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A friend of mine sent me this text, saying her church had just sung this hymn and though the music was not very engaging, the words were extremely powerful and would I write a new melody? I read through the text and saw what she was talking about. What a faith-filled hymn! Written by Samuel Rodigast in 1676 to comfort a sick friend, he lays out what it means to deal with the problem of pain from the perspective of faith. Our God is sovereign and full of love, and though he takes us through adversity, his plans are right and true. His promise is that he will not leave us in the circumstance through which he is taking us. Samuel’s response is to trust that God will hold him and to be content through the pain. May we all be blessed with such a response that can only come as a result of the Spirit working in us. I pray this song would help our people through whatever trial God is taking them, knowing that some sweet day, we will all be free from the pain of this world.
Whate’er my God ordains is right:
His holy will abideth;
I will be still whate’er he doth;
And follow where he guideth.
He is my God: though dark my road.
He holds me that I shall not fall.
And so to him I leave it all,
He holds me that I shall not fall.
Whate’er my God ordains is right:
He never will deceive me.
He leads me by the proper path;
I know he will not leave me.
I take, content, what he hath sent.
His hand can turn my griefs away,
And patiently I wait his day,
His hand can turn my griefs away.
Whate’er my God ordains is right,
Though now this cup, in drinking,
May bitter seem to my faint heart,
I take it all, unshrinking.
My God is true; each morn anew.
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrow shall depart,
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart.
Whate’er my God ordains is right.
Here shall my stand be taken.
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet am I not forsaken.
My Father’s care is round me there.
He holds me that I shall not fall,
And so to him I leave it all,
He holds me that I shall not fall.
My good friend and an excellent worship leader at Trinity Church here in Nashville, Dave Hunt, has just released an album full of hymns, new and old called “Ebenezer” after the line in the classic hymn “Come Thou Fount,” which is the first track on the record. It is simple and beautiful in its production. The songs you might not know are done in a way that you can learn them easily, and the ones that you probably do know are arranged creatively to give you a fresh way to lead them congregationally. This is something I always appreciate about the way Dave goes about his albums – he is intentional about making them accessible to the every day worship leader. They’re not too complicated and always produced with the congregation in mind.
He included “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken” on this one and put a little percussion groove on it that makes me happy. You can hear a sample below and download the album or whichever track you’d like here.
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Head over to this page at Reformed Praise to hear this 1772 hymn with a new melody. It is a good holy week text as the second verse focuses on Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and His perfection that is displayed through that intense hour of His life.
Ella Marie Bourque was born on December 12, 2010. She is beautiful and we’re having a blast in the Bourque house getting acclimated to two little ones. I’ve obviously been occupied with weightier matters than blogging, but in my final week at work before she was born, I wrote a new tune with David Ward to an Eric Schumacher Christmas text.
I’ve posted this week’s new music at Reformed Praise again since it’s an old text set to new music. Head here to hear this Horatius Bonar hymn with a new melody and to download a free rough recording and lead sheet.
I don’t know of many texts that express the kind of longing that this one does. The author, Henry F. Lyte, was a man familiar with pain. His father left his mom and younger brother after he sent him off to school. Soon after, his mom and younger brother died. He developed tuberculosis after spending most of his life in poor health. He died at the age of 51.
When reading these lyrics, you can tell he was a man who desired to be somewhere better than this world. He reminds himself over and over that he has a rich inheritance in Christ that he can carry with him throughout his embattled life.
Jesus, I my cross have taken all to leave and follow thee / Destitute, despised, forsaken, thou from hence my all shalt be / Perish every fond ambition, all I’ve sought or hoped or known / Yet how rich is my condition, God and heav’n are still my own
Man may trouble and distress me – twill but drive me to thy breast / Life with trials hard may press me – heav’n will bring me sweeter rest / O, tis not in grief to harm me, while thy love is left to me / O, t’were not in joy to charm me were that joy unmixed with thee
Hasten on from grace to glory, armed by faith and winged by prayer / Heav’n's eternal days before me, God’s own hand shall guide me there / Soon shall close my earthly mission / Swift shall pass my pilgrim days / Hope shall change to glad fruition / Faith to sight, and prayer to praise
This is the free streaming version. To download the fully-produced version that was just released on Reformed Praise’s “Merciful to Me” album, and to download the chart and lead sheet, visit the songs page.
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At Grace Community Church, our pastor Scott Patty finished an exposition of the book of Ephesians in May of this year. As we approached Easter, we came to this text in Ephesians 5:14 – “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Since this part of the text is set apart like a song lyric, Scott (somewhat light-heartedly, but wanting to get a point across) said we should find a song or write a little song for ourselves with these words so that we would remember to wake up to God’s grace and respond by allowing Him to lead us to good works. He re-visited this verse for his Easter sermon, so with a choir and a full team ready to go, I figured it would be a good idea to put the verse to music.
