King of My Heart -- John Mark McMillan and Sarah McMillan

Two words – ‘king’ and ‘good’. Those two small words would go a long way toward characterizing some lyrics that the McMillans, John Mark and Sarah, wrote around 2015 to frame how they addressed the “King of My Heart” in a personal way. And, could you guess where they had looked for those two words? Not much cryptology was necessary in this endeavor, for the ancient texts of the bible are replete with those two four-letter words; indeed, if they weren’t used to describe the Creator-God, then you could imagine that John Mark, Sarah, and the rest of us would have to do an about-face in the very fundamentals of our faith and ultimate outlook. Someday, we’ll all have face-to-face evidence that what the McMillans are saying in their song are not just some pie-in-the-sky hope-filled instincts. Faith will become sight, a once-in-a-lifetime event perhaps most closely compared to when Jesus told a blind man in Jericho that his faith had caused his sight to be given him (Mark 10:52; see the attached 17^th Century masterpiece art depiction of this miracle by Eustache Le Sueur). This man most certainly regarded Jesus as his ‘King’ and ‘Good’.

 

The McMillans don’t share just exactly which biblical passages inspired their own poetry, but given the numerous ones that mention the Lord’s kingship or goodness, perhaps it was their overwhelming sense of His nature that set in motion their production. This king happens to be different from every other one that one might meet, as this songwriting couple’s verses suggest. He doesn’t just sit on a throne, offering ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ to what He observes His subjects doing. He’s serving, metaphorically, in many diverse roles: a ‘mountain’ refuge, a refreshing ‘fountain’, a protective ‘shadow’, and a ‘ransom’, not to mention a ‘song’ (v.1). And then, He’s the propelling ‘wind’ and also a steadfast ‘anchor’ (v.2), thus able to simultaneously play what appears to be two very opposite roles.  Meanwhile, He might be your life’s ‘fire’ that stirs your passion, while also just an ‘echo’ that keeps one in touch with His influence (v.2). This God seems capable of responding to you and me in whatever way He sees we most need. Perhaps that message was the one that most resonated with John Mark and Sarah – this Lord-God is ever-present and wants you to come in whatever state you find yourself. What about good? It seems like a rather tame description for the Almighty, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t awesome, or brilliant, or some other superlative better fit this One? Could it be that John Mark or Sarah took note of Jesus’ encounter with an anonymous worshipper who fell at His feet, calling Him ‘Good teacher’? (Mark 10:17-18) Jesus said ‘only God is good’. This God needs no flowery praise, glowing phrases, nor adjective-stacked-upon-adjective to address Him. Did something in Peter’s words – that impetuous fellow, who too often was quick with his lips, who later in his life reminded believers that we all draw upon His goodness for all the example we need to live a life that’s godly (1 Peter 1:3) – speak to the McMillans in their poetic craftsmanship?

 

You met any good kings lately? Human history seems to make one frown upon reflection, because there are so many examples that make this seem like a contradiction in terms. Even the ‘good’ ones made their mistakes – David, or Hezekiah, for example, both of whom needed to pray for mercy. And, blessedly for them, this God upon whom they called was a better king, filled with more goodness than either of them. How many times does one need to say He’s good? John Mark and Sarah say it at least eight times in the space of a few minutes. I could underline, italicize, embolden, and try different fonts with that word ‘good’, or add something like extra-special, or extraordinarily, etc., etc. to it. Instead, John Mark and Sarah might advise that I just try singing the basic words along my day’s various paths. And, try getting others to say so with you – that also seems to be the McMillans’ desire.

