Category

Song Theology

Great Are Your Ways | Theology

This is a personal song which I believe that many people will deeply relate too. It is our proclamation that we trust in God, that his ways are great, even when we can’t understand what he is doing. This is what it means to have faith, we trust in God’s character, that he is working something, like a child trusts that their parent loves them even when they stop them from doing something they enjoy, like eating copious amounts of junk food, or leting them learn by touching the stove and so on. We trust that God has the best in mind for us, even when life is hard. Ultimately there is nothing else that equates to God to which we can turn and if we trust in God when things go well we must also trust in him when they do not.
 
Verse 1
Great are your ways
Even when I can’t understand
Great are your ways
I know I’m safe in the palm of your hand
Great are your ways
Even when I don’t know your plan
Great are your ways
I am content to know you understand
 
Isaiah 55:9 is the main passage out of which this was written. I wrote it after preaching on this passage. It matters so much that we acknowledge that God knows better than us, that he has a plan. We can trust that our lives are safe in God’s omnipotent hand because of who he is. Jesus is sympathetic to our situation, he was beaten and crucified, and this was a part of God’s plan. Paul was stoned by a crowd who intended to kill him, yet God used this for his purposes (Acts 14:19). So often in the Scriptures we see that God takes something bad and turns it to good and we must believe that since he is the same God he is capable of doing that now.
 
Chorus
We put our trust in you God
You are the only one
Who is worthy of our praise
We aren’t worthy of this grace
 
Again, trust is key here, God is the only one worthy of having our trust placed in, worthy of being praised. Importantly we have this grace from him, grace to be alive, grace to know him, grace to be saved. God is the ultimate worthy one, we are so unworthy yet he has saved us and loved us. We see this all throughout the scriptures, but here are a few examples.
 

Psalm 9:10, “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”

9 Joshua 1:9 says, Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Psalm 56:3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

Verse 2
You are so good
Even when I can’t understand
You are so good
I know I’m safe in the palm of your hand
 
Not only are God’s ways great, He is eternally good, and so as Christians we should never turn to question the character of God because of our circumstances, even when we can’t understand. God is always good, always worthy of our trust and praise. There are plenty of stories one could give from the Scriptures which prove this. Joseph lived one of the most difficult and yet successful lives imaginable. We can’t deny God’s goodness even through Joseph’s difficult circumstances. In the case of the story of Joseph, God was working towards saving many lives, but Joseph never could have known that, he could only trust in God’s good character and is therefore able to recognise God’s goodness at the end of the story (Genesis 50:20).
 
Bridge
God is greater
Than we can know
Of my burdens
I’m letting go
 
Because God is great we can let go of what troubles us in the sense that we know that he is in control of it all. Nothing happens without God letting it happen and even if we cannot understand what he is doing in the moment, we can trust in that.
 
Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”
It is the joy of all believers to place their worries in the hands of our God, (Matthew 11:28-29) because he can handle it, nothing is too much for him. This allows us to have peace in the midst of great difficulty because we know the final outcome will be determined by God.
I hope this is helpful to you in times of struggles, but I would also encourage you to get this song into your head before something goes wrong, to prepare yourself. The reality is that we will suffer, so the only question really is ‘how will you suffer?’. Also what will you say about suffering? what will you tell yourself and others? I hope this song helps you to have something to say, as well as the congregation of your church.
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