Here I Am to Worship (Philippians 2:8)
Tim Hughes
Light of the World, you stepped down into darkness
Opened my eyes, let me see
Beauty that made this heart adore you
Hope of a life spent with you.
Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that you’re my God
You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy
Altogether wonderful to me
King of all days, oh so highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly you came to the Earth you created
All for love’s sake became poor
And I’ll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross
I’ll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross
I’ll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross
I’ll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross
Behind the Song
Seemingly simple in lyric and melody, “Here I Am to Worship” was an exercise in patience and reflection for writer Tim Hughes.
“During that time I had been thinking about and meditating on the cross,” he says. “I began to concentrate on Philippians 2, about Christ’s humility and how he became obedient to the point of death on a cross. I was challenged with the wonder of his sacrifice for us.”
The verses came fairly easily to Hughes, but the chorus was another story entirely. “The original one was embarrassingly bad,” he admits. It took another six months before he felt prepared to write the final chorus. “I began to ask, ‘How are we going to respond to Christ’s great sacrifice on the cross?’ Do we bow down? Do we scream out? Sometimes we don’t know how to respond, even though we desperately want to.”
Selah
Taken from NIV Worship Together Bible
Who Are the Children of Abraham?
In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:3)
You who hope in Christ and follow him in the obedience of faith are Abraham’s descendants and heirs of his covenant promises.
God said to Abraham in Genesis 17:4, “Behold, my covenant is with you and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.” But Genesis makes plain that Abraham did not father a multitude of nations in a physical or political sense. Therefore the meaning of God’s promise was probably that a multitude of nations would somehow enjoy the blessings of sonship even though physically unrelated to Abraham.
That’s no doubt what God meant in Genesis 12:3 when he said to Abraham, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” From the very beginning, God had in view that Jesus Christ would be the descendant of Abraham and that everyone who trusts in Christ would become an heir of Abraham’s promise.
So it says in Galatians 3:29, “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.”
So when God said to Abraham 4,000 years ago, “Behold, my covenant is with you and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations,” he opened the way for anyone of us, no matter what nation we belong to, to become a child of Abraham and an heir of God’s promises. All we have to do is share the faith of Abraham — that is, bank our hope on God’s promises, so much so that if obedience requires it, we could give up our dearest possession like Abraham gave up Isaac.
We don’t become heirs of Abraham’s promises by working for God but by being confident that God works for us. “Abraham grew strong in his faith, giving glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:20). That’s why Abraham could obey God even when obedience looked like a dead-end street. He trusted God to do the impossible.
Faith in God’s promises — or today we would say, faith in Christ, who is the confirmation of God’s promises — is the way to become a child of Abraham; obedience is the evidence that faith is genuine (Genesis 22:12–19). Therefore Jesus says in John 8:39, “If you were Abraham’s children you would do what Abraham did.”
Children of Abraham are people of all nations who put their hope in Christ and, like Abraham on Mount Moriah, therefore don’t let their most precious earthly possession stop their obedience.
You who hope in Jesus Christ and follow him in the obedience of faith are the descendants of Abraham and heirs of his covenant promises.
Responding to Bildad, Job looks far into the future, imagining his life even after death.
Redeemed from Suffering
Read
“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!”
(Job 19:25-27)
Reflect
Although Job struggled with the idea that God was presently against him, he firmly believed that in the end God would be on his side. He appealed directly to God (his witness and advocate, Job 16:19) and to God’s knowledge of his innocence. Job showed he had cast all his hope for any fair defense upon God.
What tremendous faith Job had: He thought that God had abandoned him and brought all these disasters upon him! Facing death, Job still expected to see God—and he expected to do so in his body.
When the book of Job was written, Israel did not have a well-developed belief about the resurrection. For Job, it seemed unlikely to him that, in his body, he would see God. But Job still declared, “In my body I will see God!” He was confident that God’s justice would triumph, even if it took a miracle like resurrection (see also Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2, 13).
Respond
Do you trust that God will make all things right even if they’ve all gone wrong in the present? Do you trust that even if things end in brokenness, God will raise them in glory? Spend time imagining your own resurrection and eternal life. How does it change your perspective about today?
Streams in the Desert – June 3
On that day, when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go across to the other side of the lake.” — Mark 4:35
Even when we go forth at Christ’s command, we need not expect to escape storms; for these disciples were going forth at Christ’s command, yet they encountered the fiercest storm and were in great danger of being overwhelmed, so that they cried out in their distress for Christ’s assistance.
Though Christ may delay His coming in our time of distress, it is only that our faith may be tried and strengthened, and that our prayers may be more intense, and that our desires for deliverance may be increased, so that when the deliverance does come we will appreciate it more fully.
Christ gave them a gentle rebuke, saying, “Where is your faith?” Why did you not shout victory in the very face of the storm, and say to the raging winds and rolling waves, “You can do no harm, for Christ, the mighty Savior is on board”?
It is much easier to trust when the sun is shining than when the storm is raging.
We never know how much real faith we have until it is put to the test in some fierce storm; and that is the reason why the Savior is on board.
If you are ever to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might, your strength will be born in some storm.
–Selected
“With Christ in the vessel,
I smile at the storm.”
Christ said, “Let us go to the other side”—not to the middle of the lake to be drowned.
–Dan Crawford