SACROSANCT: secure from violation, profanation, assault, or trespass GOSPEL: the good news of Jesus Christ, who rescues us from the wrath of God and secures for us His eternal favor
The Christian band Waterdeep wrote a song around the theme of one of my favorite verses of scripture. Jeremiah 29:11 says – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” This is good news for those who know Christ. We attempt to make our plans. We try to write our own story. We see ourselves as ‘the good guy’. Everyone else – they are the ‘bad guys.’ The lines of this script are all false. Yet, I keep the lies flowing. I pose as one who is devoted to Christ. I pose as a righteous man. But the words of this play are weighed in the balance and found wanting. I am a blind paperback writer. Jesus is so good to take the pen out of my hand. He has plans for me. He is writing the story. Plans to love, plans for hope, plans for glory.
Follow along with the lyrics…
You talk of hating war But where’s your own peacetime?
You don’t love anymore – All my children
You linger in your mind everyone’s so unkind;
But you forget about the mines you laid on your land
I know the plans I have for you
I know the things that I want for you to do
I know the plans I have for you
and it hurts sometimes to see you blind
You read up on the lies and keep them in motion.
So clever the disguise of devotion
You tell Me there’s no time. But there you stand joking
But you forgot that I’m the one Who weighs the words you’ve spoken
I know the plans I have for you
I know the things that I want for you to do
I know the plans I have for you
And it hurts sometimes to see you cry
I love the group Page CXVI (page 116). The name comes from a reference to page 116 in The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis. It is a poignant passage where Aslan begins to sing Narnia into creation out of a black void.
It starts, “In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction it was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them. Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself. There were no words. There was hardly even a tune. But it was, beyond comparison, the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it.”
~ C.S. Lewis
Here is Page CXVI singing “Come Thou Fount.” They added the line “I am bound for the kingdom, want you come with me?”
In keeping with my recent Gospel Thought on Idolatry, I am posting “Wedding Dress” by Derek Webb. Be warned that in this song Derek remains consistent with the strong language of scripture. Kudos to him. For devotional reflection, I would encourage you to read Jeremiah 2 and Ezekiel 16. In so doing, you will want to note once more how God equates Idolatry with Adultery.
As many of you know, I have been suffering with a kidney stone for over three weeks now. However, last Friday was my last day of significant pain, so I feel that I am over the worst of it. Thanks to all of you have been in prayer for me during this time. I first began my travail with this tiny stone the day before Easter. I was fasting on that Saturday and I had asked the Lord to help me to identify with Him in his sufferings. The Lord answered my prayer, but not in the way that I imagined. I remember, at one point last week, weeping in the middle of the night. I asked the Lord, “Is this really what it takes to humble me? Am I so calloused that I need such pain to buffet me?” I sat in the dark whispering. Defeated. “You know best, Lord. You know exactly what I need. I am yours. You know best.”
Yesterday, I was eating lunch with a friend – Iain Boyd – an episcopal priest who serves at Trinity Episcopal in downtown Myrtle Beach. He’s a really great guy whom God had been prodding me to get together with. As we sat in Cracker Barrel, Iain began to share with me a hymn written by John Newton called “I asked the Lord that I might grow.” I had never heard it before. Iain recited it to me by heart – and as he spoke the words across the table, God’s Spirit impressed me with the magnitude of this hymn. It was my experience. I had asked the Lord for something – thinking that I knew best how to receive it. I asked the Lord to help me grow. I wanted a deeper intimacy. My plan was a day of fasting in exchange for a closer identification with Christ. But that was not Christ’s plan. He chose another, significantly more painful way. Yet, I am learning to thank God for his way over mine. He knows exactly what I need. Only he truly knows how to pour contempt on all my pride. Only he knows how to arrest my wandering heart and press his ancient love into my soul.
Much thanks to my friend Iain who pastored me yesterday. Also, thanks also to John Newton for writing such a powerful and true hymn. I would like to share that hymn with you now. Again, John Newton wrote “I Asked the Lord That I Might Grow” and published it in the Olney Hymnbook in 1879. It is sung below by Indelible Grace. Please take the time to listen to it prayerfully. It is wonderfully dark, beautifully rich, and absolutely true to the Gospel. It is a spiritual steak set to music. I encourage you to contemplate its deep meaning so that it feeds your soul the way that it has fed mine this morning.
Lyrics – “I asked the Lord”
1. I asked the Lord that I might grow, In faith and love and every grace. Might more of His salvation know, And seek more earnestly His face
2. Twas He who taught me thus to pray, And He I trust has answered prayer. But it has been in such a way As almost drove me to despair
3. I hoped that in some favored hour, At once He’d answer my request, And by His love’s constraining power, Subdue my sins and give me rest
4. Instead of this He made me feel The hidden evils of my heart And let the angry powers of Hell Assault my soul in every part
5. Yea more with His own hand He seemed Intent to aggravate my woe Crossed all the fair designs I schemed, Cast out my feelings, laid me low
6. “Lord why is this?”, I trembling cried “Wilt Thou pursue thy worm to death?” “Tis in this way” The Lord replied, “I answer prayer for grace and faith”
7. “These inward trials I employ From self and pride to set thee free And break thy schemes of earthly joy That thou mayest seek thy all in me,
That thou mayest seek thy all in me.”
