Rejoice -- Ben Shive, Bryan Fowler, Keith + Kristyn Getty, Skye Peterson

 

What began as an inspiration from an anonymous author, and from a time over two or three millennia ago, coalesced into something broader with the help of five 21^st Century songwriters. The home of Keith and Kristyn Getty was the scene (see the map of County Londonderry made in 1837, with Portstewart, where the Gettys live, shown outlined in a blue circle) where this pair had invited three others – Ben Shive, Bryan Fowler, and Skye Peterson – to work out a new song they simply entitled “Rejoice”. It’s a theme that not only the original psalmist captured in six short verses of poetry, but which was also picked up by a 1^st Century writer who knew all about this emotional context even if it stood in stark contrast to his own circumstances. Even the Creator Himself would say that praise and rejoicing must be heard, lest the rocks (stones) cry out instead (Luke 19:40).

 

Bryan Fowler first suggested the theme of rejoicing to the group assembled in Northern Ireland, and it quickly stirred the imaginations of the rest of the group (sometime either in, or in the months preceding 2022). Bryan had evidently been reading what the ancient and unknown psalmist had written, and which we now call Psalm 150, especially verse six that is the capstone of the psalms. Bryan’s spark had already allowed him to concoct a chorus based on Psalm 150:6, and the others, especially Kristyn, felt that this spirit of praise was not something based on one’s comfortable conditions, and in fact should ring out despite what someone was experiencing. The apostle Paul’s Philippians 4:4 message to ‘Rejoice!’ spoke to them collectively. These five could not have missed that Paul’s exclamation came though he was experiencing imprisonment at the time. They acknowledged amongst each other that ‘sing(ing) the bible’ meant that anxieties we humans endure, particularly among young people, cannot be ignored. Indeed, that’s where the Christian truths come into play, so that people look upward to recall Jesus’ promises, to pray for one another, to be thankful to Him in all things, and to offer praise as a sign of courage and trust. Their lyrics especially echo what the psalmist and Paul spoke so that others would follow, though difficulties intrude on one’s joy – ‘…be anxious for nothing’ (v.2), ‘the dark cannot destroy’ (v.3), and ‘…throughout every season’ (chorus), we all have reason to lift up a shout of rejoicing. Some might even call ‘Rejoice’ an anthem, something we use to re-center ourselves daily, to remind us that He is worthy and should be the focus of our beings.

 

The Gettys, Bryan Fowler, Ben Shive, and Skye Peterson would be the first to admit that they had recorded something in ‘Rejoice’ that was not new. And yet, the number of times that this refrain is repeated in the bible’s pages underscores that what they have produced musically is reflective of what God wants us to never forget. Run a search in your own bible app for forms of the words rejoice and praise…it should be constantly on our lips, if we recall His character and His actions for us. These five composers have not left those Godly character traits and the transport He gives as mysteries for us – ‘love’, ‘gentleness’, ‘goodness’ ‘grace’ (v.1); that He is ‘peace’, a ‘shepherd’, and ‘reigns eternal’ (v.2); that He gives us ‘hope’ and ‘joy yet to come’ (v.3) – those are what He possesses and translates as offerings to you and me. How could you turn down such an offer?    

Read and hear the entire story of the song’s development here: The Story Behind: Rejoice

 

Read some brief comments about the song’s purpose (from Keith Getty) here: Keith & Kristyn Getty & Rend Collective – Rejoice Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

 

See information on the map-graphic here: File:1837Londonderry.jpg - Wikimedia Commons…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 70 years or fewer. {{PD-1996}} – public domain in its source country on January 1, 1996 and in the United States. This map-graphic may be found inside this article: County Londonderry - Wikipedia

