Once in a while, when I have some extra time on my hands, (like last week's sick-week), I play through some of my praise books and make a point of trying songs I've never heard or played before. Sometimes I fall in love with the arrangements, and sometimes not so much. Some days this exercise is therapeutic, and sometimes it just leaves me wondering where all the "fluff" came from. Sometimes I find lyrics that have very little scriptural depth but they are accompanied by music that's lovely. Other times the opposite is true. And then, sometimes I come across a gem that has both and I just want to share it!
Well, when I saw this song, I was drawn to it after a quick scan of the lyrics. (I can't honestly say I fell in love with the music....though it is growing on me...)
It's a simple prayer. Just a few attributes and truths about God are listed. A tiny glimpse of the vast array of characteristics that attempt to describe God in words we might understand.
Then the song writer asks that those attributes might also be true of him.
It's encouraging to be reminded of how God is faithful and unshakable. We have an unchangeable, reliable, all-powerful God. But He's also compassionate, patient, and full of love for those we would call "hopeless". At first glance, my thought was this: It is amazing how God cares for people who really are having a hard time...for those who have no where to turn...for the ones that others have perhaps turned their back on or given up on. The "hopeless ones."
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it's a description of everyone of us. We're all hopeless until God reaches in and works a miracle in our lives. And once He's worked that life-changing miracle in us, God continues to work another miracle.
That miracle is expressed in the desire that this songwriter pens in his chorus. After God makes that heart change in us, He also gives us the longing and desire to have those godly qualities be true of us. We want to be like Him!
I found that with everything that is going on in my life right now, the simple truths and the honest cry and desire of the heart expressed in these lyrics struck a chord with me.
These Things Are True of You
Tommy Walker
Unshakable, immovable, faithful and true;
Full of wisdom, strength and beauty:
These things are true of You.
Fearless, courageous, righteousness shines thru in all You do;
Yet You're so humble, You laid down Your life:
These things are true of You.
And as I turn my face to You, oh Lord, I ask and pray,
by the power of Your love and grace,
make these things true of me, too.
Make these things true of me, too.
Patient, compassionate, love flows thru You;
You never give up on the hopeless ones:
These things are true of You.
Holy and blameless, You stand up for justice and truth;
Yet You love mercy and forgiveness:
These things are true of You.
And as I turn my face to You, oh Lord, I ask and pray,
by the power of Your love and grace,
make these things true of me, too.
Make these things true of me, too.
