We Will Feast in the House of Zion -- Sandra McCracken and Joshua Moore

 

Was something troubling the writers or people they knew? The lyrics that Sandra McCracken and Joshua Moore penned in 2015 indicate that if the answer was ‘yes’, then they had been reading from various ancient scriptures for solace and encouragement. “We Will Feast in the House of Zion” was how Israel’s most faithful servants of the Lord God reassured themselves, through a remembrance of His past relationship with them and what these same afflicted people prayed He could do for them in the future. Some of their history included exile to another land, a situation that left the people longing for a joyous return to Zion, the land God had given to them. (See the 1903 illustration The Land of Zion, by Ephraim Moses Lilien, which shows the glow of the land off in the distance, which the people of God ached to inhabit once more.) The thoughts that Sandra and Joshua put on paper remind us that we often are in straits that menace us, even to the point of death. We call out and seek His protective presence once more, as His people have done over and over again.  

 

Since Sandra McCracken included the song ‘We Will Feast…’ on an album entitled Psalms, we can presume that much of the inspiration that she found, apparently with Joshua Moore’s collaboration, was from within that ancient Hebrew songbook. Particularly, Psalms 22 (verse 29) and 126 (verses 2-3) offer words that Sandra and Joshua could have borrowed to celebrate with ‘feast(ing)’ and to recall the ‘great things’ He has done for His people. Other various prophets or biblical visionaries like Isaiah (30:19; 43:2), Joel (2:21), Jeremiah (Lamentations 3:22), John (Revelation 5:5), and Solomon (Proverbs 7:9) wrote with words that these two 21^st Century songwriters seem to echo. What parallels to Israel’s history existed in Sandra’s and Joshua’s world that helped stimulate what they wrote? That’s a mystery, though any number of circumstances in our modern world so often make us feel as though a gap between the Lord and ourselves has formed. One thing is certain: He hasn’t moved; it’s always we who have strayed away from Him. ‘Fire’ and ‘flood’ may threaten us (v.1); or we feel surrounded by the ‘dark of night’, making us ‘afraid‘ as we look for the ‘dawn’(v.2); and finally admit that our trouble stems from a broken ‘vow’ to Him (v.3) – the trouble is therefore so often self-inflicted. Sandra and Joshua weren’t ready to sit down immediately at the feast; instead, they had to acknowledge that the dangers, using the phrases of their faith’s ancestors, were there. It’s clear that Isarel and we, many centuries later, still experience anxiety, even as we believe in God’s ‘strength’ (v.2). It’s been an ongoing issue for us humans -- ‘from the garden to the grave’ (v.3) --  that McCracken and Moore remind us hasn’t changed between the very beginning of human history until today. But, imposing as these perils have been and continue to be, they cannot defeat God’s rescue operation.

 

We’re not always feasting and rejoicing, feeling restored and protected, for in Sandra’s and Joshua’s world, there are things on the opposite side of the ledger. Their verses even begin with the difficulties, those things that most often, frankly, make us call out to our Protector and Redeemer. It’s just that human nature and daily life work out that way. Struggle almost seems necessary, and in a way, they do seem to make the eventual feast taste that much sweeter. That’s a lesson from real-life experience, from the history we can read of His people, and from this song that Sandra and Joshua have brought to us. Notice that the feasting is always the conclusion of the matter, the refrain in the song. It’s not an accident, is it? We couldn’t trust God and aim to be with Him if that wasn’t true. It’s worth singing and reading every day, that maladies might upset me, but I can count on the end being a reverse of that. He’s the reason, and He's preparing the meal in His house for me. Read John 14:2-3 and Revelation 19:6-9, and see if that whets your appetite!

 

Read about one of the authors here: Sandra McCracken - Wikipedia (see 8^th paragraph re: Psalms album)

 

This site indicates the song is part of the Psalms album: SANDRA MCCRACKEN - PSALMS ALBUM LYRICS (songlyrics.com)

 

See information on the sketch here: File:Lieder des Ghetto 11.jpg - 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. See this page for further explanation.

Untitled Hymn (Come to Jesus) – Chris Rice

 

Was he undecided at first, and then later thought the title should be self-evident? Chris Rice was apparently working as a youth and young adult worship leader in the early 2000s, when he spelled out a simple message to this age group – Jesus. “Come to Jesus”, Chris said, although the song’s primary title was “Untitled Hymn”. It’s a curious title…what’s it mean to sing an ‘Untitled Hymn’? However, once you hear the poetry and the music, the song will undoubtedly be memorable for you. It's about the life cycle of a Christian – from birth, thru mid-life and its various ups and downs, and then to the end of mortal life, where there’s a re-birth because of Jesus. That’s something we can all celebrate, even now.  Wherever you are on the timeline, Chris said that the God-Son is the one to whom you can turn.

