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Exegeting the Hymns 2 - "Lay Me Down"

5/3/2017

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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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    Author

    Bill Itzel has been a worship leader and singer/songwriter for over 30 years and is based in Westminster, MD.  His family tours and leads worship around the country.  Bill and his family attend Belcroft Bible Church in Bowie, MD.  This is a blog about congregational worship and the latest news in the The Itzel's ministry.

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  • Home
  • Tours
  • Promoter Page
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  • Projects
    • 2003 to Current >
      • Pilgrim's Song >
        • Leaving the City of Destruction
        • The Time Is Short
        • Evangelist
        • It Would Be Me
        • The Wicket Gate
        • Miracle
        • This Is Life
        • Apollyon's Challenge
        • I Will Go (Vanity Fair)
        • Walking with Hopeful
        • Champion of the People (View from the Spyglass)
        • Remember Me (River of Death)
        • Places
        • The Celestial City
      • Sweeter >
        • Christ Is Sweeter
        • With My Last Breath
        • I Have Seen The Lord (Job 42)
        • Oh My Soul
        • Sweet Are All Your Words To Me (Psalm 119)
        • Jesus Is Mine
        • By His Wounds (Isaiah 53)
        • All My Ways Are Known To You
        • O Lord, My Rock And My Redeemer
        • Finish Strong
      • Timeless - Hymns of Bill & Karen Itzel >
        • Give Thanks to the Lord Our God
        • Year's End
        • Sovereign Ruler of the Skies
      • 30 Live >
        • I Am A Christian
        • Mountