The Sweetest Frame

Jim Broyles's picture
Submitted by Jim Broyles on Mon, 01/25/2010 - 10:25

One of my favorite hymns, which is short and seemingly direct, is "My Hope is Built on Nothing Less".  For the first verse you'll find

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

Chorus:
On Christ, the sold rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.

A friend once explained to me that the "frame" refers to the worldview or the system of beliefs by which one lives life, and the description of "sweetest" is tactile or appealing to the eye.  The sweetest frame might be a philosophy with persuasive rhetoric, forced overtones of positivism, etc., with profoundly destructive consequences.  Here we're talking about the frame of mind.
Though this interpretation brings much depth to the words, I like to think of the framing of a home.  You hang many things from your wooden frames: drywall, wiring, air ducts, and even paintings and speakers.  Houses with poorly built framing are instantly recognizable as shoddy to builders and inspectors, and potentially hazardous if not taken seriously.  When we realize that the deepest issues of our heart, the seemingly nonsensical philosophical jargon, are as important as the framing of our home.  We interpret and "hang" all parts and things in our "home" from these frames.  Christ calls us to make him our frame.

On what frame do you hang your wiring, your paintings, your doors? 

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Thank you for sharing your

Sun, 02/07/2010 - 11:26 — David Richter (not verified)

Thank you for sharing your thoughtful comments Jim