As many of you might know, I am no great fan of contemporary Christian music: far too much silly repetition, vacuous choruses, and theological anaemia for me. Give me the great old hymns of yesteryear which were so very rich in biblical and theological truth.
I bring this up again because I was just recently listening to a bunch of Christian music. The story goes like this. I knew that my 8-hour flight to Singapore on an el-cheapo, no frills airline could be a long haul, so I got my sons to help load some Christian songs and hymns onto my phone.
So on yesterday’s longish flight I was listening to these. Just sitting there and soaking in the lyrics of some was a moving experience for me. Sure, I had heard these songs many times before, but some of them drove me to tears. The people next to me on my crowded flight must have thought I had just had something dreadful happen to me!
Let me refer to just two of these songs – one newish, and one older, which especially stood out on that flight. The first is the 1999 song “I Can Only Imagine” by MercyMe. What struck me was some rather important spiritual truth in the chorus especially. In a world of so many trite and fairy floss Christian worship songs, this one seems to have been birthed out of something much deeper.
The song goes like this:
I can only imagine
What it will be like
When I walk
By your sideI can only imagine
What my eyes will see
When your face
Is before me
I can only imagine[Chorus:]
Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagineI can only imagine
When that day comes
And I find myself
Standing in the SonI can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever
Forever worship You
I can only imagine
As I say, it is the chorus that gives evidence of something other than the run of the mill Christian pop song. What will it be like indeed to finally see him face to face? What will it actually be like to see the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? What will it be like to see the Lamb of God who once was slain, but is now a roaring lion?
So much trivial, juvenile and even disrespectful stuff can be found in so many modern worship choruses. But this one starts to get to the heart of things. Standing in awe, falling on our knees, and not even being able to speak may be much closer to our real reaction when that day finally arrives.
Here is a profound sense of the holiness and majesty of God which seems to be lost on so many believers today. He is seen as our buddy, our pal, our mate, and our go-to-guy who is there to meet our every bidding. One recent Christian song even talked about liking Jesus as much as liking ice cream. Sorry, but that does not exactly describe who this Christ is that we worship and serve.
You can hear the song while viewing the lyrics here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xwzItqYmII
The second song that brought moisture to my eyes was an older classic. The story of how this song came to be goes like this:
Annie Hawks wrote: “One day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks. Suddenly, I became so filled with the sense of nearness to the Master that, wondering how one could live without Him, either in joy or pain, these words, ‘I Need Thee Every Hour,’ were ushered into my mind, the thought at once taking full possession of me.”
After writing the lyrics, Hawks gave them to her pastor, Robert Lowry, who added the tune and refrain. The hymn was first published at the National Baptist Sunday School Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio, in November 1872. Some years later, after the death of her husband, Hawks wrote:
“I did not understand at first why this hymn had touched the great throbbing heart of humanity. It was not until long after, when the shadow fell over my way, the shadow of a great loss, that I understood something of the comforting power in the words which I had been permitted to give out to others in my hour of sweet serenity and peace.”
Here it is:
I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.
Refrain
I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.
I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.
Refrain
I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is in vain.
Refrain
I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.
Refrain
I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
O make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son.
Refrain
You can listen to one version of this hymn here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSX7PXEoyLA
The chorus again really touched me. Lately I have been under what can only be described as some real spiritual attack. People claiming to be Christians have assailed me rather viciously just lately, including saying all sorts of patently false and derogatory things about me.
I have no idea what their issues are, but they have been just so nasty in their attacks on me. All I can do is pray for these guys and hope they are able to open up to whatever work Christ wants to do in their lives. Such bitterness, hatred and obsession bespeaks of some big unresolved issues methinks.
So with that in mind, the idea that I need Christ every hour of course rings perfectly true. Indeed, it does not go far enough. I need Christ every minute. In fact I need him every second. Without him I am toast. I cannot go on without his continuous presence, grace and strength.
The longer I live the Christian life, the more I realise that it is Him, and Him alone, that has sustained me, strengthened me, protected me, enabled me, equipped me and used me all this while. It certainly has nothing to do with me, a weak, broken vessel that anyone else would have said about, ‘Don’t bother with that one.’
So it is great to be sustained and uplifted by some of these great hymns and by some of the better contemporary Christian songs. We need to regularly feed on such great music, along with regular prayer and feeding on the Word of God.
http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/n/ineedteh.htm
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