So, here it is as it was recorded Easter Sunday morning. The verses are taken from Romans 6 and the rest of Ephesians 5. Be sure to listen until at least the second chorus, where all the amazing players at my church get going!
We are all sinners / saved by God’s grace / we have died in Christ’s death / and in Christ we are raised / How can we live in the sin we despise / when our old self was crucified?
Awake, O sleeper / arise from the dead / and Christ will shine on you.
(repeat)
For death could not hold Him / He conquered the curse / its power was broken / and our fate was reversed / No longer slaves / we are free, but must fight / take hold of the gift of new life.
The mp3, chart, and lead sheet are available here.
This week, I pull out one of my earliest-written congregational songs. I wrote “Adopted” when I was working for Smarte Carte at the Atlanta Hartsfield Airport during the winter break of ’96 (I was a junior at Belmont University at the time). As I was pulling carts around from place to place, the rhythm of my feet got my mind rolling on a tune and some lyrics, and I just kept singing it all day long so I wouldn’t forget it. I introduced it when I led worship for Centrifuge in Panama City during the summer of ’97, and the producers of the Centrifuge CD that came out the following year included it on an album they released the following summer (produced by my good buddy, Dave Hunt). A few months before that, a worship leader named Daniel Hoover decided to record it on his album, making it my first actual “cut.” Then, during the summer of 1998, a friend of mine traveled with Mercy Me and introduced the song to them. They played it all summer and put it on their “Traces of Rain, Vol. II” album, which, if you hit that link, you’ll see you can only get used for $60 a pop! Makes me want to sell mine! This was obviously before they were heard nationwide with “I Can Only Imagine.”
So, I’m thankful that God took this song all over the place. I played it for the first time in years to make this video, and I still really like it. It’s based on Galatians 4:3-7 where Paul is describing the process by which we were taken from being slaves of the principles of the world to being sons and heirs of God.
Hallelujah! God has spoken, and I know this changes everything / “Hallelujah! Praise Him only,” sing the slaves adopted by the King / Glory be to my Father who reigns, for I met Him and cannot be the same / When in bondage to Jesus I came, He took my place and He changed my name / Hallelujah (women echo) / God has spoken (women echo) / Hallelujah (women echo) / Chains are broken
One of my favorite chapters of the Bible for many years has been Psalm 139. It’s a very intimate song – but not in the way you would think or the way we would naturally write a worship song today. Rather than emphasizing how intimate we want to be with God or what we will do to worship Him and be close to Him, it speaks of how intimately God knows us. “You Are There” focuses on Psalm 139:7-12.
I wrote this in my office at church with Mathew Linton, a friend of mine and one of the most innovative melody writers I know. To listen to more of his stuff (along with Laurianne Cates, the other half of the duo “Boot Hill & the Paramount Ship”), click here.
If I go to the heavens, / or make my bed in the depths, / if I rise on the dawn’s wings, / or make my home on the ocean shore, / You are there, You are there, / You are there. / Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, / Living God, You are there.
If I say, “The dark will hide me / and the light be like the night,” / even darkness will shine like daylight, / for the dark is like light to You. (chorus)
I can pray because You bought me, / and your Spirit dwells within, / and on that mountain, You made a promise / that no matter where I am, (chorus)
Copyright 2009 I Believe So Music / Manicotti Music (ASCAP).
The universal principle of cause and effect is no different in our spiritual lives than it is anywhere else. In the realm of our souls, God’s work is the cause of the effects of life, growth, and change.
James Tealy and I set out to write a song that reflects this reality in the corporate life of the church. The word “arise” is taken from Isaiah 60:1 – “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.” God continues to speak in this chapter through Isaiah to the people of Israel saying that His glory will be revealed, and it will change everything. God’s glory was revealed in Christ, and His work gives us hope for the glorious picture that we see in verse 19 and on: ”The LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.” The hope of God’s glory in the end gives us cause to arise. This is the song that we pray will remind the church of these truths.
Because of His matchless love / because of His healing touch / His glory displayed in His perfect ways / we will arise / because of His Son, the Christ / because of His sacrifice / because He’s erased our guilt with His grace / we will arise / Chorus: So arise all you children of God / lift your eyes and humble your hearts / He alone is deserving, worthy of praise / so arise, O saints, arise / Because of that promised day / when we finally see His face / and bow at His throne, because of that hope / we will arise (chorus)
Written by James Tealy and Jeff Bourque. Copyright 2008 Universal Music Publishing/Cumberland Belle Music/Manicotti Music (ASCAP).
