“So don’t you find it strange; That God He made four seasons; And only one spring”
-Chris Renzama, “Let the Ground Rest.”
A well-written line from a very good song. The musicians in the video wearing masks adds a poignancy to the lyrics also. What a year it’s been of difficult waiting for so many. In many ways this past year reminds me of one of the reasons for the Babylonian captivity – the failure of Israel to let the ground lie fallow and enjoy its sabbaths (2 Chron 36:21). So God intervened and gave the land seventy years of sabbaths. Perhaps in our mad rushing around, this year (or two) of global pandemic is God forcing a restless the world to actually rest and let some things lie fallow for a while.
Regardless, I know that I often need the reminder this song provides to rest and trust in God’s slower-than-I-expected timing.
Many believers hear an occasional voice that tells them that life would be better if they would chuck it all and run away from God and from their believing community. I know I have heard this voice at times. This song weaves together the logic of Romans 8 and Psalm 139. Where can we possibly run from the God who is everywhere, from the God who even dwells within us? And why would we want to run when he’s already told us that nothing can separate us from his love? Running, far from delivering the kind of peace we are looking for, would instead make us miserable because of the dogged pursuit of the Spirit – who would lovingly never let us go. And he would be kind and right to deliver us from our temporary insanity. I know this thought has stabilized me during particularly discouraging moments. I am helped by this song when it comes around on my playlist, then today I found a medley where John Mark McMillan merges it with the song, “Stand by Me.” Listen for the transition at 4:26. So good!
There is not a man or a beast Nothing on the land or underneath Oh, nothing that could ever come between The love You have for me
I could lay my head in Sheol I could make my bed at The bottom of the darkness deep, oh But there is not a place I could escape You
Your heart won’t stop Coming after me (Coming after me) Your heart won’t stop Coming after me (Coming after me) Your heart won’t stop Coming after, coming after me
There is not an angel of the stars There is not a devil in the dark Oh, nothing that could change The way You are, the love You have for me
I could lay my head in Sheol I could make my bed at The bottom of the darkness deep, oh But there is not a place I could escape You
Your heart won’t stop Coming after me (Coming after me) Your heart won’t stop Coming after me (Coming after me) Your heart won’t stop Coming after, coming after me
I really appreciate this song which explores Peter’s betrayal of Jesus – his pride on the front end and his lament afterward. It helps me also remember and lament the ways in which I too have denied Christ. There is comfort in knowing that Christ knows all along – just as he did for Peter – how we will fall. And that he mercifully continues to grant us the promise of true repentance, “when you turn…” Peter’s denials and restoration offer great hope for all of us.
Some select lyrics:
When she asked her question
That servant girl she broke my heart
I knew she was the message
That You had spoken all along
And two behind her followed in the prints her feet had made
Said they’d seen me walking with You, said my tongue gave me away
But I swore against their charges, claimed You I’d never known
Just in time to hear the bird You promised, lift its head and crow
I appreciate how the serious themes of this song contrast with the upbeat reggae style. It’s this kind of unexpected juxtaposition that makes me want to lean into a song. The music is feel-good music (reminds me of my youth in reggae-loving Melanesia), but the lyrics deal with those times when we are feeling anything but good. Anxiety, spiritual depression, and emotional chaos push the song writers, and us, to desperately seek refuge somewhere. Will we find our refuge in the One who offers himself to us unconditionally, regardless of the state of our emotions and feelings?
Check out “Hiding Place” by Chris Howland on the YouTube link above.
A friend I’ve been praying for for three years came to faith a few days ago. We were completely surprised. His best friend and I met with him at a coffeeshop as he confessed his brokenness and sin and need for true faith. Among the passages we looked at together was Luke 15, the parable of the lost sheep and the rejoicing of heaven when one sinner repents. This is likewise a song of celebration. I love how this song steadily builds musically, grounded in the lyrics of praise from Revelation 19:1. Make sure to listen to the whole thing, especially for the transition at 2:35 and for what comes around the 4:20 mark.