 

 

See here for some information on the song: https://www.godtube.com/popular-hymns/king-of-my-heart/

 

See here for information on one of the authors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mark_McMillan 

Just As I Am, I Come Broken -- Sue Smith, David Moffit, Travis Cottrell

 

It’s a good thing that I’m not judged on my appearance or my behavior, because I would not come out clean, as is suggested in this ancient scene of justice. (The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead depicts how a deceased person's heart is weighed against the feather of truth….notice that feather’s truth on the right scale appears to be heavier than the heart on the left scale.) ‘We’re all dead on such a scale, unless there is mercy and grace’ – a statement that could have been made by all the authors of a hymn they renewed in 2009. Sue Smith, David Moffit, and Travis Cottrell were moved by the classic 19^th Century hymn first offered by Charlotte Elliott, and so they took Charlotte’s “Just As I Am” and added some words that build on her original confession – “I Come Broken” (as well as other conditions). They evidently were stirred by Charlotte’s words ‘I Come’, which conclude each of her poem’s original seven verses. Charlotte also had weighed herself on the ancient scales of justice, prompting Sue, David, and Travis to summarize and recap the brokenness Charlotte and the rest of us feel. Like Charlotte, they don’t just confess, but come boldly in search of God’s renewal. How do you come?

 

Though we know not exactly the specific episode that caused the thoughts of Sue Smith, David Moffitt, and Travis Cottrell to coalesce in the first decade of the 21^st Century, what they fashioned from Charlotte Elliott’s hymn is in black-and-white. Did our three contemporary writers have experiences in worship when people responded to the singing of Charlotte’s ‘Just As I Am’, perhaps even during a Billy Graham crusade, which helped spur their poetry? Do we come differently, we who are two to three centuries beyond Charlotte’s poem? Sue, David, and Travis answered that several maladies afflict us, even as they surely did in Charlotte’s time. Not only are we all ‘broken’, but each of us is ‘wounded’, ‘desperate’, ‘empty’, and ‘guilty’ (song’s refrain). Yet, these composers weren’t content to just whip themselves with cords in remorse; each of the woes they mention has an opposite that closely follows the diagnosis of the trouble. The statements ring out like proverbs: I’m ‘broken’ but know I need to be ‘mended’; I don’t want to remain ‘wounded’ but ‘healed’; my ‘desperate’ state can be abolished when I’m ‘rescued’; that ‘empty’ feeling is transformed when I am ‘filled’; and, though the scales say I’m ‘guilty’, somehow I am ‘pardoned’. Could Solomon have said it any more pithily?

 

These ‘proverbs’ make the worshipper want to shout out, with a hallelujah-like energy that testifies to how radical and miraculous God’s work is on the human transgressor’s condition. I might have been on my death-bed, but now I can run a marathon. God’s ‘welcome(ed) with open arms’ tells me that He’s just as thrilled as I am at the change. This ‘blood of Christ’ is the remedy, unique and divine, with a potency that works wonders on my condition. He alone possesses the correct formula, that’s all I need to know. Just be who I am, and admit I’ve failed. Could it be that His willing provision for me is because I’m His image-bearer? And so, when I connect with Him, I connect also with other humans I’ve never met like Charlotte, who’ve sought and swallowed the same antidote that Sue, David, and Travis recommend. Perhaps only when I meet all these other centuries-old image-bearers will I completely appreciate the scope of His magnanimous nature. He reaches anyone who comes to Him, just as they are. Just bring yourself and see what happens.   

 

This video indicates the song was written around 2009: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwlUGuzisBw

 

One author-collaborator’s biography is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_Cottrell

 

See here for description of the ancient Egyptian justice scene: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Justice#/media/File:El_pesado_del_coraz%C3%B3n_en_el_Papiro_de_Hunefer.jpg

Hosanna! You’re My King – David Bell

 

