ALBUM: waiting for you
May he reign from sea to sea... Psalm 72:8 NLT
This song was co-written with Doug Regehr (co-worship leader and guitar player extraordinaire). He had a musical idea, and we decided to get together to write a song around it, inspired by Canada's official motto, based on Psalm 72:8.
But as for me, I am poor and needy; please hurry to my aid, O God. You are my helper and my savior; O Lord, do not delay. Psalm 70:5 NLT
"Here" is the place where I stop pretending I'm something we're not, where I throw up my hands, and give it all to God - all the stuff I've been trying to keep from showing. We all have our struggles and darkness - it's bewildering to be human! But when we let God in, we can be transformed! I have found myself sitting and waiting for God to come get me and pull me up, and then realize that God had already been reaching for me, waiting for us to take His outstretched hand. The world teaches us to despise our neediness. But God designed us as empty vessels to be filled. Jesus said he is the vine and we are the branches - we are to abide in Him. So we realize who we are without Him, and then what we are with Christ in us - Christ in me the hope of glory!! (Colossians 1:27)
I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High. Psalm9:2 NLT
This song came out of reading Psalm 9 which David wrote as a psalm of thanksgiving for God’s justice. Even when we see situations that are unresolved, we need to praise God and thank Him for what He has done already. David does both in this Psalm - praises God for His wonderful deeds which reminds us of God’s power as the Most High, and calls out to God to continue acting because He is powerful. When we worship God for His power, we’re reminding ourselves that He is able to act in the situations that we feel are hopeless, and we also find it easier then to recall times when He has intervened for us in the past. Praise also increases our ability to find God in the present desperate situations.
I like songs that have declarations of intent in them. Like David, I intentionally began with I will. I will praise you Oh Lord, with all my heart. I will. Even when I don’t feel like it. Because you are powerful and loving, O Most High.
We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 1 John 4:16 NLT
Why do people that love and need one another fight over trivial things? We are so easily distracted from the important things, and our view gets twisted. We are satisfied with so much less than God wants to give us. We focus on issues that aren't ours to worry about, or get caught up in things he's asking us to let go of. Boundaries are so very important, but when we erect our own without involving God to make them strong yet flexible when needed, they become a rigid prison for our own heart.
Sometimes, looking at people problems, they seem utterly hopeless. And yet I believe that the love of God is stronger, and will, one way or another, conquer every 'hopeless' situation. This song was written with a specific situation in mind, one that I have been praying about for many years, and this song continues to be my prayer. As we listen or sing this song, let's join with one another and lift our 'hopeless' situations to the only one who can bring hope, to the One who IS Love. And may God's love conquer all.
Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. Isaiah 43:1b NIV
I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,and he turned to me and heard my cry. Psalm 40:1 NIV
O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name." Daniel 9:19 NIV
But Lord, be merciful to us, for we have waited for you. Be our strong arm each day and our salvation in times of trouble. Isaiah 33:2 NLT
Waiting for God to act in a certain way can be a really long wait. When we let go of our ideas of how things should go down, it usually goes better! This song was written about a specific situation that still remains unresolved, in my mind. It doesn't feel so desperate now, partly because it has been so long, and because I can see ways that God is at work, even though things aren't happening the way I'd like them too.
This song is a prayer that God wouldn't delay, because we're waiting , counting on God to come through for us. We've already been waiting so long to see any progress, it feels foolish to keep asking. We're powerless to change some situations, and sometimes I feel that hard hearts are impossible to melt. Or are they? Could God use them for some other purpose?
Most of the times in our lives, we don't get to see God working in, around, through, behind...God is infinitely resourceful and creative, and I fear that most of the time, I'm not. I'm impatient, linear, fearful and unimaginative. Do it this way, and do it now. But God is big. God's ways are not my ways, there are plans I don't get to see. I will choose to trust, and choose to accept God's timetable.
But thank God who gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57 NLT
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Revelation 7:12 NLT
But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. Acts 20:24 NLT
This song is an expression of my desire for God to use me, and flow out through me to the world. The idea of Grace - that we are forgiven no matter what we've done, and through nothing that we’ve done to deserve forgiveness - is so compelling, and it's really what separates Jesus from any other religious figure. He offers us grace - undeserved, unearned. I couldn't help but start the song with praise, asking for more of God. And realizing that I have to let go of my idea of how my life should go, I pray Open my eyes, open my hands. I need to fill up on You. Then, send me.
All that I need I find in You, All that is broken, You make new; You breathe your life into me, You complete me
When I look around at the needs of the world, I get easily and quickly overwhelmed. Where to start? I have no choice but to go to God, and let Grace wash over it all. As I am filled with Grace and Life, I have something to share.
Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God. Psalm 90:2 NLT
This song is light on lyrics which is quite intentional. I was playing my guitar one morning, just wanting to write a praise song to God. I was sitting, sensing God's presence and nearness, and feeling like I didn't have much to say.
You are GOD. What have I to say?
10 You Alone are God (Psalm 86)
For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. Psalm 86:10 NLT
This song came out of reading Psalm 86. Everyone worships something or someone. It isn’t a question of if you worship, it’s a question of what you worship. This song is a declaration that God is first in my life, above my #1 priority. No one or no thing can take God’s place. God is love, and Love like that cannot be found anywhere else.
Teach me your way, O Lord and I will walk in your truth
Give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name
I will praise you, O Lord, my God
With all my heart, I will glorify your name forever
So great is your love to me, You alone are God
All of the nations you’ve made will come and worship you
They will bring glory to your name for you alone are God
There is no one like you, no deeds compare with Yours
You’re abounding in love, You alone are God
Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders." Deuteronomy 33:12 NIV
This song came from a place of frustration and feeling overwhelmed by all life was throwing at me. God made me aware that I was trying to do everything myself, and I began to sense to surrendering everything (my plans, my hopes, my fears). It was a relief to do so! This idea of resting and letting go returns again and again to me, but each time it's in a new area of life, or it's at a deeper level. It's a challenging lesson, but bottom line, God is Love, and Love is the best place to rest. So this song is a celebration of the realization that I could just lay it all down, give it all to God. It's so simple - just let go of my ideas and plans of how things should be. There is so much freedom there!
The first verse conveys that idea of surrender - take my heart (my emotions, my hopes and dreams, my fears, my love for God and for others), take my will (my plans, my goals, my desire for control), and help me rest in God, sink into that love. And then I pray that I would look to God first (help me seek your face), trusting that all these things would be added to me afterward (Matt 6:33), but whatever happens, my heart will praise God for His love (tune my heart to sing praise).
Then the chorus is just praise. 'Hallelujah' means 'Praise the Lord', and 'Amen' is an affirmation - like a strong 'yes' or 'may it be so'. I used Bless the Lord, my soul (straight from the Psalms) because sometimes we have to talk to ourselves to remind ourselves to do it. And sometimes we have to repeat it to ourselves and others - let me say it again.
The second verse talks about lies - voices that tell us we're alone, and unloved. Those voices, wherever they come from, can make it very hard to rest. They keep us striving...we must be more, do more, get more. But when we realize whose we are, and what we mean to God, then we know that's enough.
The bridge is a reminder to myself of who God is to me. Just in case I was starting to doubt again - God is my Rock, my God, my Hope, My peace. I am loved, I can rest.