Your Presence Is Heaven to Me -- Israel Houghton and Micah Massey

 

How many of us Earth-ers have wished that the Righteous Judge would make a physical appearance at one time or another? Could that have been what Israel Houghton and Micah Massey were also mulling over, as so many of us do on a particularly tough day? But rather than bemoaning the state of terrestrial affairs, Israel and Micah saw themselves in contact, in awe, and at least momentarily transported to an unblemished vision, when they exclaimed that “Your Presence Is Heaven to Me”. Perhaps that’s what three of His Apostles also experienced – that they were seeing a piece of Heaven when they saw Jesus transfigured with two other famous people (Moses and Elijah) of their heritage (see the 19^th Century artwork, The Transfiguration of Christ, by Carl Bloch here). Suspend the limits that your five senses coax you to accept, and imagine what it’s like to be with Him, as you and I hope and believe we will be in that never-ending place. It’s called heaven, and as Israel and Micah remind us, His presence is here now.

 

These two writers don’t share explicitly what spurred their song’s lyrics and music (which were published in 2012), but any number of scriptures might have contributed to the insights of Israel and Micah regarding His presence. ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done…on earth as it is in heaven’, as Jesus was once teaching a group of disciples to pray (Matthew 6:10). Or how about ^‘I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life’ (1 John 5:13). In both cases, believers seem to be told that His kingdom, and the eternity that comes with it, is available already. Try on these also, as they help convey something of the song lyrics’ meaning (as pointed out in one of the links below): Psalm 16:11; Exodus 33:14; Psalm 27:4; Psalm 42:1-2; Matthew 18:20. God’s presence is not some distant uncertainty, but a trustworthy promise. He answers and provides, even by giving people other mortals with whom they can share and count on His abiding presence. That’s a present-tense assurance that Isaiah and Micah realized when they wrote ‘Your Presence Is Heaven to Me’. Is…not will be, as they have us sing some 21 times in the song that they wrote. That is their main thought, that the believer should capture the moment one senses Him spiritually, and hold on to that. There is so much that comes with pondering Him and what He means. ‘Love’, ‘beauty’, and ‘worth’ (v.1) are what we can behold in Him, and He’s the bottomless ‘cup that won’t run dry’. The ‘treasure’ that He is overcomes my ‘weakness’ and ‘wrongs’, because he is ‘merciful’, the ‘Redeemer’ – the ‘Holder of my future’ (v.2). It’s not a wonder that Isaiah and Micah don’t try to enumerate more – the above are plenty for you and me to acknowledge with an Amen, as we sing repeatedly the song’s title words!

 

Put yourself in the shoes of Peter, James, and John as they saw Jesus in all of His glory. Look at that image up at the top of this entry for a few moments, or close your eyes if that’s more effective. When has He been real for you? When you were in dire straits, medically, financially, emotionally, or relationally? He doesn’t play favorites, but He does seem to want us to acknowledge our need and exercise some bit of faith in Him, even a mustard-seed size type of faith (Matthew 17:20, Luke 17:6). None of us measure up to His standard, and I expect to be terrified, at least initially, when I actually am before Him. Look at how his three closest disciples reacted to Him (in the picture), including in many other episodes in which He showed His power. They were petrified, and yet He embraced them, and wants us to draw near despite our insides telling us to withdraw and hide. He cannot help being divine, and thereby alarming us. But, He is also gentle (Matthew 11:29; 21:5). What I need is not to be hidden and safe from a power that I admittedly cannot comprehend, but to see my need for His cure. There’s no other way out of my problems. He made me, so I think I can trust that He knows what I need. Seek out His presence.      