The Lord's Prayer (It's Yours) -- Jesus, Matt Maher, Bryan Fowler, Jacob Sooter

Another way of saying what they thought about in this song was the oft-used acronym KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid (but make sure you say this especially to yourself if you use that ‘Stupid’ word, and not to others). Don’t make something too complicated, and particularly when you look at “The Lord’s Prayer”, as Matt Maher, Bryan Fowler, and Jacob Sooter did when they repeated and updated it with a few reminders for themselves (See here the late 19^th Century artwork The Lord’s Prayer, by James Tissot.)  The words Jesus used to teach His hearers in His great sermon (Matthew 6/Luke 11) were also those by which He lived and taught every day, so when Matt, Bryan, and Jacob put in a few extra words, they must have been looking at Him and His life’s consistency, and how they thought they should respond to Him daily, too. With any familiar words used repeatedly, day after day, there is a risk that the words become a rote exercise, but one of these three 21^st Century composers says his regular use of the prayer has had the opposite effect. Should we expect that the prayer basics that Jesus taught would remain any less stimulating for us as the day He first spoke them?

 

Jesus readily responded to the people who asked Him how to pray, something that really indicated how the people already trusted Him. And yet, He didn’t offer them promises about Roman comeuppance, about redemption of the Jewish nation to its former autonomous status, or about prosperity for themselves. It was instead all about each individual’s one-to-one connection with God and with each other. In short, each of us needs to find ourselves in His corner and trust that He provides, prompting us to treat each other as He has treated us. Matt said in 2022 (perhaps a year after the 21^st Century version of the prayer-song was written) that he thought it was all about reminding himself about spiritual basics, when he and his family would echo Jesus’ words each day. Making things too complicated had been one of the spiritual traps into which he’d often fallen, Matt admits, so making this prayer a daily habit was intentional from a foundation-building perspective. Moreover, he found that he would discover something anew each time he mimicked Jesus in this way. Do you suppose Jesus intended this phenomenon when he taught the people? Certainly, Jesus wanted you and me to personalize the prayer, and because each day is new, how I live out that prayer just might change ever so slightly, or perhaps more radically on occasion, as my life unfolds from day to day. One might gather that that is what Matt and his two friends were also thinking when they added some words to the prayer, particularly the phrase ‘right here in my heart’, which is sung seven times to emphasize how today’s disciple responds to what Jesus said. Matt, Bryan, and Jacob added some other words to underscore that the world He created, and the kingdom Jesus came to initiate, are His…’it’s yours, all yours’. That is so very crucial to accept, not just as a believer, but as a human being created by Him. If I don’t acknowledge His ownership, I can spend my life as an empty exercise in accumulating stuff for myself, none of which I can take with me to the other side of mortality’s conclusion. On the other hand…   

 

…when I discover and accept that He’s the LORD, as in landlord and people-Lord too, then I can aim at the only target that makes sense: His kingdom. That’s the one that is enduring, because He brought it with Him when He was here on earth, and its expansion to millions and even billions of people since then just cannot be rolled back. Read Revelation, and remind yourself who wins in the end. Why would you not want to be connected to what He – the Resurrected One – has begun and which will overpower death, because He has already done so as the First-Born? I have no better option and no other plan that offers what He’s begun in His kingdom. Do you? See if Jesus’ simple, but still-potent words work for you.  

 

Read the story from the principal author-composer of this 21^st Century version of the prayer here: Matt Maher Goes Personal with "The Lord's Prayer (It's Yours)" : News : JubileeCast

 

See information on the image here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_The_Lord%27s_Prayer_(Le_Pater_Noster)_-_James_Tissot.jpg (found at this link -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord%27s_Prayer ) …The author died in 1902, 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.

