Wednesday 5 March 2008

It Is Well With My Soul

Further to my last post, one thing I have found super, super helpful as a Christian over the last year is Christian music. Particularly music where the lyrics are closely based on the bible. Here are some lyrics from a few of my favourite songs:

The Christ has regarded
My helpless estate
And nailed all my sin,
To the cross that he bore
It is well with my soul
To live now is Christ,
To die would be gain
But Lord ‘tis for thee, for thy coming we wait
It is well with my soul.

Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say
It is well with my soul.



Before the cross I kneel and see
The measure of my sin
How You became a curse for me
Though You were innocent
The magnitude of Your great love
Was shown in full degree
When righteous blood, the crimson spill
Rained down from Calvary

Oh, the precious blood
That flowed from Mercy’s side
Washed away my sin
When Christ my Saviour died
Oh, the precious blood
Of Christ the crucified
It speaks for me before Your throne
Where I stand justified



In the daytime there are stars in the heavens
But they only shine at night
And the deeper that I go into darkness
The more I see their radiant light
So let me learn that my losses are my gain
To be broken is to heal
That the valley’s where Your power is revealed


Songs like these have encouraged and challenged me during what has been a difficult period for a variety of reasons. The main thing it has done has been to remind me that God is in control, and that my priorities and worries need to be seen in the context of a loving God who cares about me. It brings me back to the fundamentals of trusting God and walking the walk, even when I can't see a light at the end of the tunnel.

The bible talks about the power of preaching the word of God, and one way this can be done, and has been done throughout history, is through songs. I'm really glad there are people out there making music based on God's word.

It's also why I don't like Hillsong style music – it might sound great (although that is debateable!) but it often isn't based on the bible. It's more just "Yay, God" or "Yay, me". I was listening to Rhema FM the other week, and they played a pop song (not sure what it was called) but I honestly couldn't tell from the lyrics if it was about Jesus or a boyfriend.

6 comments:

Natt said...

Hey there hun :)
Just wanted to check in and say hey and hope all is going well with you and Ad and the bub :):)
Also wanted to say I loved loved loved your latest posts, thanks heaps for posting the links to the other blogs too - only had a brief look but so far like it loads. :) Ever since the whole marriage/minister thing came up, things have been happening (spiritually...) all good things, somewhat scarey, hard to describe - but best way I can desribe it is I'm one huge step closer to going back to Church. :)
Well m'dear, hope you're awesome, take care and I'll keep an eye on the letter box ;) Catch up with you properly soon!
*big hugs*
XOXOXOX

Anonymous said...
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Alison said...

Hey Natt, that's great to hear! Glad you liked the other blogs, I've only recently started reading them myself but they seem pretty good. I'll be in touch soon...:)

Katzmutha said...

There's this Hillsongs song which the kids at my school really like. It's called "In Your Hands" and is all about (you'd never guess)being in God's hands.It was introduced to the school at least 5 years ago, and has stayed popular all that time.In the early days, I used to have copies of the words on top of the piano and the kids would keep stealing them. I think it's a really good song. But I know what you mean about the words of some songs being too vague.

ud said...

I remember that UT used to do volunteer work at radio Rhema in Orange. He showed me around the studio - lots of machine & tapes. I believe he did announcing, ie a segment. The studio was not far from the Summer Street shops at western end.

Mary said...

Stealing religious music isn't exactly very religious...