Hymnal Page Scan: Great Joy!: a new and favorite collection of hymns and music, for gospel meetings, prayer, temperance, and camp meetings, and Sunday schools page 63 | Hymnary.org

Keyboard Recording:

1 As clay in the hands of the potter,
Am I in Thy hands, oh my God;
If on life’s highway I falter,
And faint ‘neath Thy chast’ning rod;

Chorus:
May Thy presence, O Father go with me;
Molding the vessel aright
Till mete for the heavenly Kingdom,
In the beautiful mansions of light.

2 If temptations thro’ weakness and blindness,
Cast shadows along my way;
May Thy Spirit within in its wisdom
Prevent me from going astray; [Chorus]

The words at the beginning of this hymn that say, “As clay in the hands of the potter, Am I in Thy hands, oh my God” are from Jeremiah 18:6. This hymn also references Isaiah 64:8, which says, “But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter.” (Berean Standard Bible) I hope to write more about this soon because I have been reading the study notes about these passages and there is a lot of really interesting information. Some concepts we can start thinking about are that the imagery of God as the potter and us as the clay is a reference to how God formed the first man, Adam, out of the clay of the earth. As God fashioned Adam out of clay, He forms us in our mother’s womb. God is our creator and is sovereign over us. In Jeremiah 18, God tells Jeremiah to go to the house of the potter and observe what happens while the potter is molding a vessel out of clay. Jeremiah 18:4 describes what happens: Jeremiah says, “But the vessel that he was shaping from the clay became flawed in his hand; so he formed it into another vessel, as it seemed best for him to do.” That’s what this hymn is talking about. It’s a prayer to God for help when we have sinned. Let’s look at the words to the 1st verse.

It starts by acknowledging that we are the clay and God is the potter – it’s recognizing that He is our creator and that He is sovereign over us. Then it’s a prayer saying, “If while walking on life’s highway I falter…sin; stray from Your pathway…or if I faint beneath Your chastening rod, May Your presence, O Father, go with me. Molding the vessel aright, until I’m fit for the heavenly Kingdom, in the beautiful mansions of light.” The word “mete” used in the chorus means “suitable, proper, fitting, or well-adapted to a situation or purpose.” (https://www.oed.com/dictionary/meet_adj) So, God forms us in our mother’s wombs like a potter forms a vessel out of clay. Sin causes the vessel to become misshapen. The Berean Standard Bible’s study notes point out that the clay cannot reshape itself. It is completely dependent on the potter to mold it aright. In Isaiah 64, which I hope to post about soon, Isaiah pleads with God for mercy. He cries out to God for help and pleads the covenant relationship between God and Israel in which He is more than just a potter to them, He is their Father. And that’s what the words to this hymn are…they are a prayer to our loving heavenly Father asking Him for mercy…praying for His presence to go with us and to lovingly reshape us instead of casting us away…praying He will continually mold us aright until we are fit for the heavenly kingdom. The second verse is a prayer for help in temptation. It uses imagery for temptations of dark shadows being cast over the pathway we are walking on, which makes it difficult to see where we are going. Then there is prayer for the Holy Spirit within us to guide us with His wisdom and prevent us from going astray while we are struggling to see the pathway. Take time to envision that…envision the dark shadows. Feel the Holy Spirit guiding you with His wisdom until you are once again walking in the daylight.

I was looking up hymns on this topic when I was writing about how to heal from a broken spirit. In one of the study notes that I will try to find, it talked about the importance of the clay remaining moldable in the Potter’s hands rather than becoming hardened against God’s reshaping. It really helped me to meditate about that as I am struggling to accept that I might have more trouble with symptoms from my chronic illnesses as I get older. I have been trying to fit my life into a certain mold…a certain idea or framework I had in my mind – I was going to get all the way better. But meditating about the clay and the Potter has helped to remind me that God has a plan for my life. His kingdom is not of this world. Charles Spurgeon talks in his sermons about how heaven is a reward we have to wait for…and that we have to be prepared, or fitted, for. I have written recently in posts about “Fly Up to the Sunshine” and “Bend Low”  about how God works through afflictions and chastening/discipline to make us more and more like Him. And it’s important for us to remain mold-able…shape-able…so that He can shape us into who he wants us to be. As we are learning more about Him, it helps us to see that we are entrusting ourselves not only to a potter, but to our loving heavenly Father. So while we are not able to know exactly how He is going to shape us or exactly what is going to happen, we are able to know who He is shaping us to be like and where He is preparing us to go – He is shaping us to be more and more like Jesus every day which is preparing us for our home in “the beautiful mansions of light” in heaven. Take time to envision that. Envision yourself as clay in the hands of God. See Him lovingly molding you…and feel that sense of confidence that you can trust that what He is working out for you will be for your ultimate good. When I was working with this imagery, one thing I started noticing was that I would start the day by waiting and looking up and seeing what God was going to do that day…how He was going to mold me…instead of just rushing through things. It can help us learn to stop and wait on Him for guidance.

I will stop here for today and I hope to write more about this soon.

Links:
Isaiah 64:8 Commentaries Biblehub.com
Jeremiah 18:6 Commentaries Biblehub.com