An early favorite worship song of mine was Darlene Zschech's "Jesus, Lover of My Soul":
Jesus, lover of my soul,
Jesus, I will never let you go.
You've taken me from the miry clay.
You've set my feet upon the rock and now I know:
I love you, I need you.
Though my world may fall, I'll never let you go.
My savior, my closest friend,
I will worship you until the very end.
The song is still an old favorite for me, which is why I quote its opening line, lyrically and musically, in my song below.
However, the longer I follow Jesus, the more painfully aware I am of the weakness and brokenness of my love for God. When my world falls apart (even in little ways) I often do let Him go for a time and run instead to other things. Though I long to worship God "until the very end," I can't even seem to keep Him properly in mind for a whole day. When it comes to my relationship with God, I am not ultimately to be depended on.
So while there is a place for singing out the ideals we aspire to live out, I find myself most helped by singing not about my shaky attempts to love God ("I'll never let you go"), but about God's unshakable love for me. I find myself most transformed by dwelling not on my work-in-progress life of worship, but on the finished work of the already-risen Christ who is both "the author and perfecter" of my faith (Hebrews 12:2).
It is His grace, the grace of the One who "died for us while we were still sinners" (Romans 5:8), that gives me hope; without Him I am hopeless. As John Piper once said, "You never outgrow your need for the gospel." That's why I wrote this song. It's the kind of song I need the most.
You can download a chord sheet here.
You can download the whole Runaway Clay album for free from Bandcamp or NoiseTrade.
Lyrics
Stumble through I strive,
Wander though I will,
Ever still, you are faithful;
You are faithful.
Jesus, lover of my soul,
You're the author and perfecter of my faith
And so I know that nothing I could say or do
Could take away or add to what you've done,
So I run, with my eyes on you and,
Stumble though I strive,
Your hand will hold me fast;
Wander though I will,
Your love welcomes me back;
And nothing I could say or do
Could take away or add to what you've done,
So I run to you.
I will fall, I will fail,
But to your cross it will all be nailed;
May my hope no longer be
In what I do, but in your love for me.
I stand amazed at your constant grace,
How you pour your love out
Over all our days.
Your hand will hold me fast,
Your love welcomes me back;
Ever still, you are faithful.
Your hand will hold me fast,
Your love welcomes me back;
Ever still, you are faithful,
You are faithful.
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