O The Precious Love of Jesus -- Eliza Morgan Sherman

 

She lived in small-town late 19^th Century America, and evidently had felt, seen, and heard something proclaimed and lived out in a church and a home that reinforced a simple, loving trust in Him. Could it be that Eliza Morgan Sherman had been taught to love Jesus Christ for so long, that by 1880 it was quite natural for her to sing “O, the Precious Love of Jesus” (also known as “Christ Is Precious”)? The very words she penned around her 30^th year most likely were those her parents had on their lips, too. Brodhead, Wisconsin (See the Seal of Wisconsin here; Brodhead sits astride the border of Green and Rock counties on the southern Wisconsin-northern Illinois border) and probably the Congregational Church where this family worshipped were small, but the Christian faith values she encountered there were evidently deeply embedded within Eliza. The basic message about God – that He is love (1 John 4:8), and that that character trait of Him is so very valuable – was not lost on this young woman.    

 

Eliza had sensed the love of God in boundless ways, perhaps even with the other two senses not yet mentioned (tasting and smelling), for it is evident in what she wrote that this divine nature was something that encompassed her life. ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’ (Psalm 34:8), and ‘taste the love of Jesus’ (v.3 of the song), Eliza coaxed, evidently as she drew on what her ancient ancestor-songwriter David had said about having God’s sweetness on the tongue. Had Eliza also read Psalm 141:2, wherein David loved God – indeed, perhaps enjoyed a mutual sensation with Him – through the aroma of incense that was present as he lifted up a prayer of devotion to Him? Was that analogous to her last three lines in verse 3, where Eliza indicates there’s a prayer offered to the One above, upon whom ‘burdens’ are laid, because He is ‘trust(ed) with…grief and sorrow’, and someone toward whom a ‘joyful song’ (is borne) ‘away’, like incense? She vocalizes the word love three times, once for each of her three stanzas, but the poetic offshoots of love include many other words to describe its breadth – like precious, sweeter, joyous, and melody (v.1); and fullness, wondrous, glory, heavenly home (v.2). All of these are traced to Christ – employed 12 times in her poetry -- the name for the Anointed One of God to whom she points. Eliza managed to say quite a lot about this God of love with just a handful of words.

 

What do you suppose Eliza did with all of that love that she experienced in Brodhead? Without specific evidence to confirm how Eliza Sherman’s life played out day-to-day, including what particular episode might have spurred her poetry about this love of Jesus, we could surmise that what took place there stuck with her – and that she stuck with Brodhead in reply. The little available information about her, in addition to the verses of some 80 songs that she wrote, indicate her father (James) was a deacon in a Congregational Church for half-a-century, and that her mother was Abigail Morgan. These parents gave Eliza her mother’s maiden name and her father’s family’s name, so could they have wanted her to always know about her roots? Eliza Morgan Sherman remembered, and must have gleaned something else from her upbringing in Brodhead that she found very attractive, for she apparently lived almost all of her life – some 78.5 years – in Brodhead, or near there. Fifty years as a deacon’s daughter is a pretty long stretch. A small church and community are where Eliza evidently experienced love firsthand. Have you got a magnet with that kind of staying power?          

 

 

See few scant details of the authoress here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/s/h/e/r/sherman_em.htm

 

Find all three verses and the song’s refrain here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/o/p/r/e/oprelove.htm

 

Also see here for the song’s lyrics: O, the Precious Love of Jesus | Hymnary.org

 

See here for information about the authoress’s birthplace: Brodhead, Wisconsin - Wikipedia

 

See information on the seal of Wisconsin here: File:Coat of arms of Wisconsin.svg - Wikimedia Commons …  This media file is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1929, and if not then due to lack of notice or renewal.

You Alone Can Rescue -- Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin

 

Matt Redman’s few words to explain why he wrote “You Alone Can Rescue” include one very significant word, one which anyone who’s ever lived needs to accept in order to live forever with the Maker of all life. Salvation. Countless books, videos, songs, and works of art (like the one shown here, Allegory of Salvation, by 16^th Century artist Wolf Huber) throughout history have attempted to describe the import of this transaction. In trying to define it, none have really been equal to the task, for this one-word deal was something over which even the Lord Himself agonized, when He considered what was necessary to accomplish this. To say it was a stress-inducing time for Jesus (see Luke 22:43-44) would be a gross understatement. No one had ever done what He was about to do, and its value is underscored in that He did this for all time (Hebrews 10:11-14). What other one-time deals have purchased so much?

 

Could it be that co-writers Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin were thinking in the same vein when they first penned and polished their thoughts about salvation (shortly before, or in 2008)? It’s such a ‘churchy’ word, this salvation that is only rarely spoken outside of a religious context. In an interview, Matt says he and Jonas were looking for something fresh, an up-to-date way to thank God with a new salvation song. Was part of this freshening objective accomplished by replacing this seminal word with another – rescue? Alternatively, they could have said redemption, escape, recovery, or deliverance (all synonyms for salvation, according to this Word document’s query function), but rescue seemed to fit what they were trying to say. Rescue implies that someone has been in danger, and that a trusted entity has reversed the situation for the imperiled. Escape likewise implies that a dangerous condition has been reversed, but not necessarily through someone else’s action. Matt and Jonas could have said redemption, deliverance, or recovery, but rescue is more pithy (fewer syllables). Just how dangerous was my condition, and why was Jesus’ intervention so necessary? I had something like a disease, apparently, for which I needed ‘heal(ing)’; it was accompanied by a ‘shame’ with a deep-sea-like depth (v.1). The song’s title words say ‘You (God) alone’ has the answer, my ‘rescue’ within His grasp, because only He can dispense the ‘grace’ that goes deep enough to find me; I’m in a ‘grave’ leading to ‘death’, otherwise (refrain). He bridges a ‘great divide’ by way of His great ‘love’; I’m desperate, because this separation threatens to keep me ‘far away’ (v.2). Matt concludes his few thoughts by saying he and Jonas thought of ‘You Alone…’ as a simple song, with a bridge section that says one thing, the only thing that I, as a fallible human, can do in that moment when I’m saved: ‘Lift up…(my) eyes’, to see the ‘Giver of Life’. Will any words be adequate at that moment in Eternity, when my rescue is finally completed?   

