William Tyndale - An Inspiring Tale

Hello All,

Whose words and opinions do you esteem highly in life?

How far would you go to honour the words of such a person?

William Tyndale - An Inspiring Tale

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling (24 April 2017)

Dedicated to Reverend Andrew Cheah

Come, hear me now as I tell you a tale

An inspiring tale of William Tyndale

A man who poured out his life to translate

God's Word from Greek, not the Latin Vulgate

He fled from country to country

Living like an unsettled refugee

He had to flee to continue God's work

From his arduous task, he did not shirk

God sent him helping hands along the way

Partners in the Gospel, to ease his day

Walsh, Monmouth, Frith, Poyntz and others

Who aided the great Bible translator

After much sweat and perspiration

He finished the English New Testament

He tried to print it, but was discovered

From Cologne, he had to flee for cover

He printed copies in Worms by God's grace

They were smuggled and spread at great pace

Those were dangerous times of persecution

Having God's Word in English was treason

Bibles were burnt, but copies increased

God's Word brought the common people release

Sweet release from the darkness of their age

God's Truth shone brightly on each precious page

In Antwerp, he was betrayed by a friend

Imprisoned for fifteen months before his end

Vilvoorde Prison was a dark, cold place

In suffering, his faith was not effaced

With a noose around his neck, he still prayed

'Lord, open the king of England's eyes,' he said

Strangled to death, then burnt as a heretic

Executed in the eyes of the public

God answered Tyndale's dying prayer

The eyes of the king were opened a year later

He encouraged the distribution

Of the English Bible to the nation

Tyndale's blood was spilled upon the pages

Of God's Word that's lasted through the ages

Do we treasure the Bible we've bought with ease?

Do we value His Word in times of peace?

God's Word was brought to us with much bloodshed

How do we respond to the verses we've read?

Are our hearts burning with unyielding passion?

Passion for the message of salvation!

Points for Reflection:

Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

(Psalms 119:17-18 ESV)

·       Tyndale died to translate God’s Word for the common people. People who could not understand Latin. In Tyndale’s time, it was illegal for the common people to read God’s Word in their mother tongue. Doing so could lead to death if they were caught.

·       In our part of the world, many of us have the freedom of reading the Bible, God’s Word, without any fear of being executed. However, do we treasure the Bible we’ve bought (or downloaded) with ease? Do we value His Word in times of peace? Has reading God’s Word become more of a chore than a joy?

·       Whose words and opinions do you esteem highly in life? Do you value God’s Word?

·       How far would you go to honour God through His Word? Would apathy, laziness, criticism, persecution, and death deter you from doing so?

·       God's Word was brought to us with much bloodshed. How do we respond to the verses we've read? Are our hearts burning with unyielding passion? Passion for the message of salvation!