Open the Eyes of My Heart -- Paul Baloche

The two main characters of this story were separated by 20 centuries, but they had the same name, and the same faith. And, both started out being distant from the one they eventually worshipped, until a life-changing experience upended the lives of these men named Paul. Paul Baloche would spend the better part of the next two decades after his conversion in front of a group of people on Sundays, perhaps most often strumming on a guitar to set a mood in a church in Smith County, Texas (see the map here). He might have suspected that something would emerge from these times, and it was words from his ancient biblical namesake that helped spur the key moment that gave rise to “Open the Eyes of My Heart”. This bit of spontaneity might have seemed more or less random to Baloche, but is that really true when connecting with a spiritual force the way he was one day in 1997?

The two Pauls’ lives were not exactly mirror images, and yet their intersection in a way that spawned something musical is a phenomenon that suggests someone – perhaps a Providential being – is behind the scenes directing events. Paul Baloche might have still been playing rock music in clubs, where he started his musical journey in the 1970s, except for a Sunday morning experience at a personal business conference he attended, where speaker after speaker told the audience that Jesus was the difference-maker. This was earth-shaking for Paul, a guy who sensed something was missing and who’d just seen the light bulb come on. It was another Paul, almost two millennia before and halfway around the world, who also had had a pivotal moment that changed his life when a light of another kind turned on for him. This first-century Paul would pray some years later to a group of believers in a place named Ephesus, petitioning God that they might have an enlightenment in their hearts, as if hearts could see with newly-opened eyes (Eph. 1:18). Twentieth Century Paul heard and repeated that prayer one Sunday in a Texas church as he entreated the Spirit-God on behalf of a roomful of people, and thought also about what the ancient prophet Isaiah recorded when he saw angels worshiping this same Being (Isaiah 6). And as was his habit, this Paul had his words recorded in case something special transpired, so he could re-live that moment; did he suspect God would actually be present? Indeed, as a songwriter, Baloche offers that he wants his worship song creations to emerge from an actual incident with God in prayer or worship; it feels more sincere he says, than something that comes about via a recording studio or dedicated songwriting venue. Capture a special moment in a bottle, that’s what Paul Baloche indicates he was trying to do. When the One being worshipped is there, it’s always a moment worth apprehending, right?

The spot on the map doesn’t really matter that much when it comes to songwriting, as Paul Baloche might tell you. And, does the color of the eye looking for Him make a difference? Eyes might even be open, yet see other things that are distracting. Both Pauls in this story had eyes early on in their lives that were examining events and people, but were not really seeing. Both Pauls’ stories hint that sometimes I might believe I’m seeing clearly, but God-seeing vision just might require a nudge from outside of myself. Perhaps Paul Baloche would say that he needed to realize something was missing first, and then be open to suggestion. Does your world have a haziness, a smog that makes clear vision impossible? A guy named Paul has some 20/20 glasses he thinks you should try.  

    

A source for the song story is the book “Celebrate Jesus: The Stories behind Your Favorite Praise and Worship Songs”, by Phil Christensen and Shari MacDonald, Kregel Publications, 2003. See also the book “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever”, by Lindsay Terry, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2008.

See also here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_the_Eyes_of_My_Heart

Create in Me – David

He had been exposed. What other choice did he have, except to prostrate himself and plead for mercy? That is what one can say of King David, or maybe that’s too generous of a title to give him in this context. Maybe he should instead be called David, the Cheater-Adulterer, ruthless Murderer, grotesque Liar. Those names might be how he thought of himself some 3,000 years ago when he poured out his heart in a prayer to God that someone more contemporaneously has called “Create in Me”. He needed renovation and restoration, or one might even say his physical structure just needed to be completely knocked down and rebuilt, almost from scratch. After all, the skeptic might ask how this fellow who was said to be after the Divine One’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22) could have done something so revolting, so evil? Was anything decent still inside David? Evidently, he did not think so, for his own words ask for a new creation. Who hasn’t been at the point where this ancient king was when he wrote this? 

Her name was Bathsheba, and David’s sin with her was perhaps the costliest one of his life. Lots of dominoes fell in the wake of his passionate embrace with this woman who was not his wife. And, the dominoes were not only to fall in the few days following his confession, but for years to come, as God determined that his punishment must cut very deep indeed (2 Sam. 12:11-12), and that the ultimate price for his retention of power would be multiple lives of those close to him. David would no doubt write other psalms about those episodes, but hearing the immediate consequences of his sins -- his willful disregard for four of the ten commandments, numbers 6, 7, 9, and 10 – must have been overwhelming. And so, he asked for a clean heart creation, because his old one was too polluted. The spirit inside him also needed renovation. David was numb, but not completely immune to God’s influence, or he would likely not have responded to Nathan’s rebuke. Perhaps that’s what God observed, that this sinner was still capable of self-examination and repentance. He needed a reminder that ‘the joy of thy salvation’ outweighed any earthly pleasures. David had somehow become complacent about the gift God could bestow. So God responded when David said ‘cast me not away from your presence’, perhaps in part because of what David said later in his song. This apologetic king promised to teach others about his God’s ways, that He is righteous and worthy of our best tribute (Psalm 51:13-15). David, as a good king deep-down might exhibit, was concerned for those whose well-being was in his control (Ps. 51:18), perhaps a goodness he had learned firsthand from his Heavenly Father. David would certainly need some positive episodes between himself, his people, and the God they all served, because of the self-inflicted penalty that lay ahead.               

