Instruments of Mercy

The persona taken on in "If I Stand" is a person who is in awe over the glory of God through creation and as such understands how God is greater than anything we can ever imagine. In the Chorus repetition is used in the phrase "and if I..." and in the verse we hear "there's more" repeated twice and "there's" with a word or statement portraying superiority used multiple times. In this way the writer shows how much more reliable God is than we are and as such we should lean on his grace. It's more or less uncharacteristic for Hymns (excluding a bulk of Psalms) and Contemporary Christian music to include metaphorical themes and this song is no different. However, this song is full of subtle similes especially in the verses when God is described simply by saying that He's like this but better (Hebrews anybody?).

As Devin already said in his blog post, worship can be in all shapes and sizes including rap and hip hop. I've recently started listening to an experimental Christian rap group called Beautiful Eulogy and I have found some of their poetry to be superb. One song in particular caught my attention (mostly because it has an AMAZING chorus), the song is called Instruments of Mercy and it has a fun rhythm, an upbeat tone, and a deep meaning. Here are the lyrics

The same God who measured the waters in the hollows of His holy hands

Is the same God that uses broken man to expand His fixed plan
Sovereign, infinite, eternal, personal and intimate
Independently playing the harp with the various parts of our hearts instrument
A symphony of saints saved from sin singing spiritual songs
Pausing in awe, where all praise and all applause belongs to God
Stretching and bending, pitch, pruning tightening and tuning
It's the residue of His resin that's the evidence of His divine choosing
Using the weather and the storm to conform us into the image of our glorious Lord
Scorn to compose a score being stitched together in melodious chord
It's the strumming and pressing of strings that momentarily stings
But in the end it ultimately brings us to a place that causes hearts to sing

Chorus

With Your hands, play Your song
Use my life I'm Your instrument
Tune my heart to sing Your song
Use my life I'm Your instrument

God I thank You for Your grace and Your mercy in the face of adversity
I never went to college, never graduated but pain is a university
When I hold up my diploma there's no dilemma despite my lack of credits
Because Jesus paid it all, yeah that's my story when they roll the credits
A lifetime of suffering is nothing compared to the glory being prepared
And we could never find a stairway to heaven or climb up a ladder to get there
It's only by the merits of Christ that sinners inherit eternal life
So I pray we grow in dependency, strip away my self reliant tendencies
Organize and order my days according to Your ordinance
I'm an instrument in Your orchestra Lord and You are my only audience
Holding Your promises close and watching as Your plan unfolds
All for Your glory and praise playing the song that You composed

Chorus

With Your hands, play Your song
Use my life I'm Your instrument
Tune my heart to sing Your song
Use my life I'm Your instrument

In the first verse we get a description of how God operates as a creator and ruler of our hearts. Odd Thomas uses the imagery of an instrument being played and tuned to clarify the scrutiny and artistry God uses to rule over his domain. The second verse expounds on the metaphor of the first verse by explaining on a more specific level how God "plays our hearts string like an instrument" on a personal level. The Chorus is absolutely beautiful... the repetition and the continuation of the instrument metaphor carries as well as the amazing vocals provided by "Hello Abigail" really drives the point Braile and Thomas were trying to make this whole song.