While we’re talking about Christian music and how we should or shouldn’t define it, let’s take some time today to share Christian music songs that really inspire us. I’d love you to share lyrics, too.
Todd Agnew told me once that he started to really consider the lyrics he was singing and that if he really didn’t mean them or understand them, he wouldn’t sing them. He used the line “Here I raise mine Ebenezer” from “Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing” as an example. How could he sing about raising his Ebenezer until he knew what it meant? (When I asked him what it meant, he told me to go look it up myself. Gotta love Todd Agnew, teacher at heart.)
But he brings up a good point. How many of the songs we sing contain things we don’t actually mean? When you sing “I Surrender All” so you really mean that you surrender all? When you sing “Here I Am Lord, Send Me” do you really mean that if he sends you, you’ll go? When you sing about being washed in the blood, have you really been washed in the blood?
It’s just something that has me thinking a lot about song and hymn lyrics.
So what are some lyrics that inspire you or really speak to you? Maybe it’s a love song. Maybe it’s a worship song. Maybe it’s a song that just makes you want to throw your hands up to the heavens and dance with joy. Maybe it’s an old hymn that brings a tear to your eye. Maybe it’s a song of committment or rededication.
A couple of songs that really speak to me:

I’m quite fond of old hymns that really tell the story of Jesus, like “Victory in Jesus:”
I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.
CHORUS:
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.
I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing pow’r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and bro’t
To me the victory.
CHORUS
I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there
The song of victory.
But there are so many modern songs, too. Whenever I play Starfield’s “Filled With Your Glory,” I have to put the windows down and raise my hand out the window (that happens for me with a lot of Starfield songs):
In my heart, in my heart, there’s a fire burning
A passion deep within my soul
Not slowing down, not growing cold
An unquenchable flame that keeps burning brighter
A love that’s blazing like the sun
For who You are and what You’ve done
And as the fire is raging on
So Your praise becomes my song
The whole earth
Is filled with Your glory, Lord
Angels and men adore
Creation longs for what’s in store
(Mountains bow and oceans roar)
May You be
Honored and glorified
Exalted and lifted high
Here at Your feet I lay my life
From the ends of the earth
To the heights of Heaven
Your glory, Lord, is far and wide
Through history You reign on high
From the depths of the sea
To the mountain’s summit
Your power, Lord, it knows no bounds
A higher love cannot be found
So let the universe proclaim
Your great power and Your great name
One last one (I could name hundreds) – is a song we sing at a SIdewalk Club during Flower City Work Camp. Seriously, it’s a kid’s song and it even has some hand motions. But it’s such a basic way to tell children who God is:

You molded every mountain
You poured out every sea
The world is your creation
And yet you’re here with me
Maker of all things
You are a mighty king
And mighty is your love for me.
How about you? What are some songs that inspire you?
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