It was a lazy afternoon and I was feeling bored, so bored in fact that I had resorted to reading the foreword to Cruden’s Complete Concordance to the Bible. It is an amazing book that took him years to complete and refine yet it represents a testimony to one man’s dedication to developing a tool which has become an indispensable study aid to many generations of Christians. Amazing to think also that with modern technology the same work can be produced in a few hours of computer processing time.
Anyway, getting back to the concordance I happen to notice that in the foreword there is a list of the names of God. I probably would never have found these if I had not been bored! I think Crudens lists some 144 in total. The names and titles of God are the means by which He has revealed Himself to mankind over the ages as each name represents a particular facet of His character. I don’t know if this was intended to be a complete list but it got me thinking and inspired to write a song based around some of those names and some time later ‘Alpha and Omega’ was penned. I think I managed 14 names excluding repetitions and translations
Three men executed by crucifixion, one the Son of God and innocent of all crimes yet bearing in his body the sins of all mankind, one a hardened unrepentant criminal who scoffs and hurls insults all the way to the grave and one other, a man who recognizing Christ for who he is finds repentance in his heart and seeks forgiveness from the Redeemer
The lyrics of the song are spoken by this third man and include his last recorded words and the assurance of forgiveness he receives from the Saviour. With the death of Christ and the re-opening of the gates to paradise a repentant criminal has the honour of becoming the first man allowed back into the garden paradise of Eden thousands of years after the first man, Adam was cast out because of his sin.
For a long time I had wanted to write a Christmas song or to be more precise a song over the events of the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ because there is today an ever increasing gap between the messages of both. The one is a message of commercialism, tinsel and wrappings and a jolly ‘yo ho ho’ festive time of alcohol abuse, over indulgence, loneliness, depression and debt whilst the other is a message of that particular moment in time when God intervened in the history of mankind and the ‘Word became flesh’, God becomes a baby child and dwells among us. What a truly profound and staggering thought!
In the lyrics I hope to have in some measure captured a little of the real story. The loneliness of a couple on a long journey to Bethlehem and the stigma that must have been associated with them after the events of the girls unexpected pregnancy. An anxious father no doubt extremely annoyed with the government of the day for its bad timing of the census and blaming himself for his failure to book accommodation in advance. His sense of utter embarrassment and failure as a husband and ‘father to be’ as he unpacks the suitcase in the stable along with all the other manger livestock guests.
Not far away the restlessness in heaven spills over as the angels burst forth into the scene with songs of glad tidings and great joy. Where? In the local city center? No, in the hills and countryside to an audience of bewildered shepherds. What irony, the most significant event in the history of mankind to date revealed to the most insignificant people in society!
And lastly the moment that Mary gives birth and the baby Jesus draws first breath, the stench of cattle hide! A fitting introduction to the world for it’s Saviour!
If you have ever held a new born child in your arms and the baby grips your little finger with his or her hand you will begin to understand what Mary must have felt when she pondered in her heart that the hands of her little child shaped the universe and the destiny of the worlds and all mankind lay could rest in such tiny hands.
This is the truly remarkable, irony filled truth of the advent of Jesus Christ and the meaning of Christmas. May you truly know in your heart the peace that passes all understanding and the everlasting love of the Christ child this Christmas time.
This is an earlier song of mine dating back to 2001. Lyrically it has been polished up a little but otherwise retains most of its original flavor. The lyrics are based around the Old Testament passage in Job chapter 19 verse 23
“Oh that my words were written down! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with iron pen and lead they were graven in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives and at last he will stand upon the earth… then in my flesh I shall see God.”
Job had experienced a lot of unpleasant things in his life for which he could find no explanation. As far as he could tell he had done nothing to deserve it so why then had this evil struck him and his family. It’s not an easy story to follow and doesn’t always give the answers we hope for or expect but there is much for us to learn from Job’s steadfast faith and belief that one day his Redeemer would come and stand upon the earth and he could then plead his case before Him.
We too look forward with the same certainty and share in the same sure hope of the return of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Story behind the Song: TRIBUTE TO THE MASTER ARTIS
I had an idea at one time to take up art and channel my creative energy through the brush and canvas. Days would go by sitting before a blank canvas which would stare back up at me in bewilderment, wondering when inspiration would strike. In the end I decided that my talent at mixing metaphors exceeded that of mixing paint so I put down the brush, took up the pen and wrote this song instead. It’s a tribute to the Master Artist. If when it comes to songs and lyrics the Lord is the Chief Musician then when it comes to matters of art He must also be the Master Artist.
