Appendix B: Hymns of Biblical Models

I. A Model of Abraham Who Loved God and Men

1. Abraham left a beautiful model of loving God and men. God called him to leave his country, his people and his father's household and to go to God's promised land. So he obeyed and moved on. Despite many dangers or obstacles lying ahead, he only desired to follow God's will.

2. Nephew Lot came with him to that place. Both of them had lots of flocks and herds, and quarrelling arose between their servants. Abraham told Lot: "We are brothers. Let's not have any quarrelling between you and me. Is not the whole land before you? You can choose any land to live."

3. Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain was rich as the garden of the Lord. He chose the plain and gradually moved near Sodom. Later there was war, and he was taken captive. Abraham called out trained men to route and pursue the enemy that very night, and brought back his whole family.

4. Abraham returned victoriously. A pagan king came to welcome him and said: "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself." Abraham had sworn to God, "I will accept nothing not even a thread or the thong of a sandal." It was not for personal for advantages that he followed the Lord's order to sacrifice himself to save others.

5. He who loves God obeys the Lord's order, and God loves him dearly. The Priest of God Most High Melchizedek blessed him. The blessings he obtained is not from man but from God Most High, and man can not take it away. All peoples of all generations on earth will be blessed through Him.

6. He was childless. God promised him that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore; and would inherit the whole land. He believed, and it was credited to him as righteousness. He went through long-term refinement and waited to have all dross removed; then he saw God's glory.

7. From men's viewpoint it was hopeless; he was aged, and his wife's womb was dead. But is anything too hard for God? He firmly believed to the end. When Abraham was one hundred years old. Sarah bore a son, and his name was Isaac. He was full of laughter, and acknowledged God's faithfulness.

8. God wanted to test Abraham to see whether he loved God the most. He asked him to take his only son, Isaac, whom he loved, to the mountain of Moriah and to sacrifice him as a burnt offering. He immediately obeyed and went. He took his son, the wood, and the knife for a three-day journey. He saw that mountain in the distance, and he looked at his beloved son. He was overwhelmed by grief.

9. The two of them went on the mountain together. How could he bear the questioning of his son: "Father, the fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" He answered holding back his tears: "Son, God himself will provide."

10. When they reached the mountain, he bound his son and took the knife to slay him. Suddenly he heard the angel call out from Heaven: "Do not do anything to him." He offered to God that which he loved most. God gave him the utmost good: Through him God prepares the birth of Christ, and all peoples are blessed through Abraham.

II. A Model of Joseph Who Feared God

1. How Joseph chosen by God feared God! Though the prostitute seduced him day after day and enticed him by impure words to force him to go to bed with her, he said, "How can I do evil to sin against God?"

2. Later the prostitute caught him by the hand. He left his cloak and ran out from her. The prostitute was shamed into anger and made a false charge. Joseph endured the sufferings of injustice silently.

3. God shows his love and keeps his covenant to those who love Him. Joseph waited in the jail. When it came to an end, he came out to be the Prime Minister. He became a storehouse of life, providing for the whole world. The grace he received exceeded far more than his sufferings by a thousand times.

4. The blessings gained by Joseph were more than those of the other brothers. Because he had a different spirit, following God wholeheartedly, God made blessings of the Heavens above, of the earth, of the eternal, and of the best for him. How could it be a coincidence?

III. A Model of David Who Was After God's Heart

1. Little David had a beautiful heart. Man despised him; yet God treasured him. Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. God chose him among thousands and tempered him thoroughly.

2. Goliath, tall and big, was an iron general of whom everyone was afraid, except little David who knew God. David thought, "God can help me to overcome him." He depended not on armor or weapon. With a sling and a stone, he struck him down.

3. Evil Saul was so jealous that he always wanted to kill David. David had to flee to the desert, which was a school for him. Thus David was tempered to have God's heart, overcame evil with good, and returned hatred for love.

4. When the time came God gave him a high place and set him on the throne. He was not content with being king; he was concerned about the Ark wholeheartedly. He wanted to build the temple for God. He was full of gratitude, and he desired to repay God's goodness.

5. How satisfied God's heart was! He sent Nathan to tell David that God was pleased. God selected one of his sons to build the temple and promised David and his family great blessings and deep love.

            6. The little fox was unwilling to reconcile but wanted to ruin the vineyard. While David was not fully alert, it used Bathsheba to seduce him. After desire had conceived, it gave birth to sin. Then, he sinned more by covering the first sin.

7. God's love is as strong as death, and His jealousy unyielding as the grave. He loves righteousness and hates evil, and He does not leave the guilty unpunished. David paid for his sin many times over in discipline to make him holy.

8. He provided gifts to build the temple: gold of Ophir, cedars and uncountable quantities of iron and bronze. In his devotion to God's temple, he gave all of his personal treasures. Thus, the whole nation offered willingly.

9. God's heart can be satisfied by fellowship with men. David understood God's heart. God's hand was upon him to show him the plan of the temple. He was a man after God's heart.

