Songwatch: Jesus, I my cross have taken - Indelible Grace (music by Bill Moore)

Time for another instalment in my Songwatch series. As I said in my first post in this series, I'd like to use this opportunity to highlight some of the songs I use in my personal worship time that aren't as widely sung as songs from the usual big names. This time, I'd like to introduce you to a modern rendition of Henry Francis Lyte's "Jesus, I my cross have taken" by Indelible Grace.

Indelible Grace is not so much a label as it is a group of Christian artist who put new tunes to old hymns. I have only in the last few years gained an appreciation for the theological richness of these hymns. What I like about them is that they are biblical and do not shy away from the difficult and painful stuff. 'Jesus, I my cross have taken' is a good example of this.

Jesus, I my cross have taken is a song about the cost of following Jesus, but also about the joy of following Jesus. The first line: "Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow Thee" refers to passages such as Luke 9:23, where Jesus says that whoever wants to be His disciple "must deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow me". Each verse speaks about the cost of discipleship. It speaks about taking up our cross, being despised and left by the world, as Jesus Himself was despised and left. But, it's also a song of hope and joy. The song has 6 verses and each the first 4 verses begin with the cost, which following Jesus involves, but each of these verses end on a high. Take for example the first verse:

"Perish every fond ambition
All I've sought or hoped or known
Yet how rich is my condition!
God and heaven are still my own"

I believe this song is really valuable for the Church today. In today's consumerist society, we tend to fix our attention to all the nice bits, but forget the pain it involves. The Church is sadly following suit. It talks about God's love, grace and forgiveness, but it often fails to teach people about sin and the devastating effects of it. It fails to teach that following Jesus means leaving those selfish sins behind and take up our cross and follow Him. That transition from selfish ambition to follow Jesus is hard and painful. But, the joy of following Jesus goes beyond anything.

The final two verses are in my view the highlight of the song. It describes the joy and reward of being a disciple of Jesus:

Verse 5
"Soul, then know thy full salvation
Rise o'er sin and fear and care
Joy to find in every station,
Something still to do or bear.
Think what Spirit dwells within thee
Think what Father's smiles are thine
Think that Jesus died to win thee
Child of heaven, canst thou repine"

And finally verse 6:

"Haste thee on from grace to glory
Armed by faith, and winged by prayer
Heaven's eternal days before thee
God's own hand shall guide us there
Soon shall close thy earthly mission
Soon shall pass they pilgrim days
Hope shall change to glad fruition
Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

As a final note, this song is a very ambitious prayer. As sinful humans, we are unable to fully live out this prayer. That's why I find verse 5 so encouraging. "Soul, then know they full salvation" and then the second part of the verse: "Think that Jesus died to win thee. Child of heaven, canst thou repine". Jesus died on the cross to win us. We cannot live out this prayer in our own strength, but Jesus already did that in our place and died in our place for failing.

OK, that's enough talk from me. I'm sure you want to hear the song now, so here it is:

Songwatch: Shine into our night - Sovereign Grace

As a worship leader at my church, one of the things I like to do is look out for new songs. Of course I follow the usual household names like Chris Tomlin, Tim Hughes, Matt Redman, and big labels like Hillsong, Bethel, Soul Survivor, etc, but I'm also interested in the smaller, less well known labels: Indelible Grace, Red Mountain, Sovereign Grace, Page CXVI and things like that. They don't get as much attention as the larger names, at least not on this side of the Atlantic, but they have some really good stuff that I think is well worth including in our worship repertoire. So, I thought I would use this blog to introduce some of these songs and hopefully people will pick up some of these songs and use them either in their own churches or at home. I know that with an average of about 60 readers, this blog doesn't have the largest of audiences, but hey, you might be worship leader yourself, looking for some new songs to introduce to your church...

This time, I'd like to introduce "Shine into our night" by Sovereign Grace. Sovereign Grace is a name that may not be very well known here, but most of you will know "Before the throne of God above", which also comes from them. I learned this song a couple of months ago during the WorshipGodUK conference in Bath and I have since then used it regularly in my own personal quiet times as a song of confession. The first verse describes our sinful nature before God. It's a confession that we are not what God intended us to be. We are created in the image of God, but that image has been stained by sin:

"We are not what we should be
We haven't sought what we should seek
We've seen your glory Lord, but looked away
Our hearts are bent, our eyes our dim
Our finest works are stained with sin
And emptiness has shadowed all our ways"

The chorus that follows is an awesome prayer for God to shine into that darkness of our sin and let his glory fills our eyes

"Jesus Christ, shine into our night
Drive our dark away till your glory fills our eyes
Jesus Christ, shine into our night
Bind us to your cross, where we find life"

It always amazes me how generous God is in forgiving. Whatever we've done, we can always come back to God. This is what the second verse says:

"Still we often go astray
We chase the world, forget your grace
But You have never failed to bring us back
Reveal the depth of what You've done
The death You died, the victory won
You've made a way for us to know your love"

I find this really comforting, knowing that God never fails to bring me back to Him. As I said, this song has become one of my regulars when I'm spending time with God and especially in the context of confession. I just love the chorus, because it's such a beautiful prayer to ask God to shine into our night.

So, without further ado, here's a youtube clip of that song. Enjoy.