Another sleep-deprived night – how often does that circumstance help breed a new song? Leeland Mooring could say with confidence that, at least during one of these times, God was telling him to pray (maybe even with clasped hands) and worship, that Leeland needed to say ‘Lord “Be Lifted High”, because I’ve got something on my mind’. Maybe something had happened just recently, or perhaps it was a more chronic issue that was bothering Leeland, but the situation didn’t leave him with merely a ‘brain-fried’ feeling the next morning in 2006. And, sharing it with a musical friend, one who may have had similar episodes in his own experience, probably helped validate what Leeland’s sleepless event had generated. Even the casual bible reader might notice the number of times that God used sleep (as in dreams), or a sleepless time so that His mission can proceed (like Paul – 2 Corinthians 6:4-5; and 2 Cor. 11:27). So, what do you think…how may God have been using your human sleep cycle for His purposes?
Leeland Mooring relates in a video (see link below) that ‘Be Lifted High’ arose during one night following a long trip that he and his band members had just completed. Was it jet lag, or delayed stress that Leeland was feeling, which induced his insomnia? He doesn’t seem to dwell on the physical part of what happened, but more on what was going on inside himself, something that just told him he needed to pray and worship at that moment. Leeland mentions struggles that people endure were in his thoughts – things like sin, or emotional issues, or perhaps depression. Perhaps it was ‘sin’ most prominently, since he addresses that in the opening line of both verses 1 and 2 of the song – that sin ‘grows old’ and ‘lead(s) to pain’. It was with this realization -- of knowing what this disease of iniquity does to a person – that gave Leeland the answer he found in the poetry he found himself writing. ‘Put God in the center of all my issues, and all those toxic things just melt away’ – that sums up what Leeland felt about the crux of the matter, and gave him the song’s title words. Verses 3 and 4 indicated that Leeland thought another root of our human problem is being ‘prideful’ and ‘think(ing)…it was me’, that our basic egos shove us into the wrong place. It’s as if we are like those biblical characters we have all scoffed at, who worshipped the created things (like idols) rather than the Creator. You and I are His created beings, too. Mooring shared his song and his thoughts with Michael W. Smith, who evidently embraced what Leeland shared, since he included the song on his next album (Stand, in 2006).
Leeland mentions one more effect of putting God in the center, and it’s in his song’s chorus so that it’s repeated, as if to remind us of its import. I don’t lift Him high just for my own eyes to see; it’s so ‘that they (will) see’. Will everyone eventually see the Creator? What do you think when you read 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, and Matthew 24:27? Oh yeh, He’ll be high then, all right. But, for some the sight will be horrifying, and for others it will be quite different – call it exhilarating. It really will be a result of some people seeing Him for the first time, even in their minds and hearts. For others, they will be seeing someone they’ve longed to see physically, while having held Him close – or, rather being held close by Him —for some time. Don’t wait until the sky parts, and then discover that you suddenly and terribly feel like ‘mourning as the Son of Man is coming on the clouds of heaven’ (Matthew 24:30). Get used to seeing Him now, even if it takes someone else helping you with your eyesight.
See the song’s story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSg8n2JSL8k (time-mark 0:45 – 1:52 of this New Song Café episode [worshiptogether.com])
See here for information about the author: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeland_(band)
Public Domain status of the picture of praying hands: (Artwork by Albrecht Dürer [1471–1528]). The author died in 1528, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1928.
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