Man of Sorrows -- Matt Crocker and Brooke Ligertwood

One could say that this song was actually being written and conceived something like 2,700 years before Matt Crocker and Brooke Ligertwood decided to put some notes together with a set of preexisting words around 2012. Could the prophet Isaiah have realized that he’d put some of the words in play, when he wrote about a “Man of Sorrows” during the days of exile for the Jews from their homeland? He probably had not even heard of a place called Sydney, Australia (see the flag of the state of New South Wales here; Sydney is its capital), and that faith among a monotheistic people could actually take hold there. Who exactly was or is this ‘Man of Sorrows’ anyway? That is a subject that people of faith – Christians and Jews, at least, and probably Muslims, too, and any others who stumble across this name in the scriptures – are still discussing, though Christians are convinced that he’s someone that all of us on the planet should get to know very well. He’s the model for who we aim to be, and actually one could say that this God-Man we worship knew so well what Isaiah had said, and aimed to be the suffering servant – on purpose, not by accident.     

 

Matt and Brooke have some vivid memories of how ‘Man of Sorrows’ came together in a joint songwriting venture one day in Sydney. Matt had already written some of the main chorus for the song that refers to ‘the rugged cross’ which Jesus bore to Calvary and upon which He died, but it was not linked in the same day or even in a few weeks with the remainder of the song. Instead, it was a few months until Matt and Brooke met at her house and scoped out the song’s verses and bridge section. Brooke credits Matt with a gift for crafting melodies, including lots of words that allow stories to be told, like this one that really begins in a piece of ancient text that they both read as they opened their bibles. Isaiah 53:3 was what captured their attention -- He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows^, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Reading that was a moment of worship for both of them, which seemed to fit their emotions about what they were trying to saying spiritually, and from there many words flowed to write several verses (they say six or seven initially emerged, though they trimmed the song to four eventually), a testimony about the impact Isaiah still has today. Brooke was so moved that she spontaneously sang the song’s bridge section completely as they sat and pondered the prophet’s poetry. Matt remembers feeling as if God was telling them that the bridge was His unprompted gift to them that He dropped in their laps for their efforts that day. Although he and Brooke hadn’t been trying to write a modern hymn (a worship song with several verses, unlike some 20^th/21^st Century worship songs that have fewer verses and perhaps a chorus) that day, Matt relates that this was a rare occasion in which the song’s melody and the lyrics inspired by Isaiah just flowed naturally in that direction. Stories that become hymns just connect easily with worshippers, Matt says. Funny how what He has prompted others to say in the bible still means something today, huh?  

 

And, we in the 21^st Century are not the only ones who have been staring at scripture to gather its import. A podcast discussion I heard of what Isaiah and his ‘Man of Sorrows’ meant 700 years after he wrote suggests the following: Isaiah did not point forward to Jesus as the fulfillment of what he was saying; instead, Jesus pointed backward to emphasize that He lived His life to show people how to be the suffering servant, in a perfect reflection, of all that Isaiah wrote about. Reimagine that, if you will. How difficult would that have been for Jesus to live out his time on earth – including all the brutality of a death He would need to endure – in order to stamp His identity unmistakably as the Messiah? Matt and Brooke are not textual scholars, and neither are most of us. But, look at the body of evidence. Ask yourself ‘Has anyone else done even a fraction of what Jesus did?’ He was either the most insane and crafty madman in history, with lots of ways to convince others of His time about himself, or He was really who He said He was/is. Why would anyone go willingly to a death like He did for a lie? Matt and Brooke are telling the story in song about this Messiah, the one that seems more rational and accessible to everyone; versus a cynical, ugly hoax that has led and will lead so many of God’s creation to destruction. Which story seems to match up with the personality of Jesus that you see in scripture?    

