I just finished reading a passage from Isaiah 6…
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almight; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried, “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the alter. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here I am, Send me!”.
As soon as I read it I was reminded of my favorite Hymn from growing up…
*WARNING* I searched for about 30 minutes for something that would be more our style… but was unsuccessful. This may be a bit boring of funny to watch but it is the best I could do to get the lyrics and the music to the song. Just think about the creation and the calling…
I grew up in a traditional presbyterian church where we had hymnals and full choirs… some of these hymns have deep meaning to me.
The reason I like this song so much is because I think it captures the essence of what Isaiah must have been feeling and what it feels like to hear God calling us to go…
- Awe, wonder, majesty… God is so HOLY, and huge and amazing, the creator
- Guilt, shame, confusion, who me? i can’t? I’m unclean!
- Grace, forgiveness, a clean start…
- Humility, Wow, God, you care enough to cleanse me…
- Response, I will go Lord, will you lead me?
September 29, 2008 at 1:19 pm
This song was written in 1981 (the year I was born) and I also want it to be played at my funeral. I want it to be played there because I hope that my life will have resembled the words to this song…
As our community pursues God’s calling I pray that we would hold onto this level of humility and wonder.
September 29, 2008 at 9:39 pm
One more thing… I just remembered (after talking to a friend about Sunday morning) that the song we sang resembles this one in a lot of ways…
Take my life, all of me… by Chris Tomlin (although I personally like it by the Visio band)… and this one is a bit more our style.