This songwriter must have first heard the foundation for this song, really the fulcrum for his life, from his mother. The moment in San Diego (see its flag here) in 1971 that most influenced Israel Houghton’s life happened before he was even born, but is it possible that he might have heard or detected some noteworthy words though the umbilical cord while still in his mother’s womb? There were other words like “You Are Good” that he later adopted as his own life’s theme when his purpose became clear. His life's start, even before his birth, was not very auspicious, but that part of his story must have made the bounty of his life by the time he reached 40 years old seem so much sweeter. Don’t ever forget the pit where you might have been, except for the charity of an anonymous person, someone who was just a willing vessel for the God who is good. Israel hadn’t forgotten, and so he composed something so that would make it impossible to overlook what had happened four decades earlier.
Israel’s first name emerged from what his mother began to read along a lonely street – it was the gift of a bible from a woman she’d never met, someone who just thought this young eight-months pregnant woman needed God in the worst way. She kept seeing ‘Israel’ in this book, following her submission to Him on Carlsbad Avenue that day, and so his name and Israel’s direction were already in progress. His parents’ cross-cultural union (Israel’s biological father was black, his mother was white) had disintegrated, but his new stepfather’s work as a church pastor, and his mother’s musical background (she’d been a concert pianist) gave the one-year-old Israel lots to build on. His mother’s parents had tried to convince her to abort the unborn fetus within her, a fact that some mothers might have chosen to conceal from their offspring. But it was just one more startling ingredient within Israel Houghton as he approached 40 years old, one more reason to say ‘thanks’ to God, over and over in 2001. Using Psalms 100 and 124, Israel created a way to vocalize how much he appreciated the path he’d been blessed to take, certainly not something he could have chosen for himself as an unborn child and then as a youngster in California. But he was grateful not to have been an abortion casualty, and Psalm 124 helped him find what he calls ‘an internal platform’ in his role as a worship leader; it’s an attitude that, as David penned, “If it had not been for the Lord, who was on my side...”. That’s what motivates Israel, who uses some brief words from Psalm 100 to express in ‘You Are Good’ his gratitude. It’s not a complicated affair in ‘You Are Good’, but rather repeated phrases directed toward the Lord, including the song’s title words, and that His ‘mercy endureth forever’, and that all ‘nation(s)’ and ‘tongues’ from all ‘generation(s)’ can praise Him. Israel invites all others to join his celebration of what has transpired. He’s evidently said it for himself so much, that he now solicits multitudes of other people to join him, so that his otherwise solitary praise might be magnified properly to advance the name of the One who can save. He can do, and will do, for countless others what Israel’s life has already represented in one small episode.
Being saved can take on a wide variety of looks. To calculate it, you can begin by taking a world census, and that might get you close to how many ways God can save. And by imagining that, you’ll see just how good He really is. Then, multiply that across all of human life’s presence here on Earth…how many people, and how much time would that portray? It’s just way too much to process. But, the last of the Apostles got to see something like that, when he writes of the multitude that was before his eyes (Revelation 7:9; 17:15; 19:1 and 19:6), a sight and a sound that must have given him chills. That is the home of this good God. Imagine the cosmic salvation scene that awaits. Seems like Israel Houghton already has.
See some information on the author-composer here: Israel Houghton - Wikipedia
See biography of the author-composer here: http://www.integritymusic.com/artists/bio/israel.html
See the song story briefly here: The Story Behind the Song You Are Good | PraiseCharts
See Israel’s story here also: Israel Houghton: An Intimate Portrait of Worship | CBN
See information on the image of the San Diego flag here: File:Flag of San Diego, California.svg - Wikimedia Commons This work is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1928 and 1963, and although there may or may not have been a copyright notice, the copyright was not renewed. For further explanation, see Commons:Hirtle chart and the copyright renewal logs. Note that it may still be copyrighted in jurisdictions that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works (depending on the date of the author's death), such as Canada (50 years p.m.a.), Mainland China (50 years p.m.a., not Hong Kong or Macao), Germany (70 years p.m.a.), Mexico (100 years p.m.a.), Switzerland (70 years p.m.a.), and other countries with individual treaties.
No comments:
Post a Comment