 

See/hear the song story here (5:24-10:50 of video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHtEX1Eko_A

 

Hear a discussion of Isaiah 53 here, in a podcast called BEMA: https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/64

 

See here for information about the image of the New South Wales, Australia flag and its public domain status: File:Flag of New South Wales.svg - Wikimedia Commons -- This image or other work is of Australian origin and is now in the public domain because its term of copyright has expired. According to the Australian Copyright Council (ACC), ACC Information Sheet G023v19 (Duration of copyright) (January 2019). (5:24 start of song story thru end of video.)

 

Lord, You Have My Heart -- Martin Smith

 

The band Martin Smith formed was called Delirious – with a question mark (?) to emphasize something in the band members’ collective psyche, perhaps. But, there was no question mark in the song that Martin wrote for the group in 1993 in which he said confidently “Lord, You Have My Heart”. This Englishman (see the English flag here) had a pretty good idea of how he felt, and so he needed no other narrative to explain how the song’s development had occurred. Saying what Martin decided to actually put to music was just his way of underscoring his commitment. He’d probably read plenty of his bible to feel fellowship with other like-minded musicians who were his ancient ancestors, so why not join them in spirit by putting to music how he felt, as they must have when they decided to express their inner spirits in like manner? There’s a pretty sizeable group of believers who have done the same across the centuries; do you think they’ll inhabit a particular corner of Eternity, or instead be scattered amongst the rest of us, and only occasionally congregate to share with one another their musical gifts? Perhaps Martin was already thinking about what it will be like when he penned the last words of this devotion.

 

Martin was ready to offer himself completely in what he calls a personal journey in 1993. ‘Lord…’ was the first song that he and his fellow band members (they originally called themselves The Cutting Edge Band, after a recurring youth event which they supported) wrote, which says something about what the song might have meant to Martin and the others. Was it like an anthem for them, a mission statement of their purpose in forming and playing and singing songs? Martin does not say, but it apparently stuck with him, so that he and his daughter were singing it together many years later (see the story link below). ‘Search(ing) for His’ heart (the 2^nd line of the song) is evidently something that the Smith family has passed along to the next generation. Martin used some other words to characterize how he felt, like ‘sacrifice’, ‘lead me on’, and ‘praise’, some key things he would do as he looked around for the God whose ‘love (had) come down’ and ‘show(n) (His) face. But, maybe Martin wasn’t thinking only of the terrestrial moments to come in 1993. Seeing His ‘glory’ would be quite a revelatory sight, would it not? After all, even Moses, whom God called ‘friend’ (Exodus 33:11), was not permitted to see God face-to-face (Ex. 33:18-23). Seeing His glory face-to-face would have meant death…maybe it was just too much voltage for the human being to handle. Indeed, Moses’ face was so radiant after this meeting with God, that he frightened the Israelites who met him at the foot of the mountain. Nevertheless, Martin has not stopped his search, and he looks to his predecessors for life-giving sustenance of God, even if seeing Him in full-face isn’t yet possible. He says many passages – like Psalm 139:23-24, Psalm 27:8, and Romans 12:1-2 – have helped him dig roots and connect his own song’s words with biblical truths. We’ll actually get to see His glory, one day.

 

Martin and the rest of us can long to see Him, as we’re doing each time we sing and read what He tells us. That is what you and I can take away from what Martin Smith wrote in 1993. It never really stops, as long as we don’t snuff out that curiosity streak in us, and long to draw as close to Him as possible while here on earth. The promise that I will get to be with Him, to meet Him whose image I try to mimic, is the basic instinct for all of us who are human. Is there something in me that is like Him, that he found worthy of creating? There’s only one way to answer this. Just one way to find my roots.   

  

 

Read the story behind this song here: Lord You Have My Heart Lyrics - Martin Smith

 

Read about the author-composer here: Martin Smith (English musician) - Wikipedia

 

Read here re: the album (Cutting Edge 1) on which the song was premiered by the group Delirious? Cutting Edge (recordings) - Wikipedia

 

See information on the England flag here: File:Flag of England.svg - Wikipedia…This work has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder. This applies worldwide.