Punishment hurts. As a parent often thinks or says to the child, both parties suffer. But what is the alternative? If the misdeed is never laid bare for all to see, what happens? Prison, in a word, is the result. God and David both bore the pain; God’s was first, before David had even discovered that he’d been…well, discovered. Then, David’s pain became as God’s – disappointment that he’d strayed, and then on top of that agony mingled with shame. This was David’s bed, literally. David is an object lesson for all of us who have a few minutes of idleness and wandering eyes. Danger lurks in that space. What would David tell you and me? He spent the rest of his lifetime trying to recover from those few moments and days. Don’t take even one step toward that prison, he’d say. God cannot stand to be in that place with you. That’s the real prison. That’s why he wrote Psalm 51, to try to get outta prison.  

 Psalm 51 and the notes for the NIV Study Bible are the only sources for this song story.

He Is Wonderful -- Anonymous

This anonymous songwriter must have had more to say than could be said in a single song. So, he decided to actually say what he wanted in four songs – but, all in the same song. Who could think of such a composition? It’s as good a guess as any other that the author-musician is a psalmist of many ancient poems – the man named David, shown here (according to a 10^th Century artist) engaged in his art-form. He loved to sing to his King, the One he called Wonderful. Many attributes are ascribed to this King by David, including that one-word exclamation – Wonderful!. He doesn’t make a lot of florid, lengthy statements about Him, perhaps because none would suffice. Instead, it’s short phrases or individual words that he offers up. Perhaps this pattern indicates all that you and I will need when we meet this King, someday.

There are many voices that David uses in his praises to God; in fact, one could say that he used dozens of voices throughout his life. Some estimates indicate David authored as many as 75 psalms (73 listed with his name in the Old Testament collection, and another two [Psalms 2 and 95] that New Testament references suggest he also wrote). One set that is attributed to David is especially noteworthy, because it depicts a broad range of emotion that shows David is uninhibited before the King – plaintive and ebullient all in one package. Two praise psalms – 138 and 145 -- act like bookends for six prayer psalms that David offers to his Creator-Protector-Redeemer. This contemporary psalm is like those two bookends, with four praise voices blending in complementary phrases or single words – not unlike angels offering tribute to Him on high. Each voice could be interpreted as its own song, but God’s unbounded nature allows us to sing all four to Him simultaneously, since He is able to hear each heart’s individual message. ‘All praises to Him’, one voice says, and then calls out to Him with two of His names – ‘King of kings’, and ‘Lord, our God’. Another voice joins in to offer nothing more than a single word – ‘Hallelujah!’ A third voice recalls four attributes of Him – ‘salvation, glory, honor, and power’; indeed, God is to be praised for these characteristics, perhaps above all others. Finally, the fourth voice underscores that He is ‘mighty’ and ‘omnipotent’. All four voices culminate their musical offering with the song’s title words -- what we might call a musical standing ovation. In fact, we might all fall down in His presence when we see Him face-to-face.

I can sing ‘He is Wonderful’, as David so often did, even when circumstances aren’t really wonderful. It’s not unlike that eight-psalm set that David begins and ends with praise, but which is filled with other emotions – like lament, and anger, and loss – in between. In fact, more of David’s communication to God seems to be in these minor keys. Was that because he was in trouble too often? David did seem to instigate some of his own issues, at times, not unlike what I do to myself – with a stubbed toe my painful reminder. He can hear these pain-stricken prayers too, and yet is not diminished because I offer them along with the others. Jesus, too, had moments when He cried out – ‘Why have you forsaken me?’. My most desperate times don’t mean I stop talking to Him. As David must have discovered, the shriek and blubber I croak out today may not be too distant from the cheer and applause I offer tomorrow. Fortunately, His nature does not change, no matter what. That’s what David seems to be concluding in his conversations with Him. He IS wonderful. Not just sometimes, or when He flips a switch to impress me. Can’t wait to see Him in person, wonderful every moment, up close and personal. How about you?       

See here for list and discussion of the psalms that David wrote: https://www.gotquestions.org/Psalms-David.html

 

The NIV Study Bible is the only other source for information in the above story.