Exegeting the Hymns 2 - "Lay Me Down"

Lay Me Down
w/m Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman, Jason Ingram, Chris Tomlin 
With this heart open wide 
From the depths from the heights
I will bring a sacrifice
With these hands lifted high
Hear my song, hear my cry
I will bring a sacrifice 
I will bring a sacrifice
Chorus
I lay me down I’m not my own
I belong to you alone 
Lay me down, lay me down
Hand on my heart this much is true
There’s no life apart from you
Lay me down, lay me down
Lay me down, lay me down

Letting go of my pride 
Giving up all my rights
Take this life and let it shine 
Take this life and let it shine
It will be my joy to say Your will Your way
It will be my joy to say Your will Your way
It will be my joy to say Your will Your way always
This week’s “Hymn” was a popular Chris Tomlin song from a few years ago.  We still sing it with regularity at MABC.  As a general rule, I like to sing songs that tell of God, His attributes and His works.  This song is more focused on my response to who God is and what He’s done and that’s ok from time to time.  While every believer, regardless of the circumstances they find themselves in, CAN sing songs about God because God never changes, this song SHOULD be sung by every believer, even though we may find it hard to do so at certain times in our walk with Him.  

The first verse speaks of the child-like faith with which we come to God, With this heart open wide.  It took me a minute to figure out what that second line meant beyond something to rhyme with the first one, but I take From the depths from the heights, to mean that every part of us is sacrificed to Him.  This line, I will bring a sacrifice, reminds me so much of Abraham and Isaac.  Abraham showed his faith, and so did a young adult Isaac by the way, in being willing to trust God and sacrifice all to Him that we hold most dear and precious.

With these hands lifted high Hear my song, hear my cry, while not a demand made to the Lord, is more of a petition that our offering of praise and obedience to God will be acceptable.  Again, any of us with children are familiar with what lifted hands mean, we are seeking to be held and loved by God as a parent loves their child.   
The Chorus begins with I lay me down I’m not my own, and this is the central theme of this song.  God says He desires obedience more than sacrifice, so if our sacrifice is like Cain’s and not acceptable, we are wasting our time.  Our sacrifice must BE our obedience.  We lay ourselves down.  God does not force us to kneel before Him.  He may bring circumstances into our lives that will cause us to humble ourselves before Him, but living the Christian life and growing in sanctification are synergistic (something God does AAND we also have a part in).  
We are not our own, but we are bought with a price.  We are slaves of Christ and we belong to Him, which is the next line of the song… I belong to you alone Lay me down, lay me down.  I do find the next line to be a bit cheesy…Hand on my heart this much is true, but it does convey our pledge to be faithful to the one who is faithful to us.  There’s no life apart from you is absolutely true.  Without the grace and faith given to us as gifts from God (Ephesians 2:8) we have no life but are dead in our trespasses and sins.
Growing up in the USA, the next line is easy to understand, but difficult to swallow:  Letting go of my pride Giving up all my rights.  If we value anything in America, it is our freedom and we will fight tooth and nail for our rights.  However, that is not how the Bible presents the Christian life.  We are to turn the other cheek, we are to live at peace with all men, if someone asks for our shirt, we are to give him our coat as well.  The last shall be first and the first shall be last.  Over and over again we are commanded to be willing to sacrifice for others in obedience to our Lord.  That is a knock to our pride, but our boasting is only in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross, not in anything we have done.
Finally, the bridge, It will be my joy to say Your will Your way makes a good point, although it makes it quite repetitively.  We should not do this in a grumbling spirit, but joyfully, as if the one we serve sacrificed for us…which He certainly did!

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