As I contemplate Good Friday, and the sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the world, I thought it would be a good day to post this hymn I wrote a few weeks back.
You saw my weak and helpless state My suffering under heavy chains For Your name’s sake You did not wait But took my place and bore my shame The King of Glory scorned of men Whose every breath belongs to Him Yet in my sin You loved me still And took my place upon that hill
The spotless Lamb who knew no sin Drew down the justice meant for me And all my guilt was laid on Him The burden of iniquity To You the cup of wrath did come And crying out, You drank its dregs And in my place Your body hung And there You died and bowed Your head
Blessing and honor and glory be To the One who alone is worthy The Lamb who was slain Name above all names Jesus Christ, the King of kings.
You saw my full depravity Yet looked with mercy on my need The King came in humility And took my place upon the tree You bore my curse, You took God’s wrath Reserved for me, now I can stand In wondrous praise upon the path From Calvary to Promised Land
Now I will bow and sing the praise Of You who died and rose again God’s Only Son, High Priest who saves I’ll stand amazed and fully cleansed Worthy of more than words can say Be glorified eternally I come before the throne of grace And take my place knelt at Your feet
Blessing and honor and glory be To the One who alone is worthy The Lamb who was slain Name above all names Jesus Christ, the King of kings.
Though sun may set, and night consume The light of hope, replaced with gloom, The dawn will split the darkness soon. And though in death, they thought Him doomed, The Son arose, and from the tomb Eternal rest and life now bloom.
Sunday is coming.
Wishing you all a safe and meaningful Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Friday night, I got to spend a little time banging on the keys, playing and singing songs to worship. Some were to prepare for Sunday, and some were simply because I enjoy them.
I found a few chord progressions I liked, and started putting some lyrics together for a melody that formed in my head. Then I realized I could combine these lyrics and the music with the words of the old hymn, “How Great Thou Art.”
That hymn is a favorite for my Dad, who is 100% Swedish. A young Swedish pastor penned the lyrics after a stroll through the woods experiencing the glory of God revealed in nature. Like many hymns, it quickly turns attention to Christ’s sacrifice and atonement for our sin on the Cross, followed by a reminder of the glorious hope of eternity with God.
The bridge I added, the part with “Sing my soul how great this God,” was meant to be the crescendo of praise in the song. I wanted the music and the words to be something that builds up to a point where I throw everything I have into worship, into the music, into my relationship with God, into living for Him. After all, what good is a song that sounds great right now as I sing it but does not remind me or challenge me to continue living out its message?
Verse 1 O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder Thy pow’r throughout the universe displayed
Chorus
Then sings my soul My Savior God to Thee
How great You are
God, how great You are to me
Praises bring to the matchless King
God how great You are
How great You are
Verse2
And when I think that God His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in
That on the Cross my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin
Bridge
Sing my soul how great this God Everlasting Ever loving
Sing my soul how great this God Never ending Never failing
God how great You are God how great You are
Verse 3 When Christ shall come with shouts of acclamation
and take me home what joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
and then proclaim “My God how great Thou art!”
Now sings my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee
Maybe you’ve noticed this trend in Praise and Worship music over the last several years.
A treasure trove of worship ideas for us today… …and connection to the church in generations past.
About a decade ago, Matt Redman writes about how the hymnal is a treasure trove of song ideas and powerful lyrics. Then everyone’s changing old favorites to accommodate guitar rhythms and incorporate new choruses. (Truth be told, I’m sure others had the same idea, not just Matt, and I’m sure it was happening from time to time before he wrote it.)
The first one I really remember is Todd Agnew’s remake of Amazing Grace, titled “Grace Like Rain.” He puts the hymn in a minor key, and adds a chorus in between each verse talking about how our sinful stains are washed away in the rain of God’s grace. It works.
My wife and I love to play a duet on that. She has a great violin accompaniment and I have a special riff I like on the piano for the third verse.
Then I recall “The Wonderful Cross” with Matt Redman and Chris Tomlin from Passion: One Day 2003 (maybe). “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” is combined with a driving beat and a powerful chorus that borrows from Bonhoeffer:
“When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”
There are others. “Jesus Paid It All” is on a recent Passion album, with a powerful buildup and a passionate cry for us to “Praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead.”
Chris Tomlin put out a version of Amazing Grace called “My Chains are Gone” with a chorus that sounds like the heartcry of a man released from his cell after years of imprisonment. “My God, my Savior has ransomed me… and like a flood, His mercy rains unending love, amazing grace.”
David Crowder Band has a version of “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” that starts with a soft minor key chorus about singing to the passionate God who rejoices over us… before the drums kick in and guitars scream in between the verses of the familiar hymn.
Sometimes the bandwagon gets it right.
Who am I to argue?
The hymn, “My Savior’s Love” was a theme song for one of the conferences my wife and I attended several years ago on Okinawa. It seemed like we were constantly being told “Go into My Savior’s Love and let’s just stay there for a while.” (We had pretty flexible worship musicians, so we could be told, “Do this song for a bit” and it all worked out.)
Years later, I was looking at a hymnal and found the song. I remembered how much I loved the emphasis on the marvel of God’s love…
Here in the present as “I stand amazed” and “wonder how He could love me.”
In the past as I think of how “He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone.”
In the future as “through the ages” I will “sing of His love for me.”
I also like the minor key – which to me speaks of reflection and wonder – that leads to the major key – which calls celebration and joy to mind.
Here’s a link to the song: My Savior’s Love… (I fear my singing is a bit pitchy in parts.)
And here’s the lyrics –
1 I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, And wonder how He could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean.
How marvelous! how wonderful! and my song shall ever be: How marvelous! how wonderful! Is my Savior’s love for me!
2 He took my sins and my sorrows, He made them His very own; He bore the burden to Calvary, And suffered and died alone.
3 When with the ransomed in glory His face I at last shall see, ’Twill be my joy through the ages To sing of His love for me.
Sing a song of praise to God above So amazing to think of How wonderful, how marvelous is our Savior’s love
How marvelous! how wonderful! And my song shall ever be: How marvelous! how wonderful! is my Savior’s love for me!
The home of David M. Williamson, writer of fantasy, sci-fi, short stories, and cultural rants.