 

There’s one other significant word in this song by Matt and Jonas: Alone. That was the one that perhaps troubled Jesus’ spirit so much in the garden, that He had to do this by Himself; even His closest earthly friends could not stay awake to help Him in this dark moment (Matthew 26:38-45). He was to be left ‘forsaken’, even by His Father (Matthew 27:46, quoting Psalm 22:1) while His body was about to expire. What’s that like, to be God, and yet be alone? He must not much like it, for He made you and me in His very image (Genesis 1:27), and then noted that it wasn’t right for man to be alone either (Gen. 2:18-23). If I’m like Him, then He and I are alike in our mutual desire for companionship. He alone rescued, so neither He nor I need be so lonesome anymore.          

 

 

Matt Redman - You Alone Can Rescue - Popular Christian Videos (godtube.com) (comments on song at 1:17 – 1:22)

 

Read about the principal songwriter here: Matt Redman - Wikipedia

 

Read about the other songwriter here: Jonas Myrin - Wikipedia

 

The album on which the song appears: We Shall Not Be Shaken - Wikipedia

 

See here for information on the artwork about Salvation: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Allegory_of_Salvation_by_Wolf_Huber_(cca_1543).jpg... 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. {{PD-1996}} – public domain in its source country on January 1, 1996 and in the United States.

What He's Done -- Jacob Sooter, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Anna Golden, Kristian Paul Stanfill

 

It wasn’t really a surprise that the words these four songwriters would compose would try to match the passion of the event they were attending. Jacob Sooter, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Anna Golden, and Kristian Paul Stanfill were, in fact, being very intentional, since they were in Atlanta to write a song for the Passion Conference, coming up in January 2022. Their recall of that time and how “What He’s Done” emerged from their session together says as much about how much they were listening, versus what they were saying to each other in order to create this song. ‘It’s not about you and me’, they might say in retrospect, but about putting Him in the place He deserves. That’s their sense of how to make all other interactions among humans fall into their best places. Jesus didn’t get what He had prayed earlier (in the garden) to His Father to give Him, but look at how things turned out. What would we and history look like if He had avoided the mission He was sent to complete?

 

This group effort began in the months prior to January 2022 with just Kristian and Jacob sharing some seemingly unrelated information with each other, opening the door for a time when Anna and Tasha would add to the spirit of their four-part collaboration. It was a ‘real’ exchange, as Kristian remembers, in which he and Jacob were talking about their respective families and life in general. That set the tone, apparently, for an authentic exchange and reflection on what’s most important, touching Jacob first with the song’s chorus and title theme – ‘What He’s Done’. It was a ‘wow’ moment for the other three, who needed no other inspiration for a foundation upon which to contribute their own thoughts for the remainder of the writing session. God was there, they believed, giving them all they needed. They acknowledged the contrast with how some other songwriting episodes proceed; in this case they received, rather than worked themselves to create the lyrics and accompanying music. A baby’s birth might be the closest metaphor to what happens when a song like this one is conceived and given life. And, such a gift from Him needs no more adornment, no clever words added to make it better – just describe simply His act on the cross and what that does for you and me. This event’s unique nature and its import stands on its own, without a lot of flowery adjectives. It’s enough just to turn one’s eyes upon Him, and voice words like ‘bled’ ‘wounds’, ‘sacrifice’, ‘honor, ‘glory’, ‘freedom’, ‘forgiven’, ‘grace’, and of course, ‘heaven’. With the focus on the One who made it all happen, these songwriters could not leave out some of His ‘name(s)’ – ‘Savior’, ‘Son’, ‘God’, and ‘Father’ – so that our eyes would be fixed on this one who’s made life, and conquered death.  

 

These four songwriters were contemplating not only the Passion Conference’s upcoming schedule, but any Sunday morning that routinely arrives among a believer’s weekly activities. They reminded themselves and those who might sing ‘what He’s done’ that everyone has ‘stuff’ going on. It’s sometimes hard to leave all those other concerns at the door of a worship facility, but how’s it all stack up, compared to what happened on a hill and in a tomb 2,000 years ago? Re-center on those two moments. He’s capable of intervening for me, with whatever aid I find most needful in a troubling situation. But it seems that Jacob, Tasha, Anna, and Kristian are saying that what He’s done already proves that He’s the Almighty. How do you calculate the value of His death and rising? Let the Infinite One transform you infinitely.       

 

What He's Done // Passion feat. Kristian Stanfill, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Anna Golden // New Song Cafe (youtube.com) (story between 8:10 and 12:00 minute marks)

Read some of the story here also: ‘What He’s Done’ Acoustic Performance From Passion Featuring Kristian Stanfill | Christian Radio

 

See here for image of Atlanta seal and its public domain status -- File:Seal of Atlanta.svg - Wikimedia Commons 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 50 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.