I can hardly listen to this sound without tearing up. Imagine the kind of musical beauty and worship coming in heaven.
For the second year in a row now we have greatly enjoyed The Oh Hellos Christmas Album. If there are others out there who also find themselves strangely moved by contemplative and festive indie folk music infused with biblical themes, be sure to check out this album.
When I saw the title of this song, “O Come, All Ye Unfaithful,” I thought it was a typo. But just before I texted my pastor who sent out the service plan to make a joke about it, I decided I’d look it up, just in case it actually was a real song. Not only is it a real song, it’s an amazing song.
O come all you unfaithful
Come weak and unstable
Come know you are not alone
O come barren and waiting ones
Weary of praying, come
See what your God has done
Christ is born,
Christ is born
Christ is born for you
O come bitter and broken
Come with fears unspoken
Come taste of His perfect love
O come guilty and hiding ones
There is no need to run
See what your God has done
He’s the Lamb who was given
Slain for our pardon
His promise is peace
For those who believe
So come, though you have nothing
Come He is the offering
Come see what your God has done
“O Come, All Ye Unfaithful” by Sovereign Grace Music
This week some of my teammates were able to lead a local man to faith after studying the Bible with him and his wife for a couple months. His profession? “I believe this. This is true. What do I need to do?” His wife has not professed faith yet, but she is close.
The angels rejoice at one sinner who repents. We are rejoicing here at this answered prayer. Here is an appropriately celebratory song!
There was about a decade where I gave up on listening to Christian music outside of worship times in church settings. All the peppy and shallow CCM had left me pretty disillusioned with the whole Christian music scene. But during that period, whenever I happened to hear my friends listening to Sojourn Music, a quiet hope was kept alive that solid truth could indeed be wed to skillful music that stirs the soul. For that, I am incredibly grateful. The powerful effect on my spiritual affections of eventually recovering the importance of tasting God’s beauty through music is one of the reasons I post a song every week.
How can we stay silent
When the noise of praise has gone?
Our tongues can't dare keep quiet
Til His Righteousness shines like the dawn
How can we grow tired
When his return is nigh?
The skyline will burn bright again
Like a diadem on the crown of Christ
A brand new name,
Straight from the mouth of God,
The orphaned ones now take
Through the waning years He preserves His own
In a City No Longer forsaken
How can we not clear the way
With such open grace?
How can we withhold our prayers
To the God who spares all who His seek His face?
A brand new land
Tilled by his tender hand
the thorns and thistles break
From the desert sand the harvest comes
In a city no longer forsaken
Unbend the road, the Savior rides!
Send up the signal high
Over the gravel waste, His highway runs
In a city no longer forsaken
Every door will be stained with Salvation's name
In a City no Longer Forsaken
Songs like this remind me of the outlandish promises of God – and that they are still true, even if outlandish. The food and the water are for those without money? A place at the table for the unworthy? Surely not! Yet that’s exactly what grace is.
It is not as we've seen,
it is not as we've read,
it is not as they've said.
How we need to forget,
we need to reset
and be like children again.
Are you hungry and have no money?
You can sit at this table.
Are you thirsty and unworthy?
You can draw from this well.
Are you weak, are you poor are you wanting for more,
in the quiet of your heart?
To yourself you say I wish someone would pass my way,
and give me a new start.
Sweetheart, stop cutting your sweet arms,
no hope, smoking dope and drinking your life away.
lets dance and sing, lets eat from the tree,
Come down to the river with me.
It may be too good to be understood,
but its not too good to be true.
From the dust we came,
to the dust we all will go.
We brought nothing with us,
we'll take nothing on,
Heaven knows keep in mind,
it'll take a little time,
But darlin' you're gonna find where you came from.
Don't let your eyes deceive your heart,
believe the best is yet to come.
It may be too good to be understood,
but its not too good to be true.
He may be too good to be understood,
but he's not to good to be.
Entrusted to the Dirt 