One of the joys of doing what I do is meeting people who share a similar passion for glorifying Jesus Christ through music. Will Pavone has been a good friend of mine for the past few years. He was part of the group Circadian Rhythm a few years ago, served as a worship pastor at McLean Bible Church, and is now at Dallas Theological Seminary. Besides being a great husband and dad, Will is a gifted songwriter. I was e-mailing him the other day about a song I’ve recommend a couple times on Worship Matters, called “How Great You Are.” Will said I could feel free to let people know about or give away any of his songs. He’s that kind of guy. So here are the lyrics.
How precious is the one
Who died upon a cross
And bore the sin and shame that was my own
How precious is the death
In which we’re made alive
A chosen race to become His holy bride
To become His holy bride
Oh how great you are
Oh Lord my God
My hiding place, my solid rock
Crucified, made alive
Risen king now glorified.
So precious is the one
Who died upon a cross
And bore the guilt and the shame that I deserved
So precious is the one
Who broke the curse of sin
And swallowed death when my Savior rose again
O my Savior rose again
Father You demand a righteousness
I could not achieve
Only by Your grace You gave Your Son
To purchase me
Copyright 2000 Will Pavone
We’ve used the song throughout the year, but it’s been very effective on Resurrection Sunday. I appreciate its clear description of substitutionary atonement as well as the corporate emphasis. You can hear the song by right-clicking to download it here. You can download the guitar chart by right-clicking here. We typically do it a little faster than the recording. It’s just too hard to contain the joy when we sing these words.
Will is currently working on a second CD, and I’ll let you know when it comes out.
