https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j_fYj-ivp3E (this is me singing it)
~
You know
That the only thing I've ever had is You, Lord,
And the Gospel that You gave has filled my heart, Lord,
You know my heart, Lord,
Is full of You
~
You call
All the people who You've saved to share Your Gospel,
And I know that You are sovereign over all, so
I know Your servants
Must follow You
~
[Chorus]
So if Jesus is everything,
And the Gospel is everything,
Then I know You must be everything to me
As Your servants follow every call,
And You scatter them around the world,
Your Gospel is proclaimed,
And I see that Christ is all I've ever had
~
Your love
Is the greatest mystery that could be thought of,
And Your grace is more than all the world could dream of,
You freely give love
To those You call
~
Who knew?
That the Author of the Universe had thought to
Give up everything He ever had a right to,
He gave His life through
His perfect love
~
[Chorus]
So if Jesus is everything,
And the Gospel is everything,
Then I know You must be everything to me
As Your servants follow every call,
And You scatter them around the world,
Your Gospel is proclaimed,
And I see that Christ is all I've ever had
~
Lord, if Jesus is everything,
And the Gospel is everything,
Then I know You must be everything to me
As Your servants follow every call,
And You scatter them around the world,
Your Gospel is proclaimed,
And I see that Christ is all I've ever had
Lord, I see that Christ is all I've ever had
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Canary word: Present
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125,020 Literary Works • 672,734 Reviews
Hey! ChocolateCello here!
Okay, this review is going to be short and quick-
Okay, so I'm not the most religious person, I do go to church occasionally, though it's pretty laid back, and my dad teaches Sunday school lessons, so I still have a bit of knowledge
I feel like 'mystery' is wrong here. People don't tend to question 'god's love' and when I hear 'mystery' that what I think of, questioning, trying to figure something out. Maybe replace it with 'given gift' or something? Hm. Not sure.
So I get the whole 'words referring to god must be capitalized' thing but I thought that only applied to pronouns. 'Author' might need to be lowercase. I'm probably wrong, but I thought I'd point it out. Also, I don't see a reason for 'Universe' to be capitalized. Maybe that's another religious thing I'm missing. Probably.
I think it's really neat that you were able to put a link up with this. You have a really pretty voice and I encourage you to keep singing and writing.
-ChocolateCello
Hi! Thanks for the review! I'm so glad you noticed what you noticed.
I did actually used the word "mystery" very intentionally. You're right that people don't tend to question God's love--at least, not in modern, American culture. However, they often don't question it because they're taking it for granted, not because they're trusting in its truth. I used the word "mystery" to perhaps draw people's attention to the strangeness of God's love, and to hopefully cause them to start asking questions about it.
The fourth verse (Who knew?, etc.) is meant to explain what the mystery is we're dealing with here. God created the universe! Everything belongs to Him, and He deserves everything. He has a right to all our praise and love and obedience, and when we rebelled against Him, He had a right to just put us out of existence. Yet instead of doing that, He chose to take all our pain, all our sorrow and hatred and suffering and evil on Himself. He chose to die as Jesus, all because of His amazing, unbelievable love and goodness. We talk about our rights. What about God's rights? He gave up every last one of His rights and allowed Himself to be mocked and spit upon. And why? Because He loves us. Part of His holiness is His love, and His deepest desire is to be with us. It's incomprehensible.
My pastor used to say, "Why do we ask, 'Why am I suffering?' The real unanswerable question is, 'Why did God, knowing full well that our creation would mean His own, extreme suffering, choose to create us?'" I don't know why God loved me enough to create me and suffer in my place. It's unanswerable. It's a mystery.
~
My capitalization of "Author of the Universe" was intentional too, but it was for more personal reasons. Since I'm an author, one of the aspects I love about God the most is His authorship--His creativity, sovereignty, and love for His "characters". "Author of the Universe", then, is an affectionate title I've adopted for Him. It's not common, and I haven't seen it used many other places, but I capitalized the whole phrase because I'm using it as a title.
Thanks again!
~Songy
Good afternoon, Songmorning! <3
Even the greats!
I have a few key points about the lyrics, but I'd also like to review the melody you gave us since it's such a rare treat on YWS to actually get to sink my teeth into an audible, original melody.
Firstly, the primary verse is inundated with "Lord"s that don't have to be there, and don't really accomplish anything other than making it sound like a nervous prayer in front of a crowd. This is a turn-off to me because if there's one thing I dislike in music, it's a lack of confidence. If you are passionate about this, then you should analyze your words to make sure each piece fits perfectly to form a cohesive unit to accomplish a greater goal. In this case, it's worship.
I don't really have an issue with the lack of rhyme in the least. Originally, I thought I would because it's a general convention (chalk it up to expectations, right?) but after hearing the actual progression of the melody, since it's tonic (which means it continuously returns to the first and primary chord in the given key), it sort of pulls an auditory trick that puts the brain at ease with being presented with non-rhymes and some occasionally-strange rhythms. It's a strange phenomenon that I've actually been working on in my own music--and ultimately it's all a matter of the brain feeling resolved because of the satisfaction of hearing the tonic chord.
All that considered, you've constructed something that reminds me of hymns I've been asked to perform in Baptist, Methodist, and Lutheran churches--particularly this one I led a service for in Maryland, where the music used for services is just different than what we have in the deep south. This isn't a bad or good thing--it's just a matter that interests me because regionally stylized music is a thing!
As far as the execution of message and content goes, I think you would accomplish a bit more along the vein of your goal if you were to incorporate scripture into the song somewhere, if even another verse or a deviant end chorus. I'm reminded of the Psalm that confesses that David felt he had no one on Earth or Heaven but God--and then, of course, there's the passage regarding the great commission. There are options, basically.
To take a greater critique from this, know that my general impression is that the linguistics of the piece are very simple and weak in places, but melodically (for the most part) you have a solid flow and cadence, and it actually does feel a bit inspired; but don't let that deceive you into thinking that you aren't in need of editing. Everyone needs editing.
I hope this helps!
Thanks! But I'm not taking out the repetition of "Lord". It's the result of affection, not of nervousness or of trying to make the song "work". I want to repeat His name, and I will. <3
In fact, I had virtually no technical premedition for this song, and I have very little technical knowledge of music myself, so I found your technical analysis of it very interesting. XD My best songs came to me all at once in moments of strong emotion. Thus, I don't really plan to go pro with it, but that doesn't mean I'm not open to making improvements.
Ech, the repetition of "technical" there is horrid. Forgive me.
COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so glad someone is finally brave enough to post something like this. It can be hard to show you are a follower of christ in our world today. Are these lyrics you came up with yourself or did you hear them somewhere? Sorry I'm asking such a stupid question but I'm too lazy to go on youtube and find out..... I'll be sure to check out how you sing it though! Can't wait to see more of your work! Good job!
These are my own lyrics, though you could say I heard them somewhere. This whole song came to me in a flood while I was praying in a chapel, so it's more of a "God gave it to me" than "I wrote it" kind of song. This song came about as a result of my struggle with hearing that my much-admired pastor was leaving for another church. He had a sermon series on Galatians called "The Gospel is Everything...Jesus is the Gospel", so that's where the inspiration for the chorus came from. Also, "I see that Christ is all I've ever had," sort of plays off the song, "All I Have is Christ". In the end, it's a song that acknowledges that my faith, hope, and trust are in Christ--not in any pastor or spiritual leader--but it's also kind of a summary of all my pastor's sermons. It's a very precious song to me.
OK! Makes sense.