Isaac Watts penned the words to “Jesus Shall Reign” in 1719. I just paused for a moment and realized that these lyrics have been around before the USA was the USA. To still be singing them is both a privilege (that they’ve been preserved) and an encouragement (that this man walked humbly with God 300 years ago, and our church is being built up today because he meditated on Psalm 72).
I decided to write a new melody for it a few years ago, and it has been a joyful addition to many of our corporate worship services since.
To see my post, read the lyrics, and download a free mp3, chart and lead sheet, go to this page at reformedpraise.org. Reformed Praise is a site that I came across 6 or 7 years ago. David Ward developed this site as a place for music and worship leaders to find new melodies to songs with great lyrical content from ages past. We share a vision for these kinds of hymns, so I’m thankful that David has welcomed me to call Reformed Praise my home for the re-worked hymns that I compose. All of his content is free, and you can find many great, theologically rich songs to use there.
Be looking for a post here soon about the new CD that Reformed Praise is now in the process of making.
This is one of those songs that quickly reminds me of my rightful place before our holy God – on my knees, begging for mercy. I think it’s one of my favorites because when I sing it, I feel that mournfulness over wrong choices, and the cry of David’s heart for forgiveness so many centuries ago resonates with me. What a sad, passionate, broken song he wrote in Psalm 51.
James Tealy invited me to come write one afternoon with some brothers (spiritually, and literally – they were siblings) who were spending some time in Nashville. We finished another song they were working on before I got there, and then started and finished this one. I’m thankful we did.
From my mother’s womb I was a sinner / Against You alone I have done evil / Surely you desire truth and wisdom / But I turned away, I hid my face / Purge me and I will be clean / Wash me and I will be whiter than snow
(Chorus) Have mercy on me, oh God / According to Your love / According Your faithful love / Have mercy on me, oh God / Wash my transgressions / Cleanse me from all my sin
I am so ashamed my rebellion / Don’t cast me away, away from Your presence / Restore to me the joy of Your salvation / Open my mouth and I’ll sing your praises / Here is my offering to You / I bring the song of a broken heart (chorus)
Written by Jeff Bourque, Jarod Espy, Jonathan Espy, James Tealy. Copyright 2007 Manicotti Music/Universal Music Publishing/Cumberland Belle Music (ASCAP). All rights reserved.
This song is inspired by a friend of mine and his family who are walking through the dark valley of cancer (read their story at teamemmett.com). Suffering is an inevitable part of the human experience, and its mystery lies in its ability to give us a greater understanding of ourselves, of one another, and of our need for God’s mercy. I’ve never walked where my friend has, and my experience with pain thus far in my life pales in comparison. But I pray that this song will give words to anyone that is going through such a time. And may God’s mercy and healing be with you if that’s where you are.
If it looks like I’m looking just off the camera, I am – I still needed the words for this one.
When thunder is rumbling and black clouds blanket the sun / When the storm winds are blowing and pain like a hurricane comes. / When all that I cling to is shaking, and the ground where I’m standing gives way / I will fall, fall to my knees / And You will hold on to me / Help me hold on to You. / You hold the thunder, Your hands give shape to the clouds / I know You are Sovereign, and You know I need You right now.
You can find the chart, lead sheet, and a better recording here.
Written by Jeff Bourque and James Tealy. Copyright 2010 Manicotti Music / Centricity Music Publishing (ASCAP). All rights reserved.
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? Or who has given a gift to Him, that he might be repaid?’ For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever, amen.” Romans 11:33-36 ESV
This song is a no holds barred quotation of this burst of praise from Paul at the end of the 11th chapter of Romans (excepting the word “inscrutable” – we just couldn’t make that one happen). Paul has just finished writing some of the most argument-provoking words in all of scripture about the destiny of Israel, so it’s no wonder that he wraps it up with these thoughts about the mysteries of God.
This is probably the quickest song James Tealy and I have written together. After toiling over a verse and a chorus of another song for 2+ hours, we had 30 minutes or so left to write. James moved over to the piano, I turned to these verses, and before we left, God had given us this song to remember Paul’s words.
My apologies for the missed New Music Tuesdays! It has definitely been a busy June. I just got back from Russia last week where Ben and I were leading worship for some people over there who are serving overseas. I recruited him to help me on this one during the trip. It comes to you “From Russia with Love.” Sorry. Couldn’t resist.
Everything
Unsearchable, His wisdom / Untraceable, His ways / Who could know the mind of the Lord most high? / Who could ever give Him counsel? / Everything is from Him / Everything is through Him / Everything is to Him / To Him be the glory in everything / (last chorus) Everything is from Him / Everything is through Him / Everything is to Him / To Him be the glory / To Him be the glory / Forever and ever / Forever and ever / Amen / Amen.
