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

 

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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

 

See information on the image-map here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Appalachia_without_county_borders.svg …English: Map of Appalachia, red covers counties in the Appalachian Regional Comission, dark red covers "Consensus Appalachia" by John Alexander Williams, striped counties are not ARC counties. 19 February 2024…The person who associated a work with this deed has dedicated the work to the public domain by waiving all of their rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. This image is found inside the document at this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachia

 

Victor's Crown -- Darlene Zschech, Israel Houghton, Kari Jobe

 

Their ‘vision’ defied what their eyes would have told them. There’s another way to say that – ‘Don’t believe what your eyes are seeing’. And so, try reading from the International Standard Version of the Bible when you look up John 19:2-5, and notice how it’s different than virtually all of the other translations. That’s apparently what Darlene Zschech and her two collaborators, Israel Houghton and Kari Jobe, noticed, and what spurred “Victor’s Crown” in 2011. (See here the image of Christ Carrying the Cross, and wearing a crown of thorns, by 16^th Century artist El Greco.) Jesus stood on its head what wearing the thorns on one’s brow typically meant, and what the Roman soldiers evidently intended when they thrust them down on His head to cause one more stab of pain to His physical body. It was also their way to poke fun at Him, to heap yet one more bit of ignominy upon His person. We can thank Him that He was capable of enduring whatever they did to Him, and in fact turning it all upside down.

 

Darlene and her husband Mark Zschech left the Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia to become the pastors of the Hope Unlimited Church in New South Wales in 2011; it was from there just a couple of years later that ‘Victor’s Crown was written by Darlene, along with her collaborators. Darlene has shared in a video explanation (see the link below) the song’s inspiration, and what all that scene in John 19 has meant for believers. In short, his bleeding forehead and what would happen in the next few moments and hours were not the end of the story. The ‘final victory’ was in the resurrection, the defeat of death. With that, as Darlene explained, some of the lyrics that she, Israel, and Kari wrote describe what naturally results from such an amazing sequence of events. The ‘high things…come down’ and ‘strongholds…broken’. Pilate and the others, Darlene observed, thought their own power had been victorious; one has to wonder why they thought this way. Had they not perceived that He was more than a magician, that He had raised others, perhaps most notably Lazarus whom so many credible witnesses had observed (see John 11 and 12), so that His opponents even plotted to kill Lazarus too? But, they just didn’t have the power to eliminate all of the evidence; that’s what ultimately convicts criminals – they cannot erase all of the evidence. They cannot overcome because there’s too many evidence trails that lead back to them. On the other hand, Jesus has ‘overcome’, and He wants the evidence trails to lead inexorably to Himself. Darlene reminds us in the video that God underscores this point for us --- He’s ‘greater than anything anybody may be facing, and that’s the joy of the Victor’s Crown’. He doesn’t wear it just to help Himself; it’s for you and me, too.

 

The ‘Victor’s Crown’ really says it all, so this blogger doesn’t need to expound on it more here. Listen/watch it here, and just celebrate that what is sung is true, forever. Tell-show others that whatever dogs them in their terrestrial life, whatever feels like a crushing weight on their shoulders, whatever gnaws at their guts or feels empty deep inside, to get in touch with what the words of the song communicate. Bet your life on its truth.  Victor's Crown w/Darlene Zschech

 

See/hear the song story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X100Fzd5PP8

 

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