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.