Two (Actually Four) Fantastic Songs

I just bought two albums online, one by Gungor and one by Shane & Shane. Here are the two songs that led me to buy the albums:

 

 

And here are two more songs I’ve loved since listening to the rest of the albums:

 

Rediscover: Day 2 – Hymns

Today I seized the opportunity first to sleep in, then to work on school and other things I need to catch up on. It’s now 6 at night, and I’ve finished several assignments for Nutrition, written a book review, scoured (1/2) of our exceedingly dirty stovetop, as well as edited a bit of my Nano. It’s drizzling outside (typical Washington weather! ), and at that point when the house grows dusky and dark, so you have to flick on the yellow electric lights that signify it’s time to eat dinner, and play family games, and prepare for the ending of the day.

Right now Pandora’s playing, and I’m reminded of how beautiful hymns are. And wanted to compile a list of my favorites and learn what your favorites are. First, here’s mine, at least those that come to mind right now….

• All Creatures of our God and King (ye lights of evening, find a voice!)
• This is My Father’s World (why should my heart be sad?)
• Jesus Paid It All (love this one)
• It is Well With My Soul (my sin, not in part, but the whole… yeah I could just quote that whole song )
• I Have Decided To Follow Jesus (a song to be sung heartily)
• The Love of God (such beautiful lyrics!)
• Nothing But the Blood (for my cleansing this my plea…)
• Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee (sometimes a song becomes cliche because we never go beyond the first verse…)
• Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (prone to wander, Lord, I feel it…)
• Blessed Redeemer (written long before Casting Crowns made it popular)
• Take My Life

I’ll stop here before I just end up listing a whole hymn book. A lot of these I’ve heard at youth events, in worship… I’m sure there are many more, lesser known hymns that are beautiful, but I’ve never heard them… what’re your favorites? Favorite hymns, favorite lines from hymns?

Deliver Me

So right now my favorite author to read is Donald Miller, and my favorite artist to listen to is David Crowder. A couple nights ago before I fell asleep I had parts from a song running through my head…. “all of my life, I’ve been in hiding… wishing there was someone just like you…”

I couldn’t remember what song it was from or who had sung it, but I wrote it down to look up in the morning. Turned out it was by… guess who? Yep, David Crowder. Just thought I’d post the lyrics on here… the link to the Youtube video is in the title.

Deliver Me\\ David Crowder

Deliver me out of the sadness
Deliver me from all the madness
Deliver me courage to guide me
Deliver me Your strength inside me

All of my life
I’ve been in hiding
Wishing there was someone just like You
Now that You’re here
Now that I’ve found You
I know that You’re the One to pull me through

Deliver me loving and caring
Deliver me giving and sharing
Deliver me this cross that I’m bearing

Oh, deliver me

Jesus, Jesus how I trust You
How I’ve proved You o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus precious Jesus
Deliver me

Come and pull me through
Come pull me through

Only You – David Crowder

Open up the Sky

I don’t usually, but I took my mp3 while feeding the animals. The dusky sky was sprinkling cold raindrops that turned the ground into muddy puddles. My mp3 switched to this song as I was heading back from the dark barn to the lights of the house, and I slowed down and enjoyed singing it to the sky.

Here are the lyrics, for your enjoyment! For a temporary time the song is available (legally) for download here.

Open Up the Sky//Deluge

Our beloved Father
Please come down and meet us
We are waiting on Your touch
Open up the heavens, shower down Your Presence
We respond to Your great love
We won’t be satisfied with anything ordinary
We won’t be satisfied at all

Open up the sky, fall down like rain
We don’t want blessings, we want You
Open up the sky, fall down like fire
We don’t want anything but You

Our beloved Jesus
We just want to see You in the glory of Your light
Earthly things don’t matter
They just fade and shatter
When we’re touched by love divine
We won’t be satisfied with anything ordinary
We won’t be satisfied at all

Here we go, let’s go to the throne
The place that we belong, right into His arms
We won’t be satisfied with anything ordinary
We won’t be satisfied at all

Kendall’s lyrics

You can find more info, etc at her website – www.kendallpayne.com. All of the song titles link to the song on youtube.

Here’s a neat one, called Daddy. Yeah, I know, it doesn’t apply to my situation. =) But maybe in the future.

How long have I been dreaming? Who forgot to wake, to wake me up?
I know it sounds crazy but daddy now I think I’m in love
Cause when he steps in the room my heart begins to pound

You said, “Never settle,” you promised there was one out there for me
It’s true, I might have doubted but he’s standing here and now I believe
Yes, I know you’ll be proud of the man that chose me

It’s elementary to the wise, for the fool in full disguise
Beggars bow and poets kneel, and as for me… it’s finally real

I will always love you and I will always be your little girl
None could come between us, you’ll forever be the first man in my world
But when he smiles I can see how much he reminds me of you
A man of faith, a man of strength, who loves me like you do

It’s all the time I’ve spent in tears, worth the heartache, worth the fears
To stand beside him on this day after you give me away

How long have I been sleeping? Who forgot to wake, to wake me up?
Daddy, he’s amazing, he’s everything that I’ve been dreaming of
And now he has become my very best friend…

I Will Show You Love

I will show you love like you’ve never loved before
I will go the distance and back for more if you just say the word

You will come alive again and call the trying times your friend
The pain that you have suffered through will never get the best of you
You will hope in something real that won’t depend on how you feel
When you call my name then I will answer, answer

I am on your side though the wind and waves beat against your faith
You were on my mind when the world was made
Trust in me my child, Trust in me my child

Walk out on the water where you have no control
So scared to death of failure you sacrifice your soul, please let that go

You have climbed an uphill road, You have worn a heavy load
You have cried through endless nights and nearly given up the fight
Watched your dreams like falling stars the heartaches made you who you are
Now looking back you see that I have always been there

Where you gonna hide? Where you gonna hide from Me?
Where you gonna go? Where you gonna go that I can’t see?

