I’ve written a new song for SCPC to sing as we meditate on 1 Timothy together, it’s called ‘mercy today’. it’s about the mercy found in Christ, the perfect one, who came to the world to save sinners like me. we’ll be learning it at church from term 1, and the plan is to write a new song for each term in 2010.
as i’ve been reading through 1 Timothy each day i’ve started – for the first time – to write a bit of poetry, to help me meditate on what I’ve read. it’s been both helpful and enjoyable, and that’s where the lyrics came from. i recommend it.
you can listen to the song here, or download the mp3 to use as you wish. special thanks goes to my cousin Jonathan Normand for recording it for me, and to Pete Hodsdon for lending my his guitar while i was staying in Sydney.
[audio:https://www.scpc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/mercy-today.mp3|titles=mercy today]mercy today <– Right click here to download
the glorious news of the blessed God
that grace overflows in Christ and his love
that we who have failed to love and obey
receive endless life and mercy todaythe beautiful word Christ speaks to his church
deserving acceptance and trust in it’s worth
Christ came to the world, to the lost and depraved
to the hopeless and weak, we sinners to savewhen he appeared in a body
the Spirit cried ‘not guilty!’
angels bathed in his beauty
nations heard of his glorywhen he appeared in a body
the Spirit cried ‘not guilty!’
the world believed on his mercy
he ascended in gloryChrist came to the world, to the lawless and damned
we ungodly sinners, we unholy men
we sexually stained, and blasphemous fools
to save us from death, and make us as purewhen he appeared in a body
the Spirit cried ‘not guilty!’
angels bathed in his beauty
nations heard of his glorywhen he appeared in a body
the Spirit cried ‘not guilty!’
we believe on his mercy
we rejoice in his glorythe glorious news of the blessed God
that grace overflows in Christ and his love
that we who have failed to love and obey
receive endless life and mercy today
Hey Pete, thanks so much for writing and performing this song for us on Sunday. It really made our launch exciting, and by the time Jason stood up to read 1 Timothy, i was so excited about the journey we are all about to start together as a community of God in this letter. Just wondering where you got the idea about angels bathe in his glory?
Thanks so much for your encouragement Suzie – i’m looking forward to singing this song together as a church family on Sunday.
the ‘angels bathed in his beautyy’ line comes from 1 Timothy 3:16 (as does the whole chorus), which simply says “(Jesus was) seen by angels”. Call it artistic license, but elsewhere in the New Testament Jesus is talked about as the one “even angels longed to see”, and so when he became a man and was actually “seen by angels”, i’m sure that he was a sight they rejoiced in, or in other words, they ‘bathed in his beauty’.