Exegeting the Hymns #11 - All My Ways Are Known To You

All My Ways Are Known To You
w/m - Dustin Smith, Jonny Robinson, Michael Farren, Rich Thompson

In days of peace and days of rest
In times of loss and loneliness
Though rich or poor Your word is true
That all my ways are known to You

No trial has come beyond Your hand
No step I walk beyond Your plan
The path is dark outside my view
Still all my ways are known to You

And O what peace that I have found
Wherever I may be
For all my ways are known to You
Hallelujah they are known to You

I do not fear the final night
For death will be the door to life
You take my hand and lead me through
For all my ways are known to You

Open up my eyes so I may see
That You have made these ways for me
Open up my eyes so I may see
That You my God will walk with me

If there was one worship CD that I would recommend to our congregation, it would be CityAlight’s “Only A Holy God”. This is one of my favorite new bands, and they hail from Australia. I love their harmonies as much as their lyrics, and that is saying something. I already “exegeted” one of their songs “Saved My Soul”, and this is the next one we have sung at the church, and will sing for many years to come.

As a songwriter myself, I appreciate when a song takes one main theme and really fleshes it out. A lot of modern worship songs aren’t written by really skilled writers and their songs tend to flop all over the theological map, usually hitting a bunch of cliche’s that don’t go very deep in their explanation of Biblical truth. Here, the truth is that God is right beside us and knows our every thought, word, and action. That can be comforting as well as convicting.

In days of peace and days of rest, In times of loss and loneliness, Though rich or poor Your word is true, That all my ways are known to You. Sometimes, we find ourselves on the mountaintop and sometimes in the valley. Some days, everything goes right, we are surrounded by God’s people and are so filled with the Spirit, we’ll do anything God calls us to do without hesitation. Then there are those days where we are alone (even though we may be surrounded by people), times when we are grieving loss in our hearts so deep that we can’t even share it with anyone. In both of these times, God is there and is more than just a friend to put His arm around us, but knows every pain, every thought we think, every tear we shed. He never leaves. He never stops loving.

No trial has come beyond Your hand. Trials, although they hurt, are actually a gift from God, a perfect gift, because they work to perfect us and make us like Christ. No trial is bigger than God, and while they may be bigger than us, they are never more than we can handle through His strength. No step I walk beyond Your plan. God will give us freedom in our will up to a certain extent, but He will never let His children fall totally or finally. Every step we take, He knows, and while He may let us stumble at times, He is there to forgive us and pick us up and get us right back on the path. Sometimes we stumble because the path is too dark for us to see, but that is when we need to hold His hand the most… The path is dark outside my view, Still all my ways are known to You.

And O what peace that I have found, Wherever I may be, For all my ways are known to You, Hallelujah they are known to You. There is a real comfort in knowing that God sees everything. Everyday, He protects us from things we don’t even know were dangers.

I do not fear the final night, For death will be the door to life. Psalms says, “The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord”. That means every single step until we get home. Death can be frightening because it is the ultimate unknown experience. Regardless of what some kid in a popular “Christian” book says, death is new to all of us. We’ve seen it happen to others, but we have never stood before the very throne of God. Unknown is scary, but even in that, a believer can have peace because we know that (as another of my favorite songs says), “It is not death to die”. We are never alone, even in our death because… You take my hand and lead me through For all my ways are known to You.  

Open up my eyes so I may see, That You have made these ways for me, Open up my eyes so I may see, That You my God will walk with me. The lyrics close with a bridge that is a prayer that God’s Spirit will bear witness to our spirits that He is there every step of the way. We know that truth with our minds, but sometimes God does little things that just confirm His presence in our hearts and give us peace.

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