Saturday, January 8, 2011

01/09/11: 40 (U2), Mighty to Save, He is Exalted, Stronger, Christ is Risen, You are My King (Amazing Love)

40 (U2)

Psalm 40

1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the LORD
and put their trust in him.

This song was written directly from Psalm 40, which Gary will be quoting in his sermon this Sunday. Click here to see a clip of U2 playing it at RedRocks back in the glory days. Then, click forward to about 3:45 to see Bono leading the "congregation" like a worship leader.

Mighty to Save

Our catalogue can be divided into three sections: originals, hymns, and familiar songs (leaving out, for the most part, the idea of playing new, unfamiliar songs that weren't written by someone in the band). "Mighty to Save" is at the top our "familiar" list. It is, by most accounts, the most sung worship song in the world today. And it's good to see a worship video with almost 10 million hits. 420 million more and we will have caught up with Justin Bieber. Click Here to view the video ("Mighty to Save", not "Baby ft. Ludacris")

He is Exalted

If you didn't grow up singing this song: 1. God has rescued you from a non-Christian background, or 2. You are young. Either way, you should be informed that "He is Exalted" was the hottest worship jam of 1992, and its lyrics are as simple, singable, biblical, and vertical as a song can get. Sorry Twila, but I set out to find the most dated, embarrassing video of this tune on YouTube, and I succeeded. Click Here and click forward to about 3:00


Stronger

I am amazed every time I see a live clip from the Hillsong conference in Australia. Like "Mighty to Save," this video has the propensity to throw its viewers into a state of worship, right there in front of the computer screen: Click here

Christ is Risen

I love it when this happens. I don't need to tell the story behind the song, because the songwriter has already done it for me. In this video, Matt Maher explains how this song was inspired by John Chrysostom's third century sermon, which details how "Christ used death to destroy death": Click Here

You are My King (Amazing Love)

Chris Tomlin led worship at my church's youth camp, when I was in high school, and I remember always showing up, anxious to hear what new songs Chris had written that year. He wrote songs like "Famous One" and "We Fall Down" while he was at our particular camp, so it was always a thrilling week, especially for the aspiring worship songwriters in the crowd. But Chris is a worship leader first, and a songwriter second. No matter how many new, fresh original songs he had up his sleeve, he always left room for the familiar.
By my senior year of high school, You are My King (Amazing Love) had run its course in youth groups across the country in much the same way that "Lord, I life your name on high" had done in the mid-90s. We hadn't sung it at our youth group for a couple of years, and Chris hadn't sung it at camp since I was a freshman. But one night, after all the new songs had been sung, and it was clear that the Spirit was still moving, Chris began singing this song.

It was like the place had been filled with a breath of fresh air.
Now, if we had been singing "Amazing Love" during the invitation, every night of camp, every year since the song was written (as many Churches did), it wouldn't have had the same impact on the room. But every once in a while, we need to be reminded of the songs that God used to draw us closer to Him at a former stage of life. My prayer is that God will press these lyrics upon your heart in a fresh way, as we sing them together tomorrow morning.

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