Glenn Packiam had seen enough in his native land, and then later in his adopted land, so that he could say “God Who Comes to Save” no matter where he went as he began to serve in Christian ministry in the early 2000s. He’d begun to serve in a Colorado Springs church (see the flag of Colorado Springs here) shortly after getting his ministry degree, but Glenn had been a musician for a longer period, and that was perhaps why he thought so deeply about the effects of worship and chose to write books about it, in addition to writing music. Music and worship are universal, from Malaysia (Glenn’s homeland) to the United States, but the God whom Glenn described in his music goes infinitely further than those two continents where Glenn’s experience had taken him. This transplanted Malaysian-American Christian didn’t need to travel further to make his case for worship’s power in the human experience. He could draw in his own mind pictures from history that testify to music’s potency, and that’s something to keep in mind when you read one of Glenn’s books or sing one of his compositions.
Glenn Packiam hasn’t really said with specificity how he came to write ‘God Who Comes…’, but one can speculate that what he said in his lyrics are likewise at the heart of what he wrote in a 2020 book he authored – Worship and the World to Come: Exploring Christian Hope in Contemporary Worship. There’s a lot of hope in why we sing, Glenn asserts, particularly when we are in seemingly unconquerable situations. Paul and Silas sang while in prison (Acts 16:25), and so much of what happens to us some 20 centuries later must be contextualized the way those two 1st Century disciples did it – by placing an unassailable hope and trust we have in Jesus’ resurrection over top of each of us as we cope with what befalls us. It’s the main theme of Glenn’s book, and also of ‘God Who Comes…’. You hear echoes of it when he has us sing about our ‘world of sorrow’ (v.1); about ‘our brokenness’ (chorus); and about ‘human weakness’, ‘sickness’, ‘shame’, ‘wickedness’, and ‘darkness’ (v.2). But, over and over again, Glenn doesn’t bemoan or wallow in the human condition; rather, he reminds us that Jesus took on all of those human maladies. One could thank Jesus for stooping toward us, to identify as a fellow sufferer with what troubles us routinely, but there’s so much more than just a divine identification. He defeats these things. He ’…comes to save’, a phrase that Glenn uses to title the song and remind us of this fundamental truth. He's ‘rising up’ as the ‘victor’ (v.2); He’s intent on ‘bring(ing)…life again’, ‘giv(ing) us strength’, and ‘light for tomorrow’ (v.1). That’s why we can ‘follow’, ‘pray’, and ‘praise’ Him (v.1).
Glenn adds some of the various names of the God who comes to save, kind of like a postscript to the rest of what he offered in the preceding verses. You just might hear some of these, especially at this time of year when we are reminded of His coming as a babe in a manger. ‘Wonderful Counselor’, ‘Mighty God’, ‘Prince of Peace’, ‘Savior’, and ‘Lord of all’, Glenn recalls from what so many, including the prophet Isaiah (9:6), have said in adulation. The list of names – there are whole books regarding the many names of this God who came to save – remind us just how broad and all-encompassing is His nature. He saves me, and He can save anyone and everyone who wants Him. We all have struggles, the things that we cannot handle, as Glenn reminds us. But, we have Him, too. With this saving God, I can feel safe.
Read some about the composer-author’s musical production here: Glenn Packiam Chords @ WorshipChords.com
Read more about author-composer here: Glenn Packiam - Wikipedia
See this link for some exposition of one of the author-composer’s books re: worship: When Christians Sing of Hope: Glenn Packiam's Worship and the World to Come - Mockingbird
See here for information on the flag picture: File:Flag of Colorado Springs, Colorado.svg - Wikimedia Commons…This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1929.
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