It was
about obedience, in the face of an episode in which he felt a bit vacant.
That’s how Wayne Watson really says he felt about the circumstances of
“Almighty”, which he wrote as a 36-year old in 1990. How can a guy admit that
he really wasn’t in the best of places when he wrote something that says God is
supreme? Did he really mean it, especially when he relates what was going on in
the background of his life? From what he says about how he regarded the song
later on when talking to his professional associates, Wayne still was skeptical
of this song’s pedigree. But perhaps the response of this author-composer in
the face of less-than-optimum conditions – that he obeyed His God’s leading –
says the most about what makes a musical invention flourish.
There were
several hurdles that might have stopped Wayne Watson from writing and
publishing the song ‘Almighty’ between its germination and its completion. And
yet, there were other factors that overcame these impediments. Wayne shares
that he and his family were grieving the death of a close friend, someone whose
departure, by human standards, was premature. That she left four daughters might
make someone question how a compassionate God could allow this. Frankly, that’s
where Wayne and his family were, with a sense that prayers were being unheard.
Nevertheless, Wayne’s conviction that God is sovereign compelled his obedience –
and his response to this by writing the words and music of ‘Almighty’. Unlike
what one might expect would be a difficult slog, Wayne relates that instead ‘Almighty’
emerged swiftly as he sat and composed at a piano. His submissive spirit created
the words and music that Wayne says salved his deep hurt over the following
days and weeks. Months later, however, he was reluctant to let two of his song
publishing friends believe ‘Almighty’ was really suitable for broader use. He
felt it was too different, and told them so. Despite this, they immediately responded
upon hearing it that the song was a winner, and needed to be heard. Through
their encouragement, and by using it in concerts and in other venues, Wayne
Watson’s personal response to bereavement gained rapid and wide approval. You
can hear Wayne pondering the situation in which he found himself in some of the
words in verse 2 – ‘… a darkness has covered the earth’. It is a dark place
when someone close dies. And yet, Wayne felt charged to offer his God what is
His due – praise, even in the midst of gloom. The noises of the ‘beasts’, ‘birds’,
and ‘rocks’ (v.1) would not be an adequate substitute for a man’s song to Him. Even
the ‘hopeless’ (v.2) can look forward to a regenerated life, and have reason to
‘dance and sing’. It might not seem like it when death descends, but Wayne reasoned
that He’s still ‘Almighty’.
Wayne had
evidently concluded that God can work even in circumstances that that kill us
mortals. That makes His power something special, unique, in fact supernatural. Miraculous
is what you and I need most when it counts. I and others left behind to shed
our tears, offer comfort to the family, and try to muddle through and pick up
the pieces have ‘no choice’ (v. 1), as Wayne says, but to offer ourselves to
this miraculous God. Does any other being make the promise that He does, backed
up with a personal visit, sacrificial death, and renaissance to cement the
pledge he bids you and I should accept? If it’s not true, but a hoax, where do
I turn? No other place, in short. So, if He’s the only one who offers what I
need, what else needs to be said? If He’s Almighty and Glorious, I win BIG if I
believe and He’s true; if I don’t believe and He’s true, my loss is incalculable.
If He’s fake and I believe Him, what have I lost in Eternity? Nothing, since no
one else is offering what He does. If He’s fake and I don’t believe Him, what have
I lost in the forever-world? Again, nothing, since I chose to take my stand on nothing.
Do you see what Wayne and others who believe in Almighty are saying? Make your
stand with the Glorious, Almighty. What have you got to lose when death calls
your name?
A source for the song story is the book “Celebrate Jesus:
The Stories behind Your Favorite Praise and Worship Songs”, by Phil Christensen
and Shari MacDonald, Kregel Publications, 2003.
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