Can someone get co-authoress credit for one word of a song? Chris Tomlin would probably say ‘yes’, at least when re-telling the story of how he was able to finish writing “Forever”, and especially since this song had lain unborn for four years since he’d first started to write it. In an instant at a summer camp (somewhere in Texas) in the late 1990s, Chris’ friend gave him the word – ‘strong’. That wasn’t the only inspiration Chris received, for he’d earlier been reading about a more ancient song than the one he was trying to write, and finding that song’s anonymous author’s words were the touchstone for what he wanted to say. That unknown Levitical priest might also be considered a co-author of what Chris would finish writing that summer. Perhaps one day Chris and the rest of us will learn who that nameless Levite was, in a place where forever becomes reality.
Multiple places in Chris Tomlin’s native Texas helped spawn what was finally published in 2001 as the song ‘Forever’. Texas A&M University in College Station (in east-central Texas’ Brazos County)
was where he was reading Psalm 136 one day, and where the seed of ‘Forever’ germinated. Chris discovered that there were so many reasons for proclaiming ‘His love endures forever’, according to the poet-songwriter from 2,000 to 3,000 years ago (probably somewhere between the 9th and 5th Centuries BC), and how a crowd hearing all of those reasons had responded all those years before. Chris says openly that one of his typical methods for songwriting is to get input from lots of people, and this song was no different; he gathered positive feedback from many people even before it was really finished. So, one would think he rapidly concluded his penmanship of ‘Forever’, right? Instead, the song lay fallow for another four years, despite Tomlin’s persistent efforts to complete what he sensed could be something pretty special. We late 20th Century-early 21st Century Christian believers have as many reasons to say ‘Amen’ to that ancient psalmist’s call to devotion, as those Jewish believers did in their own time. That must have helped push Chris to persevere, and then along came Janet Reeves (the wife of the bass guitarist in Chris’ band) with the last word -- you might say 'epiphany' -- to shove the song across the finish line. Had she not been listening nearby for several days in a row, as Chris valiantly, but futilely, tried on his own to utter ‘strong’ in one chorus section, who knows when or how the song might have turned out! But, finally she knocked on Chris’ door, and as someone else has said, ‘you know the rest of the story’. And so, Chris borrowed many words from the psalm (from verses 1, 2, 3,12, and 26, and especially the refrain ‘His love endures forever’), some of his own phraseology, and lastly Janet’s one word to shape his version of why God can be praised continually, forever.
Just look at all the facets of God, besides the forever and enduring love parts of Him, as Chris describes Him in what he wrote. He’s ‘good’, ‘above all things’ (v.1), and has a ‘mighty hand and outstretched arm’ (v.2), one of the psalmist’s descriptions of the Almighty that must have especially impacted Chris, since he quotes it directly in his own rendering of the poetry. He’s given all of us a ‘life that’s been reborn’ (v.2), and if that’s not enough, He’s also set the ‘rising… setting sun’ (v.3) in motion to bless us. Oh, and then there’s that ‘grace’ (v.3) part He grants, so that none of us need suffer His divine punishment. This ‘faithful’ and ‘strong’ God chose to live like one of us, and gave a part of Himself to remain ‘…with us’ (chorus). These are all essential qualities of Him who’s been around since time began, and it’s all you or I need. One guy thousands of years ago said so, and another is saying the same today. What do you say?
See the story in this book -- “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever”, by Lindsay Terry, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2008.
And, here: https://www.crosswalk.com/church/worship/song-story-forever-by-chris-tomlin-1243556.html
Author’s biography here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Tomlin
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