 

Read about one of the composers here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Houghton

 

Read about one of the composers here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micah_Massey

 

Watch/listen to a performance by one of the composers here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aff5lPzKQIo

 

Read some comments about the song’s meaning here: https://sifalyrics.com/israel-houghton-israel-new-breed-your-presence-is-heaven-lyrics

 

See information on the image here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Transfigurationbloch.jpg …This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. {{PD-US}} – US work that is in the public domain in the US for an unspecified reason, but presumably because it was published in the US before 1930. The image may be found inside the article at this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus

You Were There -- Ben Glover

Ben Glover was still in the early years of his music-writing career in 2004, but he was a more seasoned human being (he was 26 years old), and so the things that challenge mortality most were certainly not foreign to him. Two biblical episodes in which lives were threatened evidently struck Ben especially, and so he tried to imagine what it would have been like if someone had said “You Were There”. From his home in Nashville (the author-composer had moved to Nashville in 2000, so he may have been in Tennessee when he wrote “You Were There” that was released in January 2004; see the seal of Nashville here), Ben transported himself thousands of miles away and centuries apart from his own world in order to visualize a couple of scenes when the Great Protector-God was present to give confidence to two of His servants. And then in a third scene, this same God became the one who’s life was in the balance. Ben concluded that he could trust this God, since He was there in all three scenes. He can not only appreciate and empathize with us in similar moments, but He absorbs those moments and ultimately overpowers them for us.   

 

Ben Glover was perhaps reading about or had been aware of stories in the Bible, probably for many years, when he decided to make them the focal point of “You Were There”. Though Ben hasn’t related what circumstance drew his attention in this song-writing episode, the lyrics he penned cannot be explained except in the context of some biblical story knowledge upon which Ben drew. That much we could say for certain. Was someone nearby in danger, also? Could Ben have been watching a rerun of the old television series You Are There, hosted by Walter Cronkite, imagining a different era in history and what it would have been like to be present? Certainly, Ben was doing something like that when he thought about David and Goliath, about Abraham and Isaac, and about Jesus in the throes of death at Calvary. Those three incidents grabbed Ben’s attention, no doubt because someone’s life was in danger in all three.  ‘David stood to face Goliath’ (v.1); ‘Abraham…poised to kill’ his own son, Isaac (v.2); and especially Jesus ‘on a cross’ all told Ben that God has control over life and death, even His own. Matthew 27:50, Luke 23:46, and John 19:30 all indicate that Jesus, even while on the cross of crucifixion, chose when to die; no one took His life or even had the ability to do so (John 10:17-18). Ben said in his poetry ‘I wonder’ or ‘imagine’, but didn’t spend a lot of words using the first person ‘I’; instead, he used ‘you/yours’ – 40 times in the song – most often as he addressed God directly. Ben’s attention was riveted upon God. God was/is/will be so many things to so many people, it just makes sense to talk to Him, and to see oneself in relation to who He is.   

 

If you check out the Cronkite-told stories of history, they allow one to see and hear a rendition of episodes that none of us living in the 21^st Century, except for the most-senior citizens who are still alive to tell of World War II or early Cold War incidents, have actually witnessed personally. You can be there, in a sense. And, we get the advantage of hearing Walter’s resonant baritone narrating the activity (see an image of Walter Cronkite here). Notably, none of the stories told in the five seasons of You Are There are from the Bible. Is it because they were too controversial when the show was produced, and so executives decided not to ‘push the envelope’ and risk   shrinking viewership? It doesn’t matter, really, since God was there. And, I don’t need to audibly hear someone mimic His voice and tell me what to believe. Can you and I believe without seeing and hearing, tasting and touching, or smelling? My five senses aren’t necessarily engaged when I trust God (although I do read my bible to know about Him), and it seems that neither were Ben Glover’s. How about yours?  