I love the song “You are so Beautiful” by Joe Cocker. It is so simple and yet it resonates so powerfully with the gratitude that I feel about Christ and what he has done for me through the Gospel. Now, I’m sure this song was not written as a worship song. It was originally penned as a romantic love song by Billy Preston in 1972. The arrangement of the original however was unbearably ridiculous (click here to see what I mean). In 1974, the song was truly written when Joe Cocker captured the essence of “You are so Beautiful” and re-released a slowed down, intensely soulful version. The song skyrocketed to number 5 on the Billboard Top 100 and the rest is history. Yet, no matter what the human artists intended, in my eyes, You are so Beautiful is indeed a worship song. In fact, I feel that the wild popularity of “You are so Beautiful” has everything to do with its powerful, intense, worship-filled lyrics.
Think about it. The song shouldn’t work. The structure is not complex at all. The musical score requires nothing more than a single piano or guitar. Joe Cocker’s voice is like a bowl of gravel poured out on pavement. And his appearance holds nothing that pleases the eye. Yet, when Joe sings it, the song eerily moves below the surface. “You are so Beautiful.” Somehow, that lyric gets under my skin and embeds itself in my soul, inviting me to contemplate the Beauty of Christ. And when I am drawn to dwell upon Christ’s beauty, I don’t need much else. That seems to be enough in itself. Christ’s beauty transcends my circumstances. Even my sorrows become joy. “You are so Beautiful to me,” it says.It’s personal. I did not always see Christ’s beauty. In fact, there was a time I found him repellent, like so many others. Yet the Father saw fitting to bring heaven’s gift to me. He opened my eyes so that now I can see what others cannot. I can see the beauty of Christ. And when I see this beauty, my soul is satisfied and I am filled with joy.
Consider the words of Jonathan Edwards who expresses my thought with better clarity: “the sight of all Christ’s perfections united together fills us with sweet surprise and humble confidence, with reverential love and delightful adoration (J.E., Works, Vol. 1).” Charles Spurgeon eloquently builds on this idea:
“As for us, my brethren, the Beauty of Christ is such that if we go
into a barn to worship, we are quite as satisfied as though it were
a cathedral, with grained arches and glowing windows.
Such is the Beauty of Christ in our eyes, that we are quite
content to hear of him without the pealing organ and the swell of
Gregorian chants; and we are even satisfied though there should
be no display of taste, nothing sensuous and scenic, nothing to
please the eye or charm the ear.
Jesus alone gives our mind all that delightful architecture,
poetry, and music could profess to give.”
.
- Charles Spurgeon, “The Rose and the Lily”
“You are so Beautiful.” So often we Christians feel that in order to worship Christ, all the setting must be perfect. The variables must all line up. The music must not be off key. The organ must not be too loud. The worship leader must be attractive, but not distracting. Our neighbors must be in a perfect condition, not too noisy or smelly or strangely dressed. We must have stained glass or a worship band or whatever else. Yet, in truth, we must only see Jesus. He is so Beautiful! So Beautiful. And when we see Him, when we behold his glory, we will worship. For as Spurgeon says, when we see Jesus, everything else becomes beautiful. Even a barn will seem like a cathedral. Even our sufferings become joy.
The particular video below is from a Joe Cocker concert in Germany in the 1990s. I especially like this version of You are so Beautiful because it showcases Billy Preston’s original second verse which gives even greater weight to the worshipful nature of the song. It also features the acoustic guitar as primary accompaniment instead of the piano, which seems to give the song an even better ‘simple factor‘. Enjoy!
Lyrics
You are so beautiful to me
You are so beautiful to me
Can’t you see
Your everything I hoped for
Your everything I need
You are so beautiful to me
Such joy and happiness you bring
Such joy and happiness you bring
Like a dream
A guiding light that shines in the night
Heaven’s gift to me
You are so beautiful to me
Last Friday, I wrote a post about how dangerous it is for Christians to lose confidence in the work of the Holy Spirit – in Word, Sacrament, and through the Church (click Here to read that post). How tragic it is when a Christian or a church body puts its confidence in the flesh to accomplish the work of Christ, rather than in resting upon and depending upon the work of the Holy Spirit. Romans 7 describes the life of the Christian when he becomes dependent upon the flesh. Paul says, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this is what I keep on doing.”
“O Wretched man that I am!” says Paul in response to this struggle. For this is the predicament of the Christian who turns away from dependence upon the Spirit. Wretched. And not only can an individual Christian make this error, so can an entire Church. In Revelation 3, St. John describes the church at Laodicea as making this same mistake. Of this church, Christ says, “But you do not realize that you are Wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” In this, Christ describes an orphan…and that is ‘functionally’ what believer’s become when they resist the life giving power and love of the Holy Spirit. We become orphans.
