I look over the hillside
And out to the sunrise
I stand in awe of your ways
And I see your beauty
Your love that drew me
And so I give myself to your grace
And I’m amazed at your love for me.
[Chorus]
Great is the Lord and worthy of Praise
Slow to your anger and rushing to grace
Covered in mercy I stand at your throne
And dance for the praise of this love that I own
Great is your faithfulness, God, unto me
Never forsaking you always will be
The glorious Lamb of God, Slain for us all
The Lion before whom the nations will fall
[Repeat All]
[Bridge]
They fall singing, “Holy, Holy!”
They’ll sing, “Holy, Holy!”
They’ll sing, “Holy, Holy!
Oh Holy, Holy!”
Dear God, frankly, I need to do something a little fresh. Not that I am tired of scripture, but I am a little tired of scripture. What I mean is, I am not enjoying life very much right now, so I have decided to embrace some praise and worship music and really contemplate the lyrics of those who are fellow sojourners through sometimes blissful and sometimes challenging lives.
While I was flying for vacation yesterday I turned my iPod on my “Christian” playlist and heard some songs I haven’t heard in a while (there are 575 songs on that playlist and I chose “shuffle”. This is one of them. So I’ve decided to go back and pray through some worshipful lyrics as I try to find my smile (to quote City Slickers).
Before I go any further, I want to take an aside to say that I am visiting my parents by myself on this vacation and, while it is great to be with them, I find it very weird to be here without my wife. I don’t think I have been to Colorado without her since we were married and somehow, as great as it is here, I somehow feel incomplete without her being here too.
Anyway, back to our song. I’m sorry that I can’t find a link to a youtube video or something that will enable those reading this to hear the song, because it really is great. It was written by the music minister at the church we attended in Waco back in the early 2000’s.
Verse One:
- My dad texted a picture from the mountains to my brother, sister, and me a couple of days ago, and my sister’s comment was, “I’ll be when you saw that you said, ‘Thank you, Jesus!’” Unfortunately, my first thought way, “Really?” I had a dismissive and hostile attitude towards her comment. It wasn’t about her. It was about me and my attitude towards life right now. I’m a little burned out. Beauty is something I see, but I don’t appreciate it.
- So as I sit in Colorado and here the opening words of this song I am actually looking at a mountain behind a mountain behind a mountain. I see an awful lot of beauty out there. This song reminds me that I should stand in awe of your ways. The earth and its grandeur is so much more than my life. It is so much more than I can imagine. The way you are weaving history together is so much more that I can imagine.
- Then there is the part of your love that drew me. I remember conviction. I remember the feeling of needing to give myself to your grace. I remember being amazed at your love for me. I’ve lost some of those emotions now. I’m not condemning myself for that because I don’t think we should depend on emotions like that to sustain us. At the same time, it is also not good to live without emotions about you. You are to be worshipped. I should feel awe when I see you.
Chorus:
- You are obviously worthy of praise and great, but the part that catches my attention in this first part is about you being slow to anger. You do get angry, but you are not temperamental. And then, on the back end, you rush to grace. I remember when my children were little I would find myself getting angry with them and then finding it very easy to forgive them. Even now, no matter how angry I might get over something they do (and, make no mistake, I think they are great kids) I find that, when they give an honest, heartfelt apology I am very ready and willing to forgive them. So, while I sometimes feel I am very far off from your standard here I can at least get a little bit of a feel for your love for us (and me).
- The only reason I can even be here praying to you right now is because you have graciously covered me in grace. To quote my sister, “Thank you, Jesus!”
- I can only remember one time in my life where I really felt forsaken by you. You hadn’t forsaken me, and I can now, in fact, see what you were doing at the time, but I felt forsaken at the time and very angry at you. I guess it was the seeing of what you were doing in my life at the time that brought me to the point that, no matter what my life is bringing me, I can’t blame you for it. Even if I am suffering, and even if you are allowing it, I will trust that it fits into your bigger purpose somehow (even if that eventual outcome is to benefit someone else besides me).
So, Father, I offer you my worship. I thank you for reminding me to stop and remember how awesome you are. I thank you for this trip. You know that I’m tired, but I also know that there are so many more people who are suffering more than I am. So help me to be a blessing to those who are suffering. Help to restore my soul. Help my cup to runneth over so that others might benefit. Help my wife and children to have a lovely, peaceful day. Help us all to find restoration to you, to each other, and to others around us.
Emails to God 