Worship Matters

When we were putting together the songs for The Gathering: Live from WorshipGod11, we ended up having not one, but two songs that served as a “prayer for illumination.” One is Your Words of Life, written by Pat & Joel Sczebel. The other is Show us Christ, which I co-wrote with Doug Plank.

Show Us Christ reminds us that the purpose of preaching God’s Word is not simply to give insights for living, impress people with our knowledge of Greek, or to tell people they need to try harder. The primary goal is to display the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). The written and preached Word is meant to point us to the riches of the living Word. And because we need the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to the glory of Christ in Scripture, it’s right and good that we ask God for help to do just that.

Here’s a video of Meghan Baird singing the song, with me accompanying on piano.

You can download the guitar chart in Bb here, in the key of A here, and the lead sheet in Bb here. Lyrics are below.

Prepare our hearts, O God, help us to receive
Break the hard and stony ground, help our unbelief
Plant your Word down deep in us, cause it to bear fruit
Open up our ears to hear, lead us in Your truth

Show us Christ, Show us Christ
O God, reveal Your glory through the preaching of Your Word
Until every heart confesses Christ is Lord

Your Word is living light upon our darkened eyes
Guards us through temptations, makes the simple wise
Your Word is food for famished ones, freedom for the slave
Riches for the needy soul, come speak to us today

Where else can we go, Lord?  Where else can we go?
Your have the words of eternal life
By Doug Plank and Bob Kauflin, copyright 2011 Sovereign Grace Praise

(If you don’t already use it, another song I’d recommend to sing before the sermon is Speak, O Lord, by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend.)