This past Sunday (2/26) we ended our service at church with a short chorus — well it would have been short had it not been repeated three times. But I wonder if the song leader gave much thought to the lyrics, because I found them confusing. Here’s the song:
Oh, the Glory of Your Presence
by, Steven Fry
Oh, the glory of Your presence
We Your temple
Give You reverence
Come and rise from Your rest
And be blessed by our praise
As we glory in Your embrace
As Your presence
Now fills this place
Come and rise from Your rest
And be blessed by our praise
As we glory in Your embrace
As Your presence
Now fills this place
The break in stanza to chorus is odd, or I guess it’s just one long chorus, but the breaks are still odd.
Now, I have some questions:
What does it mean to tell God to “Come and rise from Your rest”?
How do we glory in God’s “embrace” and just how does He embrace us?
Is the phrase about God’s presence filling “this place” a charismatic idea?
Really, just what does this all mean?
ReplyDeletePsalms 121:4
“Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
Isaiah 49:16
“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls arecontinually before me.”
Acts 17:28
“For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”
I dont know much about the phoenix cultic beliefs, dead bird rising from its own ashes and all but like the expected return of Nimrod its what comes to mind like the spirit of the antichrist expressing hopeful expectation.
The depths of satan are not drawing me down, no but instead,
John 6:44
“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
I hear songs at my mothers church like this all the time and they disturb me greatly i mean the gift of peace within me is disturbed. Like hands hrabbing my head and jerking it away from loking on the masters face! A noise trying to distort and drown out the master clear loving voice.
I've never heard of anyone expecting the return of Nimrod.
ReplyDeleteI was somewhat, okay with the first three lines. After that, it gets weird.
ReplyDeleteRalph,
ReplyDeleteLikewise!
Oh, the glory of Your presence, We Your temple give You reverence, be blessed by our praise.
ReplyDeleteCould set that to music as a sort of doxology-style piece. :)
-Carolyn
Glenn: Before I read your post-song comments, when I first read the phrase, "Come and rise from Your rest," I jerked my head and said, "What? What does that even mean? Am I to assume that God has been resting from whatever he was doing before he had to rest?"
ReplyDeleteThat is one odd song on so many levels.
I agree, Some of the lyrics do seem very strange. It almost seems like something from hillsong or bethel redding.
ReplyDelete