The song I wanted to focus on in this article is, “My Beloved” by
Crowder. We first sang this in the summer of 2017. One of our music
leaders, Adam Lusk, first introduced this song while I was on vacation. It
wasn’t something that happened behind my back, but he brought the song to me
and said he wanted to sing it while I was away. I’m glad that our leaders feel
confident enough to introduce new music while I’m not there to organize
it.
Moving on, let’s take a look at the lyrics of this song:
My Beloved, bring me awake
Take me up to Your resurrection place
My Beloved, bring me awake
'Cause I wanna feel Your light on my face
Take me up to Your resurrection place
My Beloved, bring me awake
'Cause I wanna feel Your light on my face
There's a sun coming up
In my soul, Lord, in my soul
There's a sun coming up
In my soul, Lord, in my soul
In my soul, Lord, in my soul
There's a sun coming up
In my soul, Lord, in my soul
I see the light, I see the light
I see the light, I see the light
Oh, thank You, God, I see the light
I see the light, I see the light
Oh, thank You, God, I see the light
My Beloved, take me away
Over Jordan up out of this place
My Beloved, for You I'll wait
With You here 'til forever face to face
Over Jordan up out of this place
My Beloved, for You I'll wait
With You here 'til forever face to face
No more sorrow, no more pain
No more darkness weighing down on me
No longer blind now I can see
Forever light, forever free
No more darkness weighing down on me
No longer blind now I can see
Forever light, forever free
This is song is more similar to
New Wine
that we looked at a few months ago in that it is strong in poetic phrasing.
There is a general theme that is running throughout though. In singing this
song we are looking forward to eternity with our Savior [Beloved] who has
shown us the light [salvation]. Because there isn’t a direct verse to lyrics
comparison here, I want to use a broader brush to see what this song is
talking about in each of its sections.
My Beloved, bring me awake
Take me up to Your resurrection place
My Beloved, bring me awake
'Cause I wanna feel Your light on my face
“My Beloved” is Christ. The “resurrection place” is Heaven. “Bring me awake”
is an allegory of the day Christians are re-born, and “feel Your light on my
face” is simply longing to be with God. God is described as light. We
see this in Revelation 21:23 where we read,
“The city [new heavens & earth] does not need the sun or the moon to
shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb [Jesus] is
its lamp.”
My Beloved, take me away
Over Jordan up out of this place
My Beloved, for You I'll wait
With You here 'til forever face to face
“Take me away” from this world. “Over Jordan” is a reference to the
deliverance of the Israelites in the Old Testament. We see this in
Joshua. You could even say that the Jordan
is a reference to death. God may you bring us through death, out of this
place. “For You I’ll wait with You here” is again a reference to this earth,
this life. We will wait here until the day we can see Jesus face to face.
There's a sun coming up
In my soul, Lord, in my soul
There's a sun coming up
In my soul, Lord, in my soul
I see the light, I see the light
I see the light, I see the light
Oh, thank You, God, I see the light
I love the slow pacing of this phrase, “There’s a sun coming up...” In my mind
I’m picturing the calm, peaceful rise of the morning sun. The quietness of
night is still present, but you can see something is coming. And then it
hits... The sunrise! You see the sun. You feel its warmth. Your day begins.
As Christians, we are called to be that light.
“[Believers] You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill
cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but
rather on a lamp stand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In
the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your
good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:14-16
Matthew 5:14-16
But the light must come from somewhere, right? We are called to be the light,
but we are merely torchbearers, lamp stands, pointing the way to who?
“For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and
ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. For God who said, ‘Let light
shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the
knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.”
2 Corinthians 4:5-6
2 Corinthians 4:5-6
There is so much to unpack with 2 Corinthians 4:5-6. If you want a much deeper
dive into the meaning behind these verses, I’d recommend listening to a
wonderful sermon by John Piper. The bottom line is that God has allowed us to see “the light” of God
through “the face of Jesus Christ”.
No more sorrow, no more pain
No more darkness weighing down on me
No longer blind now I can see
Forever light, forever free
By now you might be seeing the theme that I first referenced. Eternity with
God in Heaven. This is all pointing to that day. Rejoicing in that. But what
does that look like Biblically?
“Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with
humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God
himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every
tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be
no more, because the previous things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:3-4
Revelation 21:3-4
As you can see it looks a lot like what we’re singing. A place with no more
sadness, no more pain, no more darkness [sin] weighing us down, and we will
fully see. We will be forever free of all the shackles of this life!
Listen to “My Beloved” on
YouTube.