 

Perhaps the title of the album on which the ‘Untitled Hymn’ was released helps decipher Chris’ thinking at the time when it was written; or, we might just have to ask him when we meet him, whereupon he just might say ‘see the parentheses’! ‘Untitled…’ is part of the Run the Earth…Watch the Sky album recorded and released in 2003. What this 41-year-old advised was that any person’s earthly life has a beginning and an apparent end, and some ups and downs in between. Two of his song’s verses suggest that the person in the midst of a mortal struggle should gaze upward – watch the sky. ‘Raise your head…’ (v.1) and ‘Fly…’ (v.6), because that is where you will capture a vision of Jesus, he says. There’s lots more that those two verses bookend, and if you happen to be reading a bible and focusing on the subject of life, you might detect some parallel thoughts in Chris’ musical creation. Was this, more or less, what Chris Rice was up to when he penned his six verses? It would be interesting to know if Chris shared his idea for a six-verse song with his music publisher, and what they thought of such an enterprise. After all, most contemporary Christian music has just a few verses and perhaps a memorable chorus. But, as any bible student, even a casual one, might observe, life cannot really be described in just a few verses. ‘Life’ is a common biblical word (no surprise), used most often in Genesis, Psalms, Proverbs, Job, John’s gospel, Romans, and Revelation. Life begins and ends quickly and ignominiously for most humans in Genesis, but a few like Noah and others ‘raised (their) head(s)’ (v. 1) and were saved. The newborn Christian feels his ‘burden’s lifted’ (v.2), because God has given him a path to life. Rice’s next two verses tell of the valleys, not unlike what one might read in Psalms, Proverbs, and Job. I can ‘fall’ (v.3) and ‘cry’ (v.4), but the solution in both circumstances is Jesus. In John’s biographic sketch of Jesus, and Paul’s treatise for the Romans, a Christian can ‘dance’ (v.5 of Chris’ song) theologically because of the eternal life in Jesus that these apostles help you and me understand and celebrate.  Finally, John’s Revelation tells me of the culmination of it all, when I will ‘fly’ (v.6) toward Jesus and experience the book of life, the water of life, and the tree of life, though I will have my ‘final heartbeat’ here on earth.   

 

Where are you and me on the timeline? How would you title or sum up your life’s experience up to this point? That’s what you might imagine Chris Rice was challenging some young people to mull over, as he told them the one-word answer that even the despondent could use. Don’t hesitate to ‘come’, ‘sing’, ‘fall’, ‘cry’, ‘dance’, and ‘fly’. They’re all action verbs, so no sitting will be effective in acquiring the life that Jesus wants you and me to have. That’s another way to encapsulate the message that Chris Rice would have spoken for you some 20 years ago. It’s also one your bible would speak to you. Dust off that cover and see for yourself.

 

 

See biography on the author here: https://chrisrice.com/

 

See more on the author here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Rice#:~:text=Chris%20Rice%2C%20a%20native%20of%20Clinton%2C%20Maryland%2C%20grew,his%20early%20work%20with%20youth%20and%20college%20students.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel -- Anonymous

This writer was one of but a few who could have appreciated all that his bible was telling him. Maybe this anonymous poet even saw an illustration during his time (like this one, known as the Tree of Jesse, based on the Hortus deliciarum of Herrad of Landesberg) that helped spark some of his eight verses of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel (alternately spelled ‘Immanuel’)”. Just a scant number of people actually had access to a bible in the 12^th Century when this hymn, now at least nine centuries old, was first penned. So, maybe he was a monk, and one who could read and write in Latin (the poem-song’s original language). It seems likely that Christmas was approaching, during the season known as Advent that occurs in the weeks before December 25^th.  How does one best honor the God who came as a babe? This poet evidently took most of his cues from prophets, who had several names for Him.

 

Can you imagine the names of the God-Son sung in chant in a building made of stone, so that His name might seem to echo forever? That is the method this blogger employed, trying to place himself in the shoes of this ancient writer. And, open a bible and start reading the various names that prophets foretold, including ones that mention Jesus’ genealogy. That gives an otherwise obscure name like Jesse (although he was the father of a well-known king) significance. He’s the ‘rod’ and the ‘root of Jesse’ (vv. 3 and 7). This author camped out some more in the same place where he had read about Jesse: the writing of the prophet Isaiah captured his imagination, and so he had ‘Emmanuel’ and ‘Thou Key of David’, the genesis for two other verses (vv. 1 and 5). Could he have been reading Proverbs too, where ‘wisdom’ (v.2) is used over 50 times, far more than any other book of the bible? ‘Day-spring’ (v. 4) indicates the author was certainly reading Luke’s version of events, and was convinced that God-in-the-flesh was foretold by another prophet’s father (Zechariah [alternately known as Zacharias], father of John the Baptist). How many times have even devout believers cracked open the book of the minor prophet Haggai? This 12^th Century monk (?) must have, since he calls Emmanuel also the ‘Desire of nations’ (v.8, referring potentially to Haggai 2:7). The ‘great Lord’ (v.6) would not have been difficult for the poet to identify in many biblical places, but perhaps none better than Psalms, the Hebrews’ songbook (Psalms 48, 95, 96, 99, 104, and 135, especially).   

 

How many verses could a lyricist concoct, if he used the same method this 12^th Century bard applied? Indeed, could God’s names ever be exhausted? He’ll give us who gain heaven the opportunity to try! We’re told that is where believers will spend our time singing and calling out to Him (Revelation). So, it just might be good strategy to start boning up on all His names that you can find within the pages that He’s given. I sure wouldn’t want to be wondering about His identity, and I hope He will recognize me, too. So, how does one get practice? So many people use His name, but not in the way even the abusers of it would admit is complimentary. Even some of us who want to honor Him slip up occasionally, if we’re honest. One way begins with a monk’s approach. Try putting yourself in his place, 900 years ago. It’s not too late.    

 

   

   

   

See more information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990; and 101 Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1982.

 

See link here to the song’s original eight verses and refrain: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/o/c/o/m/ocomocom.htm