Clean -- Hannah Hobbs, Michael Fatkin, Taya Gaukrodger

 

They might as well have called it ‘Gospel’, or ‘Salvation Basics’. But it seems as though Hannah Hobbs, Michael Fatkin, and Taya Gaukrodger had something more personal in mind when they wrote a song and pronounced themselves “Clean” in 2018. The three of them were part of the Hillsong Church and one of its groups, Hillsong United, in Sydney, Australia (see its convention center shown here) when they spelled out what being washed and purified meant to them. One has to realize first what being really dirty, and not with just a little dusty film on oneself, but actually being filthy and stinking up a place, to come to a point at which you could fully appreciate the opposite. Until you get that in focus, you and I cannot grasp the depth of what a pure sacrifice accomplishes, one with which Jews in the First Century were certainly baffled, and one with which many even today are averse to accepting. It’s called the human condition, which God is able to miraculously transform, if we humans let Him.  

 

Hannah, Michael, and Taya have not shared what sparked their desire to sing about being cleansed (at least according to what bloggers like this one can discover via the Internet…someone lend me a hand if you know something I don’t, which I would welcome!). And yet, their lyrics provide us with enough to make an educated guess, one that is undoubtedly universal for the living, and has been since He made the first one of us. We all make mistakes, and He’s the holy God. Those two basic facts are the beginning, but not the end. These three Australian songwriters obviously began with those two essentials, and launched from this foundation into what allows God to make the squalid clean. They might have been aware of seekers in their midst, or perhaps were actually thinking of themselves when they wrote that ‘shame (could) retreat’ and that this could happen through accepting the ‘covenant’ that God established to make people ‘whole’ (v.1). How? How does this actually take place, one might ask. Hannah, Michael, and Taya wasted no time getting right to the point – it’s through some ‘precious blood’ – the first two words they penned. Jewish people would understand the point – sacrifice to atone for sin was always a concept that His chosen people accepted ever since their rescue from Egypt and His covenantal relationship (based on the law He gave to Moses) with them began in a desert. So, they became well-acquainted with the need for shed blood and did not really ask God why. The animal was to be one of the worshipping individual’s best, but would he/she actually think of that animal’s blood as precious, the way Hannah, Michael, and Taya characterized it in their song’s first line? This animal was actually Jesus, and commonly called the Lamb of God among Christians, another point that would be a point of disorientation for Hebrews who’d been in covenant with God. But, understanding that God was too holy and pure to even look at was something the Jews understood, and it’s also something that we who are not Jewish today still understand, if we get in touch with our circumstances and acknowledge how far from God that separates us. That confession is what these three songwriters embraced, apparently, and invited us who would listen to also accept.  

 

That acceptance of ourselves, and then the agreement to let Him work on each of us, is where the believer arrives at the ‘forgiveness’ (v.1) which Hannah, Michael, and Taya have written. All the other things that follow in their song flow from that transaction between the forgiven and the God who makes it potent. Their words about being ‘pure…(like) snow’ (v.1), the ability to ‘lift my head’ and be ‘free’ (chorus), to find the ‘joy of holiness’ in His very ‘presence’ (v.2), are part of their message. There’s now a path for you and me to heaven and a part in the rejuvenation of creation that’s He’s planned – it’s been opened by what He’s done. It’s not a complicated message, if you begin with knowing and admitting to yourself that you don’t have a better offer, and seeing Him as the pivot point, the way of getting you out of your mess – whatever that is. Wanna get clean and start over?      

   

Watch/listen to an original Hillsong version here: Bing Videos

 

Read about the church where the song was developed here: Hillsong Church - Wikipedia

 

Information on the image is here: File:Hillsong Convention Centre.jpg - Wikimedia Commons…This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Tatie2189. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: Tatie2189 grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law. …found inside this document: Hillsong Church - Wikipedia

We Worship and Adore You – Anonymous

 

Worship and adore? This unknown author obviously felt something pretty noteworthy toward God, with the use of the second of those two operative words especially. Worship happens a lot in the bible, no surprise there, if you use the word-search function to see that this word occurs hundreds of times (496 occurrences in the New Living Translation [NLT], and a whopping 733 times in the Contemporary English Version, and somewhat less in other versions). In contrast, adore is almost totally absent, except for its usage twice in the NLT (twice in the CEV, but just once in others like the English Standard Version and the New International Version), including most consistently in the Song of Solomon, as a young lover addresses the object of her affection (Song of Solomon 1:4). But, one other time (in 1 Chronicles 29:11) has King David addressing God with this verb of intense affection, as he and the nation prepared to begin the kingdom’s transition to the reign of his son Solomon, and as they prepared to build the temple in Solomon’s reign (see the image here depicting the episode of temple dedication in which Solomon led the nation). So, could this be a verb with which we should be careful? We humans have a habit of saying something over-the-top, particularly when it comes to love songs. We are, after all, fallible beings when it comes to relationships, mercurial in our devotion at times with each other, and with Him who made us, too. Perhaps adoration means something that cannot and should not be broken, ever.

