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!
Do you remember those tabs on the top of the cassette tapes? When you had a REALLY important recording, you could pop out the tabs to keep anyone, usually yourself, from accidentally writing over the recording on the tape. Since I was limited in resources, I rarely had a mix that was that important. I really enjoyed being able to put new songs on the mix as time went on...of course if the mix was for that special someone, I popped those tabs right out so they had to work to record over it...you know what I'm talking about.
These days, all you have to do is click the + or - symbol to add or remove the song from your playlist...far less exciting than back in the day!
Anyway, the reason for mentioning this is that I think it’s important to remember that our mix tapes can (and will) change over time. As artists release new songs, we have the proverbial revolving door in our top list. The song for this week falls right into that category! Back when I started writing this series, I hadn’t even heard this song. Now every time I hear it, the volume gets cranked, and the singing begins! (Even Greyson, our three year old, has memorized most of the words!)
Which song is it? Drum roll please......
Glorious Day by Passion!
I’m sure you know the song. If you don’t know its name, you’ll probably recognize it as soon as you hear it. We’ve played it several times during service, and man is it a blast to play! But that’s not the only reason I like it.
You see, in John 11 we see the story of Lazarus, a dear friend of Jesus who had gotten ill and passed away. As the story goes, Jesus arrives at the tomb days after Lazarus died and commands that the people around open the tomb. Of course this directive was met with opposition...I mean...he’d been dead several days. What was going on inside of that tomb was NOT pretty, and it certainly wouldn’t have smelled pretty either. In fact, Martha specifically called it out when she said, "Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible."
Jesus knew that the tomb would smell horrible, but He had another plan! Jesus' response to the crowd was, "Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believe?" Jesus had a plan the whole time, and it was to show His glory through this painful situation. Jesus proceeded to pray to God the Father and then commanded Lazarus to come out of that grave. Does the story stop there? Absolutely not! You might say the most important part came next.
Lazarus actually got up and walked out of the grave!
Man, what a sight that must have been! To see a man who everyone knew was dead, walk right out of that tomb!
At face value, maybe the story isn't that impressive...ok, if a dead guy coming back to life isn't impressive, let's talk...otherwise, if you think about it, we're all just like Lazarus. I know, you're not dead...I think. And you're not stuck in a tomb on the side of a cliff. I get it. But what we fail to realize is that the sin that we've become involved in is just like the illness that Lazarus suffered from, and often times that sin has us bound, just like the tomb that Lazarus was in. That sin, without warning, takes everything away from us and causes death and decay in our lives.
That sin could be anger towards others, it could be lust, it could be lying, stealing, adultery, sexual immorality, selfishness...the list goes on and on.
It doesn't matter what the sin is, it's causing death in your life!
That's where the good news comes in! You see, that my friend, is where Jesus steps down, opens the tomb, and calls your name.
Just as Lazarus would have never walked out of that tomb without Jesus, we'll never be able to escape the confines of our sin without Jesus!
And THAT is why I love this song!
I have spent so much of my life walking in sin, so much of my life allowing the selfish desires, lust, bitterness, anger, and all of the other sins to rule my thoughts, my actions, my words, my entire life. But God is gracious and has allowed Jesus Christ to come down, live as a man, give up His life, and ascend to Heaven, as the payment for those sins that have gained such a strong grip on my life. So now, rather than being a slave to that sin, I can have freedom from that sin, because Jesus is calling me out of the tomb!
And that's what this song is all about!
What is it that keeps you from drawing closer to God? Is it how you look to other people? Is it sin that you've gotten caught up in? Is it the personal drive to do things yourself? There are many things that keep us from drawing close to God, but once we submit to Him and let Him into our hearts, Jesus will call us out of the tomb!
Check out this song. I know you'll be blessed as you listen to the lyrics!
