Just wanted to share a new song with y’all. I wrote this one this week and performed it this morning at Old North. This is one of those songs that i almost gave up on, and probably would have if i’d had enough time to learn a better song to play instead. As it was, i extensively rewrote the music Saturday night and decided to run with it.
The song is loosely based around the communion table–being that i wrote it for communion Sunday. Other than communion, there were two things that i really wanted to write into the song. One was a clear gospel presentation, and one was the idea of setting up reminders (to ourselves) of the things God has done for us. We see this concept in many places in the Old Testament (specifically Deuteronomy and Joshua) where God commanded the people to place stones and markers–both so that they would remember, but also so that their children would be curious and ask their parents what the symbols meant.
I tried a couple of new things as i was writing this song. One of them is the lyrical repetition. Generally, i try to stay away from that sort of thing when i’m writing. But in this song i really felt like repetition would be a good thing…after all, what is God if He isn’t repetitive in His mercy toward us? On the musical side i ventured into some new territory and played my acoustic guitar with some heavy delay, which is pretty unusual for me. I liked the way it turned out, although i was playing with trembling hands!
Here are the lyrics, and you can listen to the song buy clicking on the play button at the bottom of the post. I’d be happy to know what y’all think.
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Remember
Father Mother, set a marker
So we will not forget the past
Tell your children what God has done
When they come to ask
As you look upon this altar
Remember that He gave all that He had
As you gather at this table
The bread and wine are whispering the fact
That He loves us to the last
(chorus)
Jesus bent His ear to hear us
And came here to restore us to the life
The life that He meant for us
I sing in honor of our Merciful King
And to tell of every merciful mercy
Each one broken, just a token
Of who you and I were meant to be
He was wounded for His kindred
He was bruised for you and me
As you look upon this altar
Remember that His blood paid every cost
As we gather at this table
The bread and wine are whispering the cross
That He traded for the lost
(bridge)
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch, that saved a wretch like me
Amazing love how could it be
That a King would come and bleed for me