Marc Proctor
From New Hope Church
1 March 2010 - 6:34pm
Here's a song that is very fresh. I was reading Genesis 1-2 and was struck by how God created things and saw that it was good. It is a simple connection, but God is concerned about creating goodness, all the things that surround me are good because God create them to be good. You've heard that the whole earth is full of the glory of God, or that we were created for His glory? I think those statements are true, but I also realized how God's glory really is goodness to me... the song came out of that.
Any thoughts would be helpful. I'm trying to be more conversational in my songwriting because I think that style more adequately reaches Generation Y.
V1
I used to think your love came down
to meet me here on earth
But now I see You all around
You've never been far off
Pre-Ch1
When I laugh so hard it hurts
or the sun falls soft on my face
I know that's you, and You are near
and Your nearness is so very good
Ch
You create all that is good
Your glory fills the goodness that surrounds me
V2
I've sometimes thought you wouldn't show
to save me from myself
but now I see you've held my hand
even when I couldn't know
Pre-Ch2
When I see there's hope in life
or a rainbow break a cloudy day
I know that's you, and you are near
and Your nearness is so very good
Bridge
The more of you I see
The more wonderful You are to me
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:) Stresses! I do often miss those the first time around! I'll give it a whirlaround in the ole' think thank and see what comes out!
Do you think I'm getting off theologically speaking? I worry because so many respected and used songs often talk about God's love coming down, or meeting us... I don't mean to make a "me-vs.-them" situation, I just want to be sure it is a matter of perspective and not a theological blunder!
As far as theology, I think it's a bit of both.
The supreme act of love, by which love itself is biblically and theologically defined, was Jesus' laying down his life for us by dying on the cross; so in that sense God's love "came down to meet us" in the sense of Jesus leaving heaven to come to earth and eventually die on the cross.
However, there is also abundant evidence of God's love in other places, as Acts 14 speaks about God's providential love in sustaining and nurturing the natural environment.
So I wouldn't say it's one or the other, I'd say that God's love is manifested in a variety of ways.
Whether it's worth re-phrasing the sentiment expressed in the first verse is for you to decide.
Overall I like the lyric...
Actually I think the first verse captures quite well what is true for most of us - when we first start on our walk with God we do think of God being a bit distant then as we grow in our understanding we realise He is all round us.
Come to think of it, I guess it gets into the balance we try to strike between God's transcendence and God's immanence. No small matter, right? ;) Thanks for the helpful thoughts all! It means alot! I really want to try some of these ideas with a congregation to see if my suspicions about conversational tones is true. Its just a theory at the moment.
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