Well, the time has come. We’ve reached track six of my worship mixed tape! As the last installment in this series, it’s only fitting to cover one of my all time favorite worship songs, a song that I was introduced to at C4, and a song that has been an anthem for our church since the very beginning. That song is Came to My Rescue by Hillsong.
This song is the cry of my heart as it speaks to the heart of true submission to God, a desire to have God be glorified in all aspects of my life.
Of course I could tell you all about the song myself, but I felt it more fitting to bring in a guest on this one, someone who has been here since the beginning and knows the heart and drive behind this song firsthand. That guest is none other than our very own worship leader, Matt Wallenburg.
I know he’s not a “guest” to you, but he is a guest to the blog...so just roll with it.
The following was written by Matt back in October...2017... So I’ve been waiting a long time to post it. It’s full of heart, passion, and the Lord, so sit back and enjoy (Might I suggest clicking play and letting this song play as you read on?).
“The song Came to My Rescue was written by some of the musicians with Hillsong who had a desire to convey a simple heart of gratitude for what God has done. It stands out as one of my all-time favorites that I learned under my beloved mentor Sam Park before Matt Korniotes asked me to lead worship for C4 in early 2011.
Nearly my whole adult career has been in project management of some kind or another between engineering and the military, and at that time I knew that the beginning phase of this ministry was the same as the beginning phase of any project- it sets the foundation on which everything else is built going forward. Any future adjustment or correction to the foundation requires ripping down anything that has been built on top of the foundation.
Which is why during the first days I was praying hard about how God would establish this brand new worship ministry and make it what He wanted, not what I had a vision for or what I was comfortable with.
I have led worship since I was 14 and experienced so many different ways to lead. With a completely open-ended decision to make, I sought that the Lord would establish something new and fresh in me that was appropriate for the work He wanted to do at C4. I didn't want something that was right for the previous ministries I had served with, but a fresh outpouring that was tailored for the specific work that the LORD was wanting to do with our newborn fellowship.
The structure that God brought from that time of seeking Him is a story all on its own, but out of that time of prayer came a very clear vision that God wanted me to simply remind His kids of who He is and about what our response should be because of that.
Yes, I know that's a generic statement that describes how all worship should be, and every Christian knows it; at the same time, we get so caught up in trying to do what's right, trying to understand God, and the complexity of living for Him in a world that opposes Him, that our worship gets cloudy. Routine and religion set in as we try to figure things out, and the simplicity of being kids reaching up, out of our mess, for Daddy, becomes something we look down on. What God wanted for C4 had to be simple and so very clear, and it had to stay that way. We would start with singing songs that reminded us of who God is and what He has done, and then as the worship set progressed we would intentionally put ourselves in a position of humility before Him as a result of those truths we reminded ourselves of.
Came to My Rescue fits that vision so perfectly. The writers of this song had the same heart that I had when they wrote Came to My Rescue. Since it so appropriately describes our position in the Lord, it became our first anthem as a new fellowship, completely unifying Matt K and myself around the fundamental importance of that sort of powerful simplicity.
Here’s what the song says:
Falling on my knees in worship
Giving all I am to seek Your face
LORD all I am is Yours
My whole life I place in Your hands
God of mercy, humbled I bow down
In Your presence at Your throne
I called, You answered
And You came to my rescue and I
Want to be where You are
In my life be lifted high
In our world be lifted high
In our love be lifted high
Look at how intimate the language is. Nearly every line of the song mentions both me as the rescuee and God as the rescuer.
It can be hard to find worship songs where our response isn’t all about us and what WE say we can and will do. So much of our worship response is about the things we'll do for God, but this one is simply about us being and leaving the doing to our Savior. The only thing we’re called to do in this song is fall on our knees and place our lives in His hands. Through that He is glorified and lifted high in our lives.
THAT is salvation, folks!
Paul says in Galatians 3:3 (though really the whole book of Galatians addresses this point so wonderfully),
"Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?"
We are saved when we realize that there is no hope for us fixing ourselves and that we have a critical need that nobody but Jesus can fill. The best that we can ever do and the greatest thing that we can give to God is to simply exist in Him and lift up to Him our broken, messed up hearts. That is worship. That is our response to Him when we first allow Him to take His place as the Sovereign King of our reality, and it remains our only real response as we walk through our long journey of faith.
I never develop anything more to give to God as a Christian.
I never become anything better than a pitiful wretch incapable of anything good
I AM a pitiful wretch in whom the Spirit of God dwells.
I am confident that Came to My Rescue will always be an anthem for me personally and for C4 as a family no matter how long we follow the LORD because our position never changes. The only thing we can ever do is kneel and place our lives in His merciful, capable hands and accept the rescue that He has performed.”
Well, there you have it folks. Came to my Rescue, an anthem for our church, and an anthem for our hearts. I pray you’re blessed by this song as you listen to the words. Close your eyes, pray to God, and call out for Him to be lifted high in your life!