 

Read about the author-composer here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Glover

 

The following site indicates the release/publication date of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmhiRX89FTM

 

See information on the old TV show here: You Are There (series) - Wikipedia

 

See information on the graphic here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seal_of_Nashville,_Tennessee.png …This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1930 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice. For further explanation, see Commons:Hirtle chart as well as a detailed definition of "publication" for public art. Note that it may still be copyrighted in jurisdictions that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works (depending on the date of the author's death), such as Canada (50 p.m.a.), Mainland China (50 p.m.a., not Hong Kong or Macao), Germany (70 p.m.a.), Mexico (100 p.m.a.), Switzerland (70 p.m.a.), and other countries with individual treaties. This graphic may be found inside the document here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville,_Tennessee

 

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What Wondrous Love Is This? – Anonymous

Awe, and perhaps one might have said bewilderment, too. That’s what this anonymous songwriter was trying to convey when he or she wrote “What Wondrous Love Is This?” sometime in the early 19^th Century. The question that was asked is still one that is worthy of consideration even today, because no one can claim to have completely understood the mind of Him who gave His all for a fallen race. The answer to the question lingers unresolved, just as the origin of this hymn does, though there is some evidence that it might have come from somewhere in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States (see the map-graphic showing this area). It’s an ages-old theme that even scripture struggles to expose in a way that makes the mortal human understand. He loved. That’s it, but it’s packed with meaning, because this is a divine love. So, there is a point at which we humans cease trying to sort it all out, and we just live faithfully as best we can, knowing that we cannot live up to His standard nor answer with complete comprehension the ‘Why’ question. But, it is of no matter, because His love-act doesn’t require our perfection or our total grasp and ability to answer Him. Just accept His gift of love, and show it to others, with a certain astonishment. That’s all we humans can manage.   

 

‘What Wondrous Love Is This?’ has traditionally been counted among the innumerable works in the American folk hymn tradition. At least two sources suggest the song may have originated with someone in Appalachia; this possibility seems credible because of its first known publication in a collection known as A Ge­ne­ral Se­lect­ion of the New­est and Most Ad­mired Hymns and Spir­it­ual Songs Now in Use, by Stith Mead, which was published in Lynch­burg, Vir­gin­ia (of the Vir­gin­ia Con­fer­ence of the Me­thod­ist Epis­co­pal Church) in 1811. But, the author of its words remains unknown, as well as the particular circumstance that inspired the original poetry of seven verses. We can only speculate that this poem set forth the feelings of the author as he/she read a bible and was struck again and again by the concept of Godly love expressed in the Messiah. And, it wasn’t just a theory, was it? That He died for all humanity still confounds people today, even some in a tragic way that makes them doubt and refuse to accept what Christians hold to be true. After all, how could the Omnipotent One allow Himself to be killed, and in such a gruesome and shameful way? The author does not spend any more than the initial verse asking this burning question, and then spends the subsequent six verses extolling what He has done and its impact on those who receive His great gift – from the moment of belief to the first steps into eternity. Spread the news and join in the praise of what He did, even as ‘seraphs’ (v.3) do to acknowledge and serve Him. The author says repeatedly that he will sing in response (vv.4-7), and perhaps that is the basic message here: Just sing and give thanks.  

 

The song has a haunting quality to it, because of the key (D minor), as well as the question in the first verse that is also the song’s title. It can give my life some sense of how to approach daily living. I live with awe and wonder, and should always be trying to bring others into the same realization – that life with or without Him brings a gravity that cannot and should not be ignored – it’s one of profound and forever punishment if I do not choose Him, versus one that will bring eternal blessing and utter delight in being with Him and others who accept Him. You and I get to choose now, for that is part of the life experience, isn’t it? Do you prefer evil, or would you prefer someone who was willing to sacrifice for you? Try reading these passages: Jeremiah 31:3; John 3:14-18; Numbers 21:8; Galatians 3:13-14; 1 John 3:1; Revelation 1:5-6. Then ask yourself, how amazing is what He’s done, and why would you not want to be with someone so amazing for the rest of existence, for the rest of time in eternity? It’s a no-brainer, is it not?

 

 

See more information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990.

 

See also here for information on the song: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/w/h/a/t/w/whatwond.htm

 

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