His family was enduring a deep hurt, so he figured there was no better place to go than to a psalmist who had likewise been suffering, and who called out to the Creator-Healer from a deep pit. Psalm 42 was where Randy Gill went in his abject despair, voicing “Deep Calls to Deep” in 2001, when he feared his family just might be disintegrating before his eyes (perhaps metaphorically ending up not unlike what would happen months later to the Twin Towers in New York…see the photo here). Could Randy have known that his own heart’s therapy would also be salve for a much bigger wound for thousands of people, even a nation? Read on to hear in Randy’s own words what ‘Deep Calls…’ meant when he wrote it, as we today remember a memorable, heart-rending day nearly 22 years ago.
Deep Calls to Deep was written in the spring of 2001. Our adult son had been struggling with drug addiction for years and it was devastating for my wife and me. He would visit from time to time and we were never sure when he left whether we'd ever see him again. My wife and I had even had the very difficult conversation about whether our marriage would survive if he died. That spring was especially hard for all of us and I had taken to reading and re-reading Psalm 42. So many of the psalms are laments, but the language of deep calling out to deep really resonated with me. I wrote the song as a way of reminding myself that even in the worst of times, the psalmist was committed to praising God.
ZOE (an acapella singing group) recorded the song in the summer of 2001 and we decided to make lament the theme of our conference that fall. Several of us were dealing with challenges and we thought a conference focusing on the need for expressing our pain to God might be helpful for lots of people. We felt like the church needed to be reminded of the power and place of lament in worship. The conference and the release of the CD were scheduled for the first week of October, but I sent a pre-release copy of Deep Calls to Deep to my friend Larry Mudd who was the worship minister at the Manhattan Church of Christ. He received the song the first week of September. Neither one of us knew at the time how appropriate it was about to become. As far as I can tell, the first time Deep Calls to Deep was ever sung by a congregation was at the Manhattan Church of Christ the Sunday after 9/11.
I’m so humbled and moved that the song has meant so much to people in times of trouble and heartbreak. BTW - my son is now healthy and sober.
What was it that fellow over 2,000 years ago said to a group of Corinthians? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.(2 Corinthians 1:3-4). My misery and healing may be used to help someone else, so pass it along, Paul says. You might call it Grief Share…that’s the name of a ministry that a good Christian sister I know is using to reach others who need it, who need some soul medicine for deep hurts. You may also have heard of Celebrate Recovery; it’s for those who have finally admitted there is something amiss in their lives, and they too want Christian community healing. It all emanates from Him, the One who used His own deep hurt, and an incalculable price He paid, to draw us, His church. Yours might be a deep wound, but our God is a bottomless well of compassion. Thanks to Randy and all of you who serve and love others…you remind us how deep and amazing is our God.
See here some biographic information on the song’s author: Randy Gill | Directory | Lipscomb University
See link here for picture of the World Trade Center destruction in Manhattan in the wake of 9/11/2001: File:FEMA - 3969 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-19-2001 in New York.jpg - Wikimedia Commons (This image is a work of a Federal Emergency Management Agency employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As works of the U.S. federal government, all FEMA images are in the public domain in the United States. Additional media usage information may be found at https://www.fema.gov/photo-video-audio-use-guidelines)
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