The work referred to in the lyrics is His ‘Morning’ masterpiece. It’s daily on view in the “Gallery of the Open Air” at a place near you though of course you will need to rise up early as it is best viewed those few minutes just before and after sunrise. It’s a work He faithfully recreates each morning and there is always of course the chance of meeting with the artist at work and sharing in the admiration of His handiwork.
There is a very popular hymn ‘Great is Thy faithfulness’which is based on a verse in the book of Lamentations (chapter 3 v23).While it’s a great hymn I often have thought that the writer picked only the best bits and didn’t do the passage real justice, because if you read the verses in context then a very different picture is painted which makes the statement ‘Great is Your faithfulness’ much more profound indeed.
Jeremiah lived in a time of national trouble. Everything was changing around him or disintegrating to be more precise. The failure of a nation brought Gods wrath and Jeremiah was picked by God to deliver a very unwelcome and unpopular message to a godless people.
God picked him while he was still young and telling him to forget any plans or ambitions for his own life send him off to speak out against a godlessness nation. For the best part of his life he was a source of amusement and an object of hatred to the people around him and spent a lot of his time in prison.
In the passage in the book of Lamentations Jeremiah pours out all his heart full of grief and utter frustration. Self pity abounds as does the feeling that God was picking on him and using him as a sort of punch bag for amusement. Definitely a case of depression and yet in the middle of it all he recalls that there is still hope and because of the Lord’s mercy they are not altogether consumed. He carries on:
“For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness”
Jeremiah sat alone in silence with no one to comfort him but his own thoughts and yet he found solace in a God who would have the final say and in the end uphold his cause.
I spend a lot of time experimenting with new chord shapes and tunings (poor substitute for proper training i know!) and discover most things by accident. Came across two unusual chord shapes ( if your interested and can deciper the binary code they are standard tuning 5 3 4 5 0 0 & 7 5 6 7 0 0). These chords give the song an overall moody jazz feel.
Lyrically i was musing on what life would be like without the Lord and just can't imagine it anymore. So much to be thankful for what God has done and continues to do each day in my life. Its a kind of personal testimoney i guess...
Ask a song writer how they approach song writing and you will receive wide variety of responses. For some it’s a matter of experimentation with chord sequences on a guitar or piano, others will start with an idea and develop the lyric first. Some adopt a very structured and analytical approach whilst others will claim to have written songs on the back of cigarette packets as they are inspired driving along at the wheel of the automobile!
Many different approaches and all equally valid because music forms part of the very fabric of life itself right from the very beginning. It’s recorded that ‘the morning stars sang together and the angels shouted for joy’ (Job 38v7) when the foundations of the worlds were laid.
This song in particular was based around verse 7 in Psalm 32.
You are my hiding place. You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
We are constantly surrounded by songs of deliverance if only we had an ear to hear them. The songs of angels and perhaps even of God Himself. So when I read that some songwriter’s also claim to have ‘plucked songs from the air’, in this context it doesn’t seem too far fetched!
This is one of my more recent songs in the rock genre. The lyrics are based around the first miracle that Jesus performed at the beginning of His ministry in a place called Cana in Galilee. He and his disciples had been invited to a wedding ceremony and the hosts ran out of wine. His mother came to Him for help, no doubt expecting a miracle, and though He was a little reluctant as His time was not quite ready nevertheless he obeys his mother and performs a miracle changing some large jars of full water used for washing hands into the best quality wine.
There must have been some party after that. Maybe it seems excessive but it is a clear demonstration of the measure of the generosity of God and taste of the good things to come!b
As far as I can see this miracle of changing water into wine along with the 2 instances where Jesus feed 5000 and 7000 people respectively, are the only instances of miracles performed for the multitudes, all the rest were miraculous healings of individuals. Perhaps there is some deeper significance of these miracles for the masses as bread and wine would also take on a different and deeper meaning later.
This is a song of mine which has been around for a few years in a draft phase. Musically it was near completion but generally lacked something lyrically so I decided to go back and rework it. I’ve added a second verse and chorus and generally strengthen it’s overall objective. It’s a lyric about the end times as described by Jesus in Matthew 24, a time of shaking of heavens and earth and everything in them. If it is not built on the Rock, Christ Himself, then it won’t be left standing. But there is a way of escape and that is through faith and trust in Christ Himself. Musically the song rattles along at 180 bpm, has an overall jazzy feel to it and should keep the feet tappin’.
| My Profile
Spectrum GT's blogs, last updated : August 1, 2009