 

Come Jesus Come -- Stephen and Tara McWhirter, Hank Bentley, Bryan Fowler

 

He just let the Word dwell inside himself for a few moments, until something so completely saturated his being, that Stephen McWhirter sensed a message germinating inside that was a calling, and not just a song. Perhaps most people avoid reading the bible’s last book – Revelation – because the imagery is so, well, bizarre and terrifying. But Stephen, and just about all of planet Earth, were stuck in a rather frightening space in time in early 2020 anyway, so perhaps reading and hearing the “Come Jesus, Come” voice speaking to him was just what he needed that day. Another believer in God, one named John, saw what must have rattled him right down to his bones also, perhaps something like the image shown here (See the mid-19^th Century work of art by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld  [1794–1872], Woodcut for "Die Bibel in Bildern", 1860.), one artist’s conception of what this great apostle experienced. Stephen set out to study and worship a little that day, in a personal way, and he found something that he just couldn’t keep to himself. Blessedly, John was not able to forget his vision, and neither was Stephen.  

   

COVID-19…not a time that many of us want to remember, but it did bring Stephen McWhirter and his collaborators (his wife Tara, and friends Hank Bentley and Bryan Fowler) something special, perhaps because of its origin. Stephen was at the very last page of his bible, in Revelation 22:17-20, and so he must have known where to look when he was trying to offer God authentic worship, even if his world was at the beginning of the pandemic (2020). Who wouldn’t be awed and properly prostrated before your Creator and Healer while seeing what John saw, after all? Stephen was really captivated by the Spirit and the Bride (the church) imploring Jesus to come, and that this is something God wants us to do. Stephen acknowledged the longing within himself to see Jesus, this King and also personal friend, and that until that moment would become reality, he was called to love people better in his life. He just felt convicted that he needed to do something meaningful until Jesus comes in all His glory. And so, Stephen, apparently with some help from Tara, Hank, and Bryan, took up this Godly vision’s entreaty – ask Jesus to come. Perhaps they felt that earth’s inhabitants were in no better place than during a global health emergency to hear and join with them in this plea. I’m about to ‘break’ (v.1), so please don’t wait to heal our ‘every hurt’ and fix ‘every wrong’ (refrain). With the song’s last two verses, Stephen and his co-writers take up Revelation’s apocalyptically hopeful and inspiring bottom-line – that in celestial war, in which you and I alone could never hope to prevail, is the means of my rescue, through Jesus. He’s the Faithful and True, the rider on the white horse waging war against the enemy, in a battle that’s already been won (Revelation 19). These songwriters are therefore waiting expectantly for ‘war’ and ‘chains’ (v.2) to vanish with Jesus’ return, an arrival that would awe everyone with its ‘power’, no matter whether you are ’weak’ or ‘strong’ (v.2). We’ll all be washed clean in His ‘rivers of grace’, standing ‘face-to-face’ with this Savior, so there’s ‘no need to wait’ (v.3) for this mind-blowing moment. Take hold of it now!

 

Stephen and company really manage to capture with their music some of the passion of Revelation (see the link below to the rendition with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir). It’s like they were still riding a wave of imagining what John could only have marveled at when he described it for us. Take heart and don’t be frightened, John says in so many words. Your entry into His presence is already secured, if you have completely given yourself over to Him. Let Him put His mark on your head, and revel in the assurance that you’re on His triumphant side. Who would want to be with the losers – the beast, the serpent, the prostitute, and their minions who occupy Babylon? Come, Jesus! We’ll keep telling others, and raise a hallelujah, and shout louder still, as we try to sound like those roaring waters of your multitude who see You coming. Let your spirit unite with His Spirit, and see what John saw!     

 

 

Watch the story of the song here: Stephen McWhirter Shares the Story Behind his Song, "Come Jesus Come" (youtube.com)

 

See a moving rendition of the song by the principal songwriter and the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-kZ4Eb3XXg

 

See information on the image of Christ in John’s Revelation vision here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld_Bibel_in_Bildern_1860_236.png... 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. {{PD-US}} – US work that is in the public domain in the US for an unspecified reason, but presumably because it was published in the US before 1929.  

 

Read a little about the principal songwriter here: Stephen McWhirter Artist Profile | Biography And Discography | NewReleaseToday   and here: The Side B Stories - Stephen McWhirter's Story - C.S. Lewis Institute (cslewisinstitute.org)