My Help

"where does my help come from???"

So the Psalmist asks in Psalm 121- the subject of this weeks spontaneous song.
(Incidentally, this song is going out to James, who requested I do a spontaneous song based on this Psalm.  If others out there have a favourite Psalm, drop me a line and I'll give it a go.  Apparently I'm taking requests!!).

I lift up my eyes to the mountains.   Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2)

In this Psalm, the singer is asking "In whom do I put my trust?".   It's such a good question!  As Christian's, our answer is of course "God"!  But It's always so shocking when we find ourselves in a situation where we'll discover, "Oh, I thought my trust was in God, but actually, it turns out I was trusting in my ability/my job/my income/my comforts."  But God's never surprised by this!  In fact I'm convinced He allows us to walk into many of these situations so we can be confronted by truth, and by repentance and humility, we can realign our hearts so our lives resound with the cry "My help comes from the Lord!"

The Lord watches over you.  The Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,  nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm.  He will watch over your life;

the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (Psalm 121:5-8)

Amen! I have a sneaking suspicion that nothing moves God's heart more than our wholehearted faith and reliance in who He is.

About 'My Help'

I've had this song on repeat since early today.  There's just something so deep about it's message and I can't get enough of it!  It's fast becoming one of my favourite plog entries (and not just because I managed to sneak an F# in the bass line of a song in C major...). As usual, this track is also available for free download.  Why not gift it to a friend and share those F#s ??

As with my two previous posts, this song is to be featured on the radio this Sunday between 8-9am on Southern FM's "songs of hope".  A great Christian program that also supports local artists like me - they've been playing one of my songs every week as an introduction to spontaneous worship.  Tune in!  Or if you can't, check out their podcasts! 

How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place

Good morning! I hope you're having a great day wherever you're reading from.

You might notice that this weeks song is in a slightly shorter format than usual.  That's because last week, and for the next 3 weeks, my spontaneous sessions are being shared on the radio!  That's right!  The radio!  The fabulous Rodney Carr who presents "songs of hope" on southern FM is featuring songs from this plog in an introduction to spontaneous worship. You can show your support by tuning in to 88.3FM between 8 and 9am for the next few Sundays!  Or alternatively, you can download the podcast from the Songs of Hope website here.

About "How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place"

This weeks song is from Psalm 84 (and as usual, is available for free download, below!)

How lovely is your dwelling place,     

Lord Almighty! (Psalm 84:1)

I sang through this Psalm earlier in the year, producing the track "My Soul Longs" - one of my plog favourites so far!!  We also recently sang through this Psalm at church as part of our "worship and the word" on Friday nights.  But Psalm 84 expresses such a central theme that I just keep coming back to it again and again.  It's message is fresh everytime: "There's no better place than wherever He is!!"

Amen!!

Awaken the Dawn

Good Morrow!  Another week, another song!

This one is "Awaken the Dawn" based on verses from Psalm 108 (or 57!):

My heart, O God, is steadfast; I will sing and make music with all my soul.
Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn (Ps 108:1-2)

I love the phrase "I will awaken the dawn!".  It speaks of a fierce determination to praise God with everything inside!

I also like the idea implied in Psalm 49 that as we praise, as we meditate on the scripture and sing through them, mysteries will become known.  Wisdom will be released.  Understanding will go from being ethereal to tangible.  That's what this spontaneous worship thing is all about, right???  Soaking in the mysteries of God til they become the realities of our heart!

Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world, both low and high, rich and poor alike: My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding. I will turn my ear to a proverb; with the harp I will expound my riddle (Ps49:1-4)

There are two versions of this song: the normal everyday Awaken the Dawn, and now for those in a hurry, the shorter Awaken The Dawn (radio edit).  Enjoy!

Behold The One

A bit late with this post, sorry!!  But we've been working on the new Lion & I album!  Due for a release sometime around September 2013, it's gonna be awesome!

Many of the tracks on the new album will be familiar to you if you've been following this plog - because many of the songs are reworkings and new versions of the songs that have been featured right here!

You might remember a song called "Worth it All" from an earlier post in March.  Well the song featured this week "Behold the One" is a reworking of that song!  Featuring James the Justified (the other half of Lion & I) and a whole new arrangement, we hope this song blesses you and gives you a taste for what the new Lion & I album will be like!.

(please note, while this song is available for listen, it's not yet available for download.  But we promise it won't be long til you can get your very own copy!)