Why I am excited to sing this song
- It deals with the realities of sin and our sin nature in a way I think could be addressed more often in song
- It explicitly explains the gospel
- It focuses on the actions and character of Jesus
- It calls us to action in times of distress to turn to this Jesus
We were parted, born undone
Ephesians 2:12 says, “remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” This verse, speaking to the gentiles, sums things up nicely. They were separated from God, or parted from God and this is what we also were. Born undone, as the verse says, having no hope without God in the world.
So the Father gave his only son
But God did something about this, because He wanted to, not because He had to, as it says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
To pay the debt that had us bound
Colossians 3:13-14 says “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands “this He set aside, nailing it to the cross” Colossians 2:14. This verse says it all.
And His blood was shed as He cried out
As it says in Matthew 26:28 “for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” “as He cried out” refers to the next section, specifically what He said as He cried out. Notice that it is in quotations, for good reason.
“Father forgive them for they know not what they do” Lord we love you Lord we love you
This section is a direct quotation of scripture (Luke 23:34). I’d like to focus on why this is included. We started in this song by saying, that we were parted from God, born undone and so Father God gave His only Son, Jesus, to pay the debt that held us, and this Jesus, His blood was shed as He cried out these words, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” how marvellous that God could you be so gracious in such a situation. could you be so loving? This is the character of Jesus Christ, worthy of praise and honour, worthy of our love and so in response we sing, “Lord we love you”, how could we not love Him if you know this? I don’t think that Jesus is saying here a broad statement about humanity in general, we are responsible for our sin. But He is really talking about the ones who are crucifying Him, it’s amazing to consider this reality.
Father forgive us for we know that we have sinned Lord we love you Lord we love you
And so we continue on and ask God, on the basis of what He has done and who He is, to forgive us, we acknowledge our sin, we have confidence in His work on the cross and out of the overflow of this amazing reality, we proclaim our love to Him.
You’re the meaning of our lives and in you we find joy and delight
As we live under these truths we recognise that the very meaning of our lives is found in Him, He is the source of everything that is good, joy and delight.
let us live Lord as your lights and see your power changing hearts and minds
We petition for something which we know the Lord will answer, we wish to be His lights, Jesus, in fact, says that we are the light of the world, this line shows that our will is in alignment with His word, that we wish to do what He asks (Matthew 5:15). We wish to see Him working and changing hearts but also changing the minds of people.
We are forgiven for we know you give us truth Lord we love you Lord we love you
We have asked for forgiveness in the last chorus and we know that we have it, that we are forgiven and we can trust in that because He is the way, the truth and the life and in response, we proclaim our love for Him. (John 14:6)
We are delivered and our lives are formed a new Lord we love you Lord we love you
More than being forgiven, we also have a new life which is found in Him and as an outflow of this, we proclaim that we love Him. (2 Corinthians 3:18).
The greatness of greatness and the power of power the grace to the graceless The king of all hours
This is our response of praise to all of His goodness that we have sung about throughout the entire song. God is the greatness of the greatness, as in, if there is a greatness, then He is the greatness of the greatness, the best of the best, the crème de la crème, He is the power of power. The grace to those who have received none, or that are without it in their actions towards others. The king of all hours is really a poetic way of saying that He is always the king, always sovereign, always in charge, for all hours.
In peace of the silence and the roar of the storm we will cling tightly to the strength of our Lord
Because He is always in charge, we can always have confidence that whether in everyday life where everything is quiet or in the midst of the storm, sickness, hard times that God is with us. It might be nice to say that we will ride with God above the storm, but I just don’t think that is the case, we really cling to the strength of God in the midst of it, He is what we can hold onto.
I hope you can use this song to worship God, with your church, in your car or wherever else.
Listen here