 

Since the composer we contact today with this love song ‘We Worship…Adore..’ is still a mystery, we cannot know precisely what moved this songwriter, though the fervor for God is evident. Was this person reading David’s prayer in 1 Chronicles, as he pondered in his heart how his own son, but not he himself, would guide and witness the building of the temple where God’s Spirit would reside? David seemed joyful and content that the preparations that he had made, and the building materials and the sacrifices that all the people had brought, would culminate in the house of the Lord that Solomon would oversee. The kingdom was as secure as David knew how to make it, and so he felt satisfied and grateful to the Lord. He was in His care, in the hands of the One who had made him and all that he and the nation could enjoy. Security and belonging, those were what David felt in God’s presence. He knew this God was not only bountiful, but also trustworthy. To be with Him forever, as they felt would happen with the construction of the temple, was the zenith of their faith in Him. What more could be said with a heart so full of emotion, experience, and anticipation of Him and all that He had been and would be forevermore in this place He had given them? Perhaps you might call it a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience, this building of God’s house among them. Indeed, perhaps this was rarefied atmosphere, this adoration that David expressed to God on this unique occasion. We on earth might grow attached to many things and feel that life is good and that contentment has really been accomplished – in America, it’s embodied in our July 4^th document, proclaiming ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ as the highest objectives of a people, and given by the Creator – but can you and I truly say that without God in our midst? Is He part of my adoration equation?

 

‘We Worship and Adore You’ might initially seem like a fairly safe and routine kind of statement to make to God. Of course I acknowledge Him, thank Him, and offer Him my best effort daily. But, at the end of my life, or at least the greater portion of it, am I able to look back and understand all that He’s meant to me, comprehend what He’s doing right now, and picture in my mind what’s to come when I’m in His presence, face-to-face? If I could do that, I might be where David was in that moment when the temple preparations were about to come true in the fruition of that holy place. David would never know what it felt like to walk upon its steps nor even witness its completion, but He knew without a doubt the God who would live there. That’s an adoration space, when you don’t need to see the physicality of something to trust that He’s got it. Some translations put 1 Chronicles 29:11 in terms of exalting Him for His greatness, power, glory, victory, and majesty. Perhaps saying that I adore Him is somewhat like a fusion of all the reasons that I can trust Him, even as David was expressing his utter trust in Him at that moment. Adoring Him is not a single-threaded enterprise, but instead means I have many and unending reasons to lift up His name. Adoring, in the way David addressed God, was certainly no platitude. Relationship with Him is no casual affair.   

 

See information on the image here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tissot_Solomon_Dedicates_the_Temple_at_Jerusalem.jpg …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-1996}} – public domain in its source country on January 1, 1996 and in the United States….found inside this document -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon%27s_Temple

Praise God – Anonymous

 

Where and when did this one emerge? Perhaps the most we could say is that this brief song started within the heart of someone whose spirit was connected to the One above. For someone to sing “Praise God” for four different blessings, that kind of person would have to be very conscious of His abiding Spirit. From what this anonymous person wrote, the exaltation of Him began where all of us who believe usually begin – with His sacrifice (see it shown here). None of what this nameless writer mentions after that pivotal moment in Christ’s life in this song would have followed without that first happening. Is that not indicative of how the believer progresses in acknowledging Him – we first believe and make Him our king because He gave Himself up for us, doing for us what was necessary to make us exonerated before the Holy God? And, He didn’t stop there.

 

Was it around a campfire, or at the conclusion of a group gathering to study and think about life, or maybe at the closing of a message to a larger body of people? No one can resolve that today (unless someone reads this blog entry and reveals the answer!), but you could imagine that plausibly this lyricist had been thinking about the impact of the life of Jesus, in its many ways. There are so many hymns that laud Him for that death He died willingly…probably too many to count. That would be enough to offer Him the tribute that this writer did with these few simple, but powerful words – ‘Give thanks to the Father…’, and ‘Amen’…and concluding with ‘Sing glory, hallelujah!’ That is the echo that we, the saved, say to Him with each of the four blessings that are mentioned in the four stanzas of ‘Praise God’. Begin with this, the unknown author says -- Christ the Lord has died for you. Then insert the praise echo. Then, what did He do that embodies blessing number two for you and me? Christ the Lord has risen for you. Repeat that praise phrase, with gusto! Christ the Lord is living for you is that third blessing that we often forget…but He’s inside, as your motivating Spirit for the life He’s transformed, so sing that praise once more. And who could forget that fourth one -- Christ the Lord is coming for you? If that’s not enough, read what Paul said to arouse a group of believers once -- For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) Belt out that praise phrase one more time! And, in glory, in His presence forevermore, we won’t run out of air to keep ringing out that praise again, and again, and again.

 

Wipe off that dirty skin, and thank Him for the cleansing He’s provided. Thank Him that He rose to show you that death isn’t permanent, and that you too will come alive again. Remember that He’s indwelling, so talk to Him when you’re having a rough day, and also when something momentous has happened to remind you that He provides what refreshes also. And, look up every day and imagine what He’ll look like, and tell yourself that you need to live in anticipation of that daybreak. He did indeed die, and rise, and ascend, and deliver a Helper for us…and He’s waiting for the culmination of it all. If that sounds rather like a creed, that’s intentional. All of those four blessings are what you and I live by. If they aren’t true, then we’re all lost. But what will we have lost if they were never true? Nothing, for if Jesus isn’t there, what does it matter if I believed in something false? But, what if He and all He’s done have been true, and I reject that…what will I have lost at the end? Everything. Our songwriter today might remain hidden from identification, but what he wrote sure isn’t something that’s hidden. Run up and embrace it.   

 

See the song in its entirety in the hymnal Songs of Faith and Praise, Alton H. Howard Publishing Company, West Monroe, LA, 1994. Hymn number 17.

See information on the image here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_at_the_Cross_-_Cristo_en_la_Cruz.jpg … 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-1996}} – public domain in its source country on January 1, 1996 and in the United States….found inside this document -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_in_Christianity