I was overwhelmed by optimism after reading Psalm 72 and then hearing my church sing the hymn "Jesus shall reign" the very next morning....and it clicked! Then that evening I happened upon the verse about Jesus putting all things under his feet. By providence I was bombarded by optimism over the course of a whole weekend and became a convert to a very optimistic eschatology ever since:


Isaac Watts, Jesus Shall Reign Where'r the Sun

Jesus shall reign wherever the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till suns shall rise and set no more.

2. To Jesus endless prayer be made,
And praises throng to crown His head;
His name like sweet perfume shall rise
With every morning sacrifice.

3. People and realms of every tongue
Dwell on His love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their young Hosannas to His name.

4. Blessings abound where'er He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blessed.

5. Where He displays His healing power,
Death and the curse are known no more:
In Him the tribes of Adam boast
More blessings than their father lost.

6. Let every creature rise and bring
Its grateful honors to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth prolong the loud amen!

7. Great God, whose universal sway
The known and unknown worlds obey,
Now give the kingdom to Thy Son,
Extend His power, exalt His throne.

8. The scepter well becomes His hands;
All heaven submits to His commands;
His justice shall avenge the poor,
And pride and rage prevail no more.

9. With power He vindicates the just,
And treads the oppressor in the dust:
His worship and His fear shall last
Till the full course of time be past.

10. As rain on meadows newly mown,
So shall He send his influence down:
His grace on fainting souls distills,
Like heavenly dew on thirsty hills.

11. The heathen lands, that lie beneath
The shades of overspreading death,
Revive at His first dawning light;
And deserts blossom at the sight.

12. The saints shall flourish in His days,
Decked in the robes of joy and praise;
Peace, like a river, from His throne
Shall flow to nations yet unknown.



The first time I ever heard this it brought tears to my eyes.

__________________
Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone