Our King Walked Among Us, Carrying His Cross

 I wrote this song last year, when our church participated in a "Cross Walk" organized by ten local churches, to celebrate Good Friday by carrying a cross around to different churches, and at each church sharing a brief moment of reflection on the meaning of Good Friday.  I am quite confident that when Jesus told us to take up our crosses and follow him, he didn't have this kind of cross carrying in mind, but the question of what he did mean, and what that instruction means for us today is something I still ponder.  This song represents part of my attempt to grapple with that.

Our King Walked

Our King walked among us,

Carrying his cross.

He'd been whipped and beaten,

And it seemed all hope was lost.

But he won the battle

When he died upon that tree –

He gave up his life for you and me.

Our King died among us,

Nailed upon that cross.

He cried out, "Forgive them"

As the dice were tossed.

He cried, "It is finished" 

As he took his final breath.

He brought us salvation with his death.

Our King said to follow

And to carry our cross

To love one another

Whatever the cost.

To pray for our enemies

And leave all hate behind.

To love God with all our heart and soul and strength and mind.

Our King walked among us,

Carrying his cross.

Psalm 130

 This isn't really my song, but one someone taught me years ago when I was in college, sometime between 1973 and 1975.  I have no idea now who wrote the tune.  I wanted to share it with some folks, and so I made a video.  The words are pretty much straight King James.

Psalm 130

Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord.

Lord hear my voice

Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

If Thou Lord shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand

But there is forgiveness with Thee that Thou mayest be feared

I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait and in His word do I hope.

My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning

I say more than they that watch for the morning.

Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy

And in Him is plenteous redemption

And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities

And He shall redeem Israel from all his sins.

The Belt of Truth

 Something like 28 years ago, a close friend was given a vision in which God gave him the Belt of Truth.  I was jealous.  "Me too, God. Why don't I get cool visions like that?"  And as long as I was praying for the belt of truth, I figured I might as well ask for the rest of the armor of God at the same time.

Why the focus on the belt of truth?  Well, partly it was my envy of my friend's vision.  But also it is perhaps the aspect of the armor of God that I struggle the most with.  It is so easy to shade the truth so that I make myself look better.  But that is not the total trust in God that I believe we are called to in this concept of spiritual armor.

I don't make a practice of religiously praying for this armor to be applied to me every day, but I do try to walk in the full meaning of each piece of the armor in all of my life.

At any rate, the subject came up recently, and I realized that I had not shared this particular song on the Internet.

   The Belt of Truth

I want to be ready for battle today

Wearing the armor that helps me to pray

Yielded in all that I am to your truth,

Lord, give me the belt of truth

And strip all the lies away

All my defenses, all my pretenses

Let me walk in the light of day

Give me the belt of truth

Only Your righteousness guarding my heart

Faith as my shield against fiery darts

Your gospel of peace as my shoes for my feet

O Lord, make my love complete

And strip all the lies away

All my defenses, all my pretenses

Let me walk in the light of day

Give me the belt of truth

With Your salvation protecting my head

Your Word the manna with which I am fed,

Your Word of life as my sword for the fight

Lord, help me to walk in light

And strip all the lies away

All my defenses, all my pretenses

Let me walk in the light of day,

Lord give me the belt of truth.

The Mercy Seat

I wrote this quite some time ago, but never published it to YouTube.  I shared it with a Bible Study group and a friend encouraged me, "Time to get it up."

The Mercy Seat

I want to meet at the Mercy Seat

I want to stand in Your Presence

Under the wings of the Cherubim

There at your feet, at the Mercy Seat

Where the streams of life are flowing

From beneath the throne of God

And your grace and mercy fall like rain

On your people, Lord.

 I want to meet at the Mercy Seat

I want to stand in Your Presence

Under the wings of the Cherubim

There at your feet, at the Mercy Seat

Though I cannot always feel You

And I often do not see

I can boldly come before You

And receive Your love.

 I want to meet at the Mercy Seat

I want to stand in Your Presence

Under the wings of the Cherubim

There at your feet, at the Mercy Seat

Here at your feet at the Mercy Seat.

Better Than I Know Myself

 

I tried posted this back in 2021, but was using a different way to post the song, which subsequently disappeared.  Now I am soon going to preach about Jesus predicting Peter's denial (Mark 14:27-31) and this song becomes relevant again.

God knows us completely, and still loves us. And that's amazing.  The Bible tells us that even when we were sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). And in 1 Corinthians 13:12 there is a wonderful promise that while things are hard for us to fully comprehend now, the day will come when we will know fully, even as we have been fully known.  I wrote this a long time ago, but it has come back to my mind and heart recently.

You know me

You know me better than I know myself

You know me better than I know myself

You know me better than I know myself

And you still love me

You know me better than I know myself

And you still care.

You know my sins.

You know my selfish pride.

You know my shame.

The things I've tried to hide

You know the worst there is to know

The things I haven't even learned

You know the truth I've twisted from and turned

And still You came and still You died.

You know me better than I know myself

You know me better than I know myself

You know me better than I know myself

And you still love me

You know me better than I know myself

And you still care

The day will come.

I'll see you face to face.

No place to hide

But in Your love and grace

Then I will stand before your throne

All my pretenses overthrown

And I will bow before the truth I'm shown

Then I will know 

As I've been known

I'll know You better than I know myself

I'll know You better than I know myself

I'll know You better than I know myself

And I'll sing glory

I'll know you better than I know myself

And I'll sing praise.

Deep Secrets

 I've been reading The Passion Translation of the Bible lately, and it draws out the sense that God intends for us to know Him deeply, immediately, and intimately.  When a Bible study that I participate in came to 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, I was touched and began scribbling down this song.

Things beyond our ability to imagine—

These are the many things God has in store 

For all his lovers.

But God now unveils these profound realities to us by the Spirit.

Yes, he has revealed to us his inmost heart and deepest mysteries

Through the Holy Spirit, who constantly explores all things.

—1 Corinthians 2:9-10 

Deep Secrets

Deep secrets, mysteries unbounded

Lord, take me deeper, over my head.

Love all around me, more than I can fathom.

How can I know things that cannot be known?

You give your Spirit

Over and around us

Give us the mind of Christ.

How can a bucket ever hold the ocean?

Still, help me know more of the mystery of grace.

Deep secrets, mysteries unbounded.

Lord, take me deeper, over my head.

Love all around me, more than I can fathom

How can I know things that cannot be known?

O Lord take me deeper than I've ever known.

Deep secrets, mysteries unbounded.

Lord, take us deeper, over our heads.

Love all around us more than we can fathom

How can we know things that cannot be known?

O Lord take us deeper than we've ever known.

Kingdom Call

This is a song I wrote quite some time ago, but it has recently floated up to the top of my awareness. 

I'm not entirely sure what it means to pray "Thy Kingdom come..."  It is surely more than this, but maybe not less.

Lord we want to know You better 

Long to see You face to face 

Let Your presence overwhelm us 

Help us understand Your grace 

     

        We are praying for Your kingdom 

         That Your will be done on earth 

         Let the kingdom call within us Come to birth. 

 Father, bring a revelation 

So our hearts and minds can see 

Who You are and what You've promised 

Come and set Your people free 

        We are praying for Your kingdom 

        That Your will be done on earth

        Let the kingdom call within us 

        Come to birth.

I'm not entirely sure what it means to pray "Thy Kingdom come..."  It is surely more than this, but maybe not less.