She had a new career, a direction she had considered, so she
must have had a few thoughts about an overarching strategy for this plan. Perhaps
it was something she wanted to be the overriding theme of her latest project,
her second album as a 20-something. “We Will Glorify” was a declaration that
Twila Paris made early in her career as a singer-songwriter, as a 24-year old
who probably wanted to convey not just a brief message about her own
intentions. She evidently thought of this as her life’s approach, and sought to
bring others along for the journey. I
can glorify, but what’s it like when others join in (like the picture here by
Charles Sprague Pearce suggests)?
Twila Paris’ message would not have been a surprise to
anyone who’d witnessed her life up until her 24th year, one bathed
in Christian examples and habits that she continued to draw upon for her musical
influence. She was an active part of her family’s evangelistic life, even as a
child who before the age of 10 had recorded her first album that included hymns
her father’s ministry used in his messages. She was accustomed to the group
experience as a Christian believer, and must have heard God’s various names
repeatedly. What would one expect to hear from Twila Paris on an album she was
making in 1982 with the title Keepin’ My
Eyes on You? Twila hasn’t shared exactly what made “We Will Glorify” spring
from her consciousness that year, perhaps because it’s pretty obvious what
motivated her. She was thinking of the various names, the multiple roles that
God played in the life she’d led up to that point. ‘King of kings’, ‘lamb’, ‘Lord
of lords’, and ‘Great I Am’ are just the ones she called out in the first
verse. The Lord’s position as Jehovah, and as overseer of every created being
above, below, and in the universe beyond was also on Twila’s mind. Could He be
any larger or more omnipotent than how she describes Him in the song’s four
verses? How can one believer acclaim His being even more? Maybe this song is
Twila’s answer, as she uses ‘we’ to express the multiplicity of those who call
out to Him. The way to magnify my joy at praising Him is to draw, to invite,
others to do the same.
I can thank Him for taking care of me personally, but to see
His hand on so many others around me is also reason to exclaim, to pump my
fists in jubilation. Twila’s experience as a worshipper, among, inside, and around
others must have made it very easy for her to think others would want to
worship, to glorify Him. And, not just as a one-time ‘thank you’, either. ‘How
does one keep her eyes on someone like God?’, Twila may have quizzed herself in
1982. He has so many names, it just makes a lot of spiritual sense to use them all
and remind myself and others just how vast His being is. He has lots of names,
perhaps because there are so many of us who need Him in so many ways.
Check out the following links to read about the composer:
See the book“Our God Reigns: The Stories behind Your
Favorite Praise and Worship Songs”, by Phil Christensen and Shari MacDonald,
Kregel Publications, 2000, for further background on the composer.
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