He evidently wanted something that would be like hitting a nail on the head, not very time-consuming and yet very resolute and focused. David Bell just thought that saying “Hosanna, You’re My King”, as a group of people did almost 20 centuries earlier, was nearly all that was needed to express the proper sentiment of a people looking upward and worshipping their God. What this songwriter had to say in 1990 needs no further embellishment, no matter how many years elapse and how much culture appears to advance. He’s still the same as He’s always been and will be forevermore, as one writer has said (Hebrews 13:8); and all peoples will meet Him, in fact bowing before Him in acknowledgement and utter humility, as a prophet once said and another writer echoed (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11). Is this 20^th Century songwriter the same David Michael Bell that a 2012 obituary indicates died some years later after offering this poem-ode to God (see links below); and thus, he’s already paid homage to Him up close and personal, perhaps not unlike what people did on a day known as Palm Sunday in this picture (shown here)? (Or, is he instead known as David E. Bell, the author-composer of two albums, Prince of Peace (1996), and Lion of Judah (1994)? For this blog entry, this blogger will assume that David M. and David E. are the same Bell, and that the middle initial is listed incorrectly in some resources. Readers, please set me straight, with some credible information, if this is not correct.)

 

Perhaps it wasn’t long after he left a career in a secular field, that David (M?) Bell wrote his brief poem and began to minister professionally to a group of worshippers in San Antonio, Texas. The year 1989 marked the time when David felt the call, and turned his life toward church ministry, and by 1990 ‘Hosanna…’ was in print. David’s musicianship must have been one reason why he switched careers, a choice that could have been in the back of his mind as a 35-year-old software career-ist in 1989. His musical talent must have come into play in his new role, as a minister in the same church where his grandfather, father and mother had ministered for decades; David would eventually (in 1996) become the church’s lead pastor, though his obituary indicates worship was a core impetus of his life’s work. ‘This church’s praise could use something fresh’, perhaps David reasoned to himself, and thus his ‘Hosanna…’ emerged. Was Matthew (21:8-9; and other parallel passages in gospels of Mark, Luke, and John) the biblical text studied on one occasion at the church, spurring David’s spirit to gestate some meaningful poetry that could musically express this church’s thoughts toward heaven? Two brief verses are what David thought sufficed, perhaps making note that the crowd that greeted Jesus a few days before His crucifixion did not use many words to say what they felt, just three sentences. The Hebrew of ‘Hosanna’ means ‘Save!’, a people’s exclamation to someone they felt could bring hope forevermore to them. And, so it is today, as it was for that crowd that caught sight of a Nazarene on a donkey.

 

The church in San Antonio also said ‘Hosanna’ in 1990, and one could surmise they still are today, as they were in 2012 despite their grief over David’s death. David’s contributions at the San Antonio church were many, and live on to a significant degree through his progeny – five sons who were all reportedly ministering at the same church in 2012. This detail reminds us who believe that there is an intimacy, a sense of family among a body that cries ‘Hosanna’ and looks forward to a grand reunion. It is an eternal flame that burns within the soul, isn’t it? The time we so anticipate is described in Revelation, and though there are many cries of exclamation there, no cries of ‘Hosanna’ are among them. His saving will already have been accomplished by the time we arrive there, so none are needed there. ‘Hosanna’ is for us who are still looking upward, before going upward. Make it loud, as you go about your business today!  

 

https://www.last.fm/music/Dave+Bell/+wiki

(following is from the above link – may refer to the David E. Bell that wrote the song of interest. ) Dave Bell is an American Christian musician from San Antonio, Texas. He has released two albums, "Prince of Peace" and "Lion of Judah". His style is contemporary and combines jazz with rock.

 

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sanantonio/name/david-bell-obituary?id=7759710 (This site shows an obituary for David M. Bell in May 2012.)

https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Bell-led-church-founded-by-family-3550171.php  (another obituary)

 

https://songselect.ccli.com/search/results?List=contributor_P400591_David%20E.%20Bell&PageSize=100&CurrentPage=1 (this site indicates David E. Bell wrote three songs in English, including the song of interest [Hosanna! You’re the/My King] that is the subject of this blog entry)

 

https://songselect.ccli.com/Search/Results?List=contributor_P400590_Dave%20Bell&CurrentPage=1 (this site indicates that Dave Bell wrote more than a dozen songs, including the Lion of Judah)

 

This site plays the song, showing how briefly it takes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugODXiicHrI