It took a trip across at least four states, with three heads working on it, but “Mighty Is Our God” could not be held back – true to its name. It wasn’t something that Eugene Greco found difficult to compose, when he first jotted down the chorus section of the song in 1989, shortly after a morning worship time with his music students in New York. It just came into his head without much explanation, except that God must have placed it there, with evidences of the subject of this tune all around him – as they are for anyone who looks up and takes notice of Him. He’s the Almighty Creator, Eugene pondered, even as Michelangelo must have, when he created his masterpiece on a chapel ceiling to appreciate his Maker’s power (see a portion of it here). Then, as if with a momentum all its own, Eugene’s tune traveled south to Texas, and then to Alabama, and into Florida where Gerrit Gustafson and Don Moen added some words for another few lines to cap off what their New York musical brother had started. This compositional history speaks of a lengthy and sprawling journey that shows how big He really is -- can He really be stopped when He makes up His mind to do something?
Eugene’s chorus caught on immediately with his students, so it shouldn’t have surprised its author when it found its way to a sister campus of the New York school (Christ for the Nations) in Dallas. And then it caught on in so many other places – like concerts and churches – that music publishers in Alabama felt its impact, as if it was the gust of a windstorm, and made plans to include it on a record. That Gerrit Gustafson and Don Moen made a joint effort to produce some additional music and lyrics, first in an Alabama house basement and then during a car trip to Florida, further demonstrated how much potential they projected for ‘Mighty Is Our God’. It was a winner, in their minds. Gerrit and Don didn’t give the song a lot of extra frills, for it didn’t need much. Eugene’s words had already ascribed ‘mighty’ and ‘glory’ to this Creator he called out to with four names – ‘God’, ‘King’, ‘Lord’, and ‘Ruler of Everything’. All that Gerrit and Don did was build on Eugene’s words with an additional thought: this Being is supreme – with a ‘higher’ name and ‘greater’ power than anything or anyone else, proven by His creative initiative. Does anything else need to be said? Less is more, perhaps they reasoned.
Michelangelo’s work, even in its magnificence, will not compare to Him in person. The great artist does try to show Him in His space, surrounded by other beings that owe their existence to Him. Do I have enough, looking at my own existence, to appreciate all of His mighty creative nature? There is so much more, wonders that only a few humans have ever seen up closer than the rest of us, such as the astronauts who have been out into the heavens. And yet, those handful of men and women did not report back that they saw God out there. But, what they did see was pretty obvious – a universe testifying to a Creator; otherwise, saying it all emerged just on its own defies credulity. What might Moses say, if we could quiz him about the Almighty? And, what about Adam and Eve, who, after all, once were in the same garden where God walked (Genesis 3:8), and knew Him up close apparently? Eugene, and Gerrit, and Don don’t probe for answers to these questions. They’re not forthcoming, at least not yet. Are you curious enough to keep searching?
The song story is found in the following book: I Could Sing of Your Love Forever, by Lindsay Terry, Thomas Nelson publishers, 2008
God Almighty photo’s Public Domain status: {{PD-US-expired}}
Photo found here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michelangelo,_Creation_of_Adam_06.jpg
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