Do you think they might have looked at this depiction of Patrick (painted by an anonymous artist), when they were drawing inspiration for what they were putting into music in 1999? John Chisum and George Searcy were some 15 or 16 centuries beyond the time when the Christian missionary known as Saint Patrick was in Ireland, so why reach back so far for what he had to say? Could it be that either John or George, or maybe both of them, recognized something in the background of Patrick’s prayer-poem (known as Saint Patrick’s Breastplate) that sounded familiar to their 20th Century experience? A prayer for protection, and a willingness to surrender to a higher power when in trouble, goes back even further than Patrick’s era. So, it’s fair to say that John and George were also thinking biblically, and that the root of their hope lay there, as did the Irish saint’s whose poetry they thought was compelling. Even moderns, advanced as we oftentimes think of ourselves, need Him to be present, as Patrick evidently did, when we pursue something daunting like mission work. Is anything more difficult than that?
It's said that the patron saint of Ireland, Patrick, was feeling that he was in danger in the 5th Century as he strove to spread the news about Christ, and that prayer (or “lorica”) was his response to this trouble. (Other historians attribute this prayer alternatively to someone in the 8th Century, three centuries after Patrick.) Patrick’s nemesis was Loegaire, a pagan king who would be unrelenting in his hostility to the saint’s objective. And yet, Patrick, not unlike the young David who dodged King Saul’s attempts on his life on many occasions (1 Samuel 18 through 26), outwitted Loegaire, eventually convincing him to submit and accept God. That’s really something, when the pursued can turn the tables and convert the pursuer! The 11 stanzas of Patrick’s prayer stood out to the 20th Century songwriters Chisum and Searcy, especially the eighth stanza, in which the writer calls out for Christ to be all around him. It also could not have escaped the attention of John and George, that six of eleven stanzas of Patrick’s poem begin with the words (translated into English) ‘I bind to myself today’, and thus the idea that he sought the divine breastplate of the heavenly King as his shield. Implicit in this protective armor was the human part of him that would allow all that God is to assume control, a concept embodied in the one word ‘surrender’ that John and George incorporated into their own verses. Does it work today the same way that it did for Patrick?
What events were present for John and George, that would induce them to write their own prayer? Mission work is difficult today, even dangerous in some areas of this planet. So, it would not have been unusual for these two to seek out ancient words that spoke of a call to the Almighty, especially if the effect might be to radically change some missionary’s circumstances from danger to conversion, as it was for Patrick and his pagan adversary. Someone has said that every believer goes into the mission field daily, even if we’re all just going about a daily routine among others who speak our native tongue. There’re still those who don’t know Him -- in fact, are opposed to Him. There’re other reasons to pray, too. So, are Patrick’s world and yours and mine all that different? Try out his formula, and see what you think of the results.
This site provides a clue about the song’s origin: https://globalworship.tumblr.com/post/141176544155/christ-above-me-choral-song-john-chisum
This site describes the poem which inspired the song: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Breastplate
See this link for discussion of Saint Patrick’s enemy: Lóegaire mac Néill - Wikipedia
A biography of one of the authors is here: https://www.nashvillechristiansongwriters.com/john-chisum-and-the-ncs-story/
The site for the other author: https://www.georgesearcy.com/
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