Poetically, when I think of this lack of trust in the Spirit, I think of the song, “Ain’t no Sunshine when she’s gone.” Now some of you theological sticklers out there are going to recoil. Relax. I’m not saying that the Holy Spirit is female. Nor am I saying that believers can lose their salvation. Nor am I saying that the Holy Spirit chooses to depart from believers. I’m not saying anything goofy like that. What I am saying – what I poetically “feel” in this song – is how tragic, lonely, and despairing a believer is when he forsakes the joy that comes through dependence upon the Holy Spirit. There is no exaltation of Christ. There is no Sonshine. There is no joy. The house, or the church, no longer feels like a home. There is no spiritual warmth. There is only darkness every day. You get the picture.
The particular video that I have below showcases Bill Wither’s original 1971 version and best captures the feeling that I am going for. “Wretched man that I am.” As I have stated elsewhere, I find it amazing that such gospel truth can emerge from a secular song; truth that I am sure was never the original intent of the author. Yet, the Gospel remains transcendent. The Gospel is sacrosanct.
Lyrics – Ain’t No Sunshine
Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone.
It’s not warm when she’s away.
Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone.
And she’s always gone too long.
Anytime she goes away.
Wonder this time where she’s gone.
wonder if she’s gone to stay.
Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone.
And this house just ain’t no home.
Anytime she goes away.
I know x 16
Gotta leave the young thing alone
There ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone
Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone.
Only darkness every day.
Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone.
And this house just ain’t no home.
Anytime she goes away.
Anytime she goes away.
Anytime she goes away.
Anytime she goes away.
September 1, 2001 – at Slane Castle in Ireland. “All I want is – You, All I need is – You, All I want is – You…” The massive crowd erupts in strains of rapturous joy as they anticipate The Song...
The Song… it emerges with a multi-rhythmic crescendo, churning with chord progressions that rise and fall like a train engine, The Edge’s haunting, unique, signature delay, Adam Clayton’s understated, impellent bass, and Larry Mullin’s driving percussion – at 1:55, Bono’s haunting voice booms like a prophetic trumpet; The Band – like a four horse chariot, on fire, and galloping down from the clouds – announcing the advent of that heavenly city, leading us to a place – where the streets have no name.
There are Gospel songs about heaven – like “I’ll Fly Away” and “When we all get to heaven”. And there are Gospel songs about earth – like “He’s got the whole world in his hands” and “This is my Father’s World“. And then there is this Gospel song: a song that weaves the stuff of heaven into the stuff of earth, creating one tapestry, where heavenly sunlight comes down and the rain clouds of earth go up, where a city floods but a highway leads us up to a desert plain, where the walls all come down and where love does not rust, and we’re blown by the Wind to touch the burning flame, and it’s all we can do, I want to go there with you, where there is no more sorrow, there is no more pain…where the streets have no name. Click tab to see Video and Lyrics. Read the rest of this entry »
This morning, as I continue to struggle with a kidney stone, I can’t help but reflect back on Easter. The Resurrection of Christ is the ultimate foundation of hope! Our sins are forgiven. Our righteousness is provided. Our delight is secured. All things are made new. The curse is lifted. All of creation is being restored. The Kingdom of Christ is established and the beloved of Jesus are eternally furnished with every grace of God. So, even as my body grows weak with illness and pain, my spirit is lifted with the security and hope of the Resurrection. In celebration of this hope, I am listening to one of my favorite songs – “Ain’t No Grave” by the Boston progressive-bluegrass ensemble – Crooked Still.
Click “Read the rest of this entry” to hear Song and see Video
The song “Hallelujah“, written by Leonard Cohen, is an absolutely haunting song. Originally released in 1984, Cohen’s lyrics are rooted in the biblical narrative of King David. Though Cohen was raised Jewish, he admitted that he grew up with a strong messianic vision of Judaism. That vision certainly comes through in Hallelujah. Interestingly, Cohen exhibits a particularly clear grasp of repentance and brokeness. In Psalm 51, David says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” David’s broken heart is something that is not lost on Cohen. He gets it. Of course, as a Christian, I take the vision of the lyrics further, understanding that this broken heart must be rooted in the gospel. The gospel is not for those who have it all together. Jesus said that he did not come for those who are healthy, but for those who are sick; he did not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Mk 2:17). So then, the Gospel is for the humble, the poor in spirit, the repentant, and the broken. Cohen’s song hauntingly makes this point.
Written in the key of C major, Cohen’s chord progression brilliantly follows the lyric “it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, and the major lift”: F, G, A minor, F. This seems to be a double entendre – David’s fall into temptation is a “minor fall” compared to the “major lift” of God’s grace. Grace comes to the beloved of Christ, who cry out to God in repentance with a ‘cold and a broken hallelujah’.
Click “Read the Rest of this Entry” to see the lyrics and watch a video of the song performed by K.D. Lang.
In keeping with my series on my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes, I would like to share with you the “C.S. Lewis Song”, in which Brook Fraser sings a beautiful strain that is based upon some of Lewis’ words and thoughts.
Lyrics
If I find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy,
I can only conclude that I, I was not made for here
If the flesh that I fight is at best only light and momentary,
then of course I’ll feel nude when to where I’m destined I’m compared