Joy Has Dawned -- Stuart Townend and Keith Getty

 

Tell the complete story. That, in a very brief summary, is what Stuart Townend said that Keith Getty and he were trying to accomplish in 2004 when they wrote “Joy Has Dawned”. Although one might think there are plenty of Christmas carols, Stuart and Keith thought there were far too few that really speak of Jesus becoming human. And so, the Christmas nativity (see masterpiece artwork The Adoration of the Shepherds here by 17^th Century artist Matthias Stomer) was what they envisioned musically, but not just the scene. There’s so much depth in what God-With-Us meant for people as the 1^st Century dawned, that the import of His entry, life, sacrifice, and resurrection cannot be exaggerated 20 centuries later. It’s a story that’s too important to be limited to just one time of the year, and it begins with how He chose to come.

 

Stuart and Keith set out to add one song to the world’s Christmas music repertoire, and what they discovered was that a whole album about this subject would emerge (see its contents at the end of this blog post with the link provided).  These two British songwriters’ passion is to share the whole story about Jesus, and to spur the church to sing songs that have scriptural truths embedded within them. And so, they thought about ‘Joy…’ as part of a collection that would focus on musically accomplishing what the Apostles’ Creed has done for centuries. Telling the fundamentals of the Christian faith is therefore underscored with each one of the four verses they penned. Jesus was the ‘humble gift of love’ (v.1), a rather amazing present to mankind from the one who actually created all we can see (see Colossians 1:16 and John 1:3). Think of that: the One who is the Creator chose to be a new creature in the arms of a young woman named Mary whom He created. Incomprehensible and physically impossible, you say? Not for this God. He even ‘set the stars in place’ and ‘shaped the earth’, and now He’s a baby in a ‘stable’, ‘vulnerable and helpless’ (v.2). How could the Father entrust His Only Begotten to fallible humans?! Despite His lowly arrival, this baby was recognized as special, with appropriate gifts that could be seen as especially indicative of Jesus’ identity as a king and eventual Divine Sacrifice – ‘gold’ for his role as king of the Jews; ‘incense’ like that used by priests as an offering in the presence of God Himself; and ‘myrrh’ that was commonly used to embalm a dead body (v.3). Stuart and Keith round out their description of Jesus with several synonyms for Him: ‘Son of Adam, Son of heaven’, ‘ransom’, ‘reconcil(er)’, ‘Christ’, ‘Savior’, ‘Friend’, ‘glorious mystery’, ‘babe’, and finally ‘Lord of history’(v.4). Others are sprinkled through the other verses, like ‘Prince of life’ (v.2), and ‘the lamb’ (v.3). Are there really enough names for Him?

 

What Stuart and Keith might have concluded is that Jesus is a mouthful, and so much more. That is what spurred these two to write a new Christmas hymn -- that there was really too little that had been said musically about Him to properly express what He means to humanity. Maybe we all ought to be singing Christmas songs year-round, although doing so might make them rote performances. God needs to be special in the lives of people, and the Christmas season does that in some measure. But what Stuart and Keith have said in their title of the song – that this ‘Joy Has Dawned’ – in fact persists throughout the year and all of life. And, this characteristic will be true of the Afterlife and Heaven where we will be. His light will always be there (Revelation 21:23-24; 22:5). This joy that has already dawned has no sunset.     

 

Read the song story here: Joy Has Dawned (December's Hymn of the Month)

 

See the entire album’s contents here: Joy Has Dawned - Downloadable Listening Tracks (FULL ALBUM) | Lifeway

 

Read about the two composers here: Stuart Townend (musician) - Wikipedia  and Keith Getty - Wikipedia

 

See information on the picture here: File:Adoration of the sheperds - Matthias Stomer.jpg - Wikimedia Commons…The author died in 1660, so 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. 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, 1930.