This song has been echoing in my mind and heart for the last several days and is so rich with God's goodness and truth. As its words flow across the melody in my mind, I'm reminded of so much truth from God's word. It's always been important to me to make sure what I'm singing is Biblically sound- there is a lot of bad theology in song lyrics, so it's good to test them against Scripture. This one passes the test! If you like, you can first listen to the song here by Selah: After you listen to or read through all the lyrics, see below for the corresponding truths straight from God's Word and a few of my own comments on what these words mean. It's so easy to sing songs in church without really thinking about the words, but when I do consider the lyrics, this one fills my heart with praise to God for his goodness and mercy. Before the throne of God above I have a strong and perfect plea A great High Priest whose name is love Who ever lives and pleads for me My name is graven on His hands My name is written on His heart I know that while in heav’n He stands No tongue can bid me thence depart No tongue can bid me thence depart When Satan tempts me to despair And tells me of the guilt within Upward I look and see Him there Who made an end of all my sin Because the sinless Savior died My sinful soul is counted free For God the Just is satisfied To look on Him and pardon me To look on Him and pardon me Behold Him there, the risen Lamb My perfect, spotless Righteousness The great unchangeable I AM The King of glory and of grace One with Himself, I cannot die My soul is purchased by His blood My life is hid with Christ on high With Christ my Savior and my God With Christ my Savior and my God
Now let's break it down and see where in the Bible these lyrics come from. I've selected some appropriate verses for each section, but it's not an exhaustive list. Before the throne of God above I have a strong and perfect plea A great High Priest whose name is love Who ever lives and pleads for me "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;" (1 John 2:1) "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus," (1 Timothy 2:5) "But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom." (Hebrews 1:8) "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16) "The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." (Hebrews 8:23-25) "The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." (1 John 4:8) Guys, this stuff is so rich and so awesome. I could include so many more Bible verses that speak to this part of the song, but I've got to limit myself! Seriously, read the book of Hebrews if you want more context on all this. When we belong to Jesus, our plea before God is strong and perfect, because it's Jesus making that plea for us! He's our Advocate and our Intercessor and our Mediator. He knows our weakness and our sin - He lived among us, but He lived perfectly. He is the Son of God, God Almighty, and He is willing to extend grace to us when we come to Him. God is love, and Jesus is God. My name is graven on His hands My name is written on His heart "Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands" (Isaiah 49:16a). This is what God said to Zion when they thought He had forsaken and forgotten them. I also can't help but think that this is symbolic of us being crucified with Christ: our names are graven on his hands, and his hands were pierced through on the cross, as He died for our sins. I couldn't find any direct Scripture references to our name being written on God's heart, but I think it carries the same idea that God knows those whom are His, and has a permanent relationship with them. He won't forget us! (If anyone knows of a Bible verse where that second phrase comes from, please feel free to comment below!) I know that while in heav’n He stands No tongue can bid me thence depart "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39) "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:27-30) As long as Jesus is on the throne of God (which is forever), we don't have to worry about being separated from Him. He has us in His hand and He's promised that He has us forever! When Satan tempts me to despair And tells me of the guilt within "And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, 'Now the salvation and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night." (Revelation 12:9-10) "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all." (James 2:10) Satan is an accuser and a deceiver. He's a tempter. He'll get under your skin and remind you that you haven't kept God's law perfectly and that you're guilty. He'll try to discourage you. He might lie and tell you that God won't forgive you. He'll make you feel real bad and cause all kinds of doubts. Upward I look and see Him there Who made an end of all my sin "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:8-9) When we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we can't be fooled by Satan's lies. Jesus has promised us forgiveness. We only need to acknowledge our sin and look to Jesus for forgiveness and new life. Because the sinless Savior died My sinful soul is counted free "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21) "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36) Jesus lived without sin and died on our behalf so that we could be set free from the bondage of sin. We no longer have to carry the burden and weight of sin! We no longer have to worry about eternity when we belong to Christ. For God the Just is satisfied To look on Him and pardon me "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 3:23) "Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him." (Isaiah 30:18) "Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "The righteous man shall live by faith.'" (Galatians 3:11) "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7) We talk a lot about how God is love, but God is also Just. This means that he wants justice for wrongdoing, and He can't just look the other way when we sin. But His love and justice come together in the person of Jesus Christ. He accepts the death of Jesus in our place to pay the price for our sin. Behold Him there, the risen Lamb My perfect, spotless Righteousness "The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) "and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." (2 Corinthians 5:15) "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption," (1 Corinthians 1:30) The great unchangeable I AM "Then Moses said to God, 'Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you." Now they may say to me, "What is His name?" What shall I say to them?' God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and he said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:13-14) "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) "Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” "(John 8:58) When Moses asked God what His name was, God gave him the name "I AM". Basically that means that he is ever present and eternal. Jesus later reiterated this phrase "I am" making a claim to be God himself - there was no mistaking his claim, as those who were listening picked up stones to stone him for blasphemy when they heard this. The King of glory and of grace "Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah." (Psalm 24:10) "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14) One with Himself, I cannot die "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)," (Ephesians 2:4-5) "Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." (Romans 6:4-10) “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." (John 5:24) When we put our trust in what Jesus did on the cross, something radical happens. A spiritual transformation happens, and we receive the promise of eternal life as a new creation. My soul is purchased by His blood "knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." (1 Peter 1:18-19) To "redeem" means to "buy back." Jesus bought us back with his own blood (the price to pay for sin is death), so that we belong to Him. My life is hid with Christ on high With Christ my Savior and my God "to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:1) "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," (Ephesians 2:4-6) "For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:3)
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AuthorFull time office worker, full time wife, and full time lover of Jesus. I'm kind of a Bible nerd, and I have a passion for finding ways to introduce Jesus in a practical way to everyday people doing everyday things. Archives
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