundance and completeness of God’s attributes and blessings available through Christ.” Later in the notes it also says, “John 1:14 says, ‘The Word became flesh … full of grace and truth,’ so the fullness spoken of in verse 16 points to the limitless supply resident in Jesus Himself. The phrase ‘grace upon grace’ suggests a continuous and overflowing supply of grace. It emphasizes that God’s grace is not a one-time gift but an ongoing provision…… John 1:16 assures believers that the limitless fullness of Christ continually pours out into our lives, so that every one of us receives an unending cascade of grace. Saved by it, strengthened by it, and supplied forever by it, we stand secure in the boundless generosity of our Lord.” The Amplified Bible’s translation of this verse is very helpful. The way I study is that I look at the study notes and learn about the meaning of the phrases in the verse. Then I read back through the verse and think through the meanings while I’m reading it…or try to think through the verse in those words. So the AMP is helpful because it puts those meanings in brackets inside the verse while you are reading it. Let’s look at both translations for John 1:16 and you’ll see how it helps. The NIV reads, ““Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.” The AMP reads, “For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift].” So you see how it helps by having the expanded meanings written out in the verse inside the brackets. It can also help to read through the AMP first, to get an idea of the expanded meanings before reading the study notes. John 1:16 Commentaries Biblehub.com 

2) Ephesians 1:3 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” The Berean Study Bible says that the use of the words “in Christ” is significant because it “reflects the New Testament teaching that Jesus is the source of all spiritual life and blessings… Union with Christ is the channel of every gift. Outside of Him, none of these blessings are available (John 15:5). In Him, we are “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6) and share His status as sons and heirs (Romans 8:17).” It also points out that “We don’t strive for these blessings; we receive them.” And it references 2 Peter 1:3 which affirms, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness.” So as we are sitting at the feet of Jesus we are not striving for blessings, but waiting to receive them out of the fullness of Christ, through which He has “given us everything we need for life and godliness.” Ephesians 1:3 Commentaries Biblehub.com

Take time to envision that. Look to Jesus and see the fullness of God dwelling in Him. Then see that you are united to Christ…and as you sit at His feet, see that union as the channel for every blessing you receive from Him. Envision blessings flowing to you as you are patiently and expectantly waiting by faith to receive them.

I was reading through hymns today and saw that the hymn “The Just Shall Live by Faith” by William Gadsby talks about this in the 1st verse which says, “The just by faith shall live, Nor fear the powers of hell; All blessings that a God can give, In Christ most richly dwell.” I thought the way he said that is very helpful for getting the imagery in our minds. All the blessings God can give us are dwelling in Christ and will flow from Him to us. I don’t have a recording of it posted on here yet. Here is a link to it so you can read through all the words if you have a chance – they are very beautiful: The Just Shall Live by Faith Hymnary.org. 

Now that you have the imagery in your mind of you sitting at the feet of Jesus and the fullness of God dwelling in Him, we will look at the words to the 3rd verse, which is a prayer to God asking for a blessing out of that fullness. It says, “Bless me, O my Savior, bless me, As I’m waiting at Thy feet; Oh, look down in love upon me, Let me see Thy face so sweet; Give me, Lord, the mind of Jesus, Keep me holy as He is; May I prove I’ve been with Jesus, Who is all my righteousness.” At the end, he is saying…after I have spent time with You and received a blessing from You, may I prove it…may it be clear that I have been changed by the time I spent in Your presence. May I be made more and more like You each day. As you finish your prayer and stand up to continue on with your day…remember to stay close to Jesus…and may others be able to see that you have spent time with Him by the changes they see in You. And may they long to join you at Jesus’s feet.