Here I Am, Lord
GodTube Staff
The hymn begins with the verse:
I, the Lord of sea and sky
I have heard my people cry
All who dwell in dark and sin
My hand will save
What a powerful reminder of God's power! There is so much truth in the opening to this song. The Bible. tells us that God is the Lord over the seas and sky:
6 You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. (Nehemiah 9:6 )
The Bible also explains that He listens to our cries:
I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God (Psalm 40:1-3).
The Bible also reminds us that God will save us from darkness and our sins!
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves (Colossians 1:13)
The chorus is a response to the Lord's calling us into action! It is not enough to simply hear the word of God. he wants us to act! He wants us to serve Him and each other.
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night
I will go, Lord, if you lead me
I will hold your people in my heart
The next verse speaks to God's might and His promises. He is so powerful that he made the stars in the Heavens. So we can trust when He says He will make the darkness bright.
I, who made the stars of night
I will make their darkness bright
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?
The final verse speaks to the resurrection. Only our Father who loves us so much would send His son to earth to sacrifice His very life so that we may live. He truly did bear our pain! In the shortest verse in the Bible it is simply written, Jesus wept. (John 11:35)
I, the Lord of snow and rain
I have borne my people's pain
I have wept for love of them
They turn away
The Story Behind Here I Am, Lord
Dan Schutte, the hymn's author, never assumed the tune would become so well-known.
Mr. Schutte was a Jesuit in his early thirties learning theology in Berkeley, California when one of his friends requested him to compose a song for a forthcoming ordaining Mass of deacons.
Schutte has stated that he frequently used Scripture as the foundation of his songs, so as he thought about the concept of being called for the ordaining Mass, he looked to the stories of the prophets, like Jeremiah, who asked God to bestow him with the best words to use.
Schutte describes his inspiration of the chorus as, “In all those stories, all of those people God was calling to be prophets have expressed in one way or another their humanness or their self-doubt.”
This biblical sense of doubt joined with counsel from the other St. Louis Jesuits was the reason Mr. Schutte altered the lyrics from a certain “Here I am, Lord; here I stand, Lord” to the self-doubting ultimate version: “Here I am, Lord; is it I, Lord?”
Watch amazing performances of "Here I Am, Lord" in the collection of music videos below!
Today's Devotional
A Prayer for Victory over Sinful Thoughts - Your Daily Prayer - July 26
Victory over sinful thoughts starts with dependence upon God to stay free from enslaving sin. It’s a life lived with a surrendered mouth and heart before God. Winning requires us to remember our Rock, who rescues us and gives us a firm standing place, and our Redeemer, who rescues us from total loss.
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