I have heard you cry and it breaks my heart for I love you so
I would never lie, this is not the end there is still a hope

Pray

I will pray for you now for you have been my faithful friends
While the road we walk is difficult indeed
I couldn’t not ask for more than what you’ve already been
Only that you would say these prayers for me

May your heart break enough that compassion enters in
May your strength all be spent upon the weak
All the castles and crowns you build and place upon your head
May they all fall come crashing down around your feet

May you find every step to be harder than the last
So your character grows greater each stride
May your company be of humble insignificance
May your weakness be your only source of pride

What you do unto others may it all be done to you
May you meet the one who made us
And see him smile when life is through

May your blessings be many but not what you hoped they’d be
And when you look upon the broken
May mercy show you what you could not see

May you never be sure of any plans you desire
But you’d learn to trust the plan he has for you
May your passions be tried and tested in the holy fire
May you fight with all your life for what is true

I have prayed for you now all of my dear and faithful friends
But what I wish is more than I could ever speak
As the way wanders on I’ll long to see you once again
Until then, would you pray these prayers for me?
Oh that you would pray for me.

Okay, just one more. This is called Aslan (and I couldn’t find a youtube video sung by Kendall, so this is by someone else)

Don’t stop your crying on my account
A frightening lion, no doubt
He’s not safe no, he’s not safe
Are you tempted now to run away?
The King above all kings is coming down

But he won’t say the words you wish that he would
Oh he don’t do the deeds you know that he could
He won’t think the thoughts you think that he should
But He is good, He is good.

I know you’re thirsty the water is free
But I should warn you- it’ costs everything
Well, he’s not fair no, he’s not fair
When he fixes what’s beyond repair
And graces everyone that don’t deserve

No-one knows him whom eyes never seen
No, I don’t know him but he knows me
He knows me. He knows me.

Lay down your layers, shed off your skin
But without his incision you can’t enter in
He cuts deep, yeah he cuts deep
When the risk is great and the talk is cheap
But never leaves a wounded one behind

All of these songs are copyright 2009 by Kendall Payne.

There’s such power in music…

I enjoyed a fabulous concert by Kendall Payne yesterday. The lyrics, the songs, her voice, her character… it was all excellent. I’ll be posting a few lyrics in a moment…

God’s promise…

As I was reading Hosea I was reminded of this song by a local worship leader, Duff Rowden. This is from a cassette from 1992 and is called, appropriately, “I Will Call Them My People”.

Hosea 2:16, 19, 23

In that day, says the Lord, you will say to me, “My husband,” and you will not say to me, “My master”. “I will betroth you forever, I will betroth you through righteousness and justice, with great love and compassion.

I will plant her (Lo-Ruhama) in the land; I will give her my compassion. I will say to her (Lo-Ami) “You are my people”. And she will say “My God!”

I will call them “My People” who are not my people

I will call the outcast my bride

And in the very same place they were unwanted orphans

They’ll be called the sons of the Most High

The Lord… Abba Father, He

The Lord… now His children, we

The Lord… Jesus Christ is He

The  Lord… His blood shed for me

In His great mercy He called us to be

children of the Most High!

In His great mercy He called us to be

children of the Most High!

So go tell all people who are not my people

Go and tell all the outcasts of night

I’ll forgive all their sins and heal all their sorrows

They’ll be called the sons of the Most High!

Quick Post… some more lyrics =)

Speak in this close communion
Though this hour seems timeless still
I wait for your words that bid me come

Breathe in me, Holy Spirit
The will when my tomorrow comes
To follow when this song is gone

Shape me with words of wisdom
Free my torn heart from this world
Renew my mind and form my will

Teach me to wholly offer
More than words that I can sing
So I become the song I bring

So I await the words that you say
I open my life
I am longing just to hear these words
That you say, that you say

Can I be an instrument of praise
And here pursue your heart
So my life will tell of who you are

Can I be a channel of your love
A reflection of your light
And live to bring You praise and serve You, Lord

So I await the words that you say
I open my life
I am longing just to hear these words
That you say, that you say

Child, come home!

Sorry, it’s been a while since I’ve written! But then no one’s reading this =), and it’s really for my benefit. I’ve just got to get used to that idea, like with my diary. Once I stopped apologizing for taking so long to write and only wrote when I felt like it and wrote what I felt like, I wrote a lot more! So be patient.

I don’t have much to say – just wanted to put down a few songs that the Lord gave me. I don’t really have any melodies to go with them…and I’m not sure how to do that (but I will, someday). So I guess right now it’s more like a poem – a really random, vague poem, sorry about that! Anyway, here’s the words.

One day I’m laughing

then I’m crying as before

One moment I feel you –

The next so alone

It just goes on and on, a never-ending circle.

O how I need a Savior.

I wanna stop this cycle of running and coming back

Sometimes You’re near

Sometimes You’re far

Sometimes I see

Sometimes I’m blind

Remind me of what You said

You’re here – with love in Your eyes

You’ll never leave – I am Your joy

You are a God who reveals. A God of mercy.

And You’re calling me to lose myself in You.

And this is a second one -

Child, come home!

You’ve wandered so far

When here in my arms

Is the only  – safe ground

Do you know how I love you?

Do you know how I love you?

Do you know how much I love you?

Just turn and look back

And I’ll be running to meet you

Arms open wide…

Just breathe my name

And I’m there

Give Me your burdens

I’ll lighten your load.

We’ll travel together

Through the valley of death

To an overflowing cup

In the House of the Lord

Child, return! To your Father who groans

To hold you in His arms

He calls you His own…

That’s all I’ve got so far. Thanks for reading, folks! =)