IV. A Model of Daniel Who Was Highly Esteemed

1. Good Daniel, whose resolution was very precious, never to defile himself with royal food and wine. He ate vegetable and drank water. He looked healthy and well nourished. He was of great wisdom.

2. He was of great faith. He faced a difficult problem. No one could tell the king his dream. He asked friends to pray, and he prayed too. God revealed this mystery to him.

3. Three of his friends did not obey the king's order. They would rather die than to worship the image of gold the king set up. Though they were thrown into the blazing furnace, God was with them. The fire did not harm them. God was honored greatly.

4. Good Daniel, though he was in captivity, his heart yearned for the Holy City. Three times a day, he bowed down before God, prayed for the Holy City, and never gave himself rest.

5. When he learned that if he prayed to God again, he would be thrown into the lion's den; he did just as he had done before. When he was thrown into the lion's den, God shut the mouths of the lions because Daniel trusted in God.

6. He read the Bible diligently and understood from the Scriptures that the time of captivity would last seventy years. He grasped the promise and turned to God in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth to restore the captives.

7. He was highly esteemed. God revealed to him His plan, mysteries of His time, evil schemes of the enemy, and the situations of the holy people. He understood God, and his mind was on the interests of the Lord.

V. A Model of Ruth Who Followed

1. Ruth was a woman, a pagan woman, but she had a special spirit. She neither went back to her mother's home nor married another husband, but followed the suffering mother-in-law. Let others take the way of the world; let others enjoy the worldly pleasure; but let us cling to the suffering Lord and give up all willingly. Ruth clung to the suffering Lord and determined to take the way of the cross.

2. Ruth wanted to pick up the leftover grain. She wasn't lazy but worked hard. Before she worked she asked permission of her mother-in-law. In every deed she respected God. As it turned out she worked in the field of Boaz; she was favored and blessed by God. The more she was favored, the more she was grateful. The more she was favored, the more she was humbled. She diligently remained in the Lord. Her labor in the Lord was not in vain.

3. Naomi was like the Holy Spirit leading the believer to take the spiritual journey. Wash and perfume oneself, and put on one's best clothes--seek deeply to be sanctified. When it is dark, one needs to follow the Lord more closely. Fix one's goal to break oneself completely. Make effort to enter into the Lord's rest.

4. Those saints who suffer in God's will should learn how Ruth endured patiently. In the middle of the night in darkness, Boaz was suddenly startled. The Lord's comfort was sweeter than honey, every word nourished the dry heart. The Lord blessed you, O woman, greater than which you were shown earlier. You had not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor, but followed the Lord.

VI. A Model of Esther Who Prayed

1. Esther lived in the palace and did not know the evil plot of Haman, who used the King's power to set up a date to destroy the Jews. Mordecai and the Jews put on sackcloth and ashes, and wailed. The power of death was approaching closer day after day, how could one be so easy and complacent?

2. Mordecai asked people to tell it to Esther in detail and urge her to beg for mercy as she pleaded with the king for her people. But Esther could not approach the king unless she was called. It seemed that God covered His face in the darkness. How could one wait to be killed by the enemy?

3. "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this? For such a time as this?”

4. Esther did not receive the Lord's grace in vain. She fasted three days to pray earnestly. Then she went against the law, risking her life, to see the King. Twice she asked for Haman to come to the banquet. Haman got dizzy with success, and unexpectedly, a disaster fell on him. The queen pointed out that the adversary and enemy was this vile Haman.

5. Esther said, "Half of the kingdom is not what I want. My petition and my request is: Grant me my life and spare my people." The gold scepter was extended; her request was granted and sealed. The edict must be issued speedily. Darkness was turned into brightness; danger was turned into peace; and sorrow was turned into joy.

VII. A Model of Paul Who Satisfied the Lord's Heart

1. Paul was the worst sinner who persecuted the believer just as a wolf and a tiger. After the Lord met him in the way, he was changed greatly.

2. He confessed sorrowfully and fasted three days and nights. A scale fell off his eyes, and he began to know the Lord. He wanted to testify for the Lord, but he was not useful yet.

3. God regards the worker as more important than their works. God forced him to retreat to the Arabia desert to be trained by the Lord and to be made to understand the mystery of the Gospel. Then he became an expert builder.

4. He exalted the Lord's cross and testified for the Lord. Wherever the Spirit sent, he followed. He regarded the persecutions and tribulations as nothing. He praised the Lord even while in the jail.

5. He guarded the truth with no personal emotion. It is by faith one is justified, not by circumcision. It was not by flesh that he was able to resist it publicly. It was to keep the truth of the gospel.

6. He watched for churches in tears day and night. He shepherded the Lord's flocks by being an example to them. He gladly spent everything he had for the flock, and expended himself as well, even to giving his life.

            7. The whole of Paul was burned up by the Lord's love. He became a torch of the gospel. At the end, he preached the gospel to Rome. Who can satisfy the Lord's heart as he did!