Yesterday was "brass line" Sunday which means that me and four other horn players have our opportunity to worship God with our horns stuck in our mouths and give him glory with the gifts and talents he has given us. I have to confess that the music wasn't the jazziest we have ever done, but it left a deep impact in my soul yesterday especially (but not limited to) during the 8 AM service. (Click here to listen)
Shout to the Lord by Darlene Zschech way back in 1993 has left an indelible imprint on my mind which I won't soon forget. It's not that it's nostalgic, it just touches something deep down inside me. I'm not one to get all goose bumpy just because a song brings back memories. In fact, many songs of the church bring back some bad memories to tell the truth.
I could feel the tears welling up inside through out the set, and then after Shout to the Lord, we came to My Savior Lives by Aaron Shust and the tears came out! (you can listen to the song on his website!) In the meantime, check out these lyrics:
My Savior My God by Aaron Shust
I am not skilled to understand
What God has willed, what God has planned
I only know at his right hand
Stands one who is my savior
I take him at his word and deed
Christ died to save me this I read
And in my heart I find a need
For him to be my savior
That he would leave his place on high
And come for sinful man to die
You count it strange, so once did I
Before I knew my savior
Chorus
My savior loves, my savior lives
My savior's always there for me
My God he was, my God he is
My God he's always gonna be
That's me. And that's why I want to shout to the Lord today! Tye out.
3 comments:
Tye,
Actually Dorothy Greenwell wrote the verses to this song, first published in 1873. You have to be old like me to know that!
Deacon dave
Hmmm. I thought you meant Shout to the Lord. Apparently Dorothy wrote part and Aaron wrote part. I checked a couple of websites and they didn't mention Dorothy. Maybe she was following the yellow brick road : )
It's true. Heard an interview with Aaron Shust on the radio. He loved Dorothy Greenwell's words and came up with his own melody and (much later) a chorus for it. IMHO, while the verses are powerful, it's the chorus that makes this song really sing.
From Shust's Lyrics & Song Journal on his website www.aaronshust.com :
"I was reading my "One Year Book of Hymns" and stumbled across a hymn entitled "I Am Not Skilled To Understand" whose words blew me away. I didn't bother seraching for the melody: its obscurity indicated antiquity. So I started from scratch and sang it without the chorus for over a year at our church, which seemed to embrace itas it was. But I wanted to take it over he top. Sitting at a red light one night, a melody of excitement and a lyric that seemed to pull together the concept of Christ, my Advocate, always pleading my case, was born. And the song finally exploded on the choruse like I always knew it should. i do not understand everything, but I know that Jesus Christ loves me and is alive defending me. That calls for a big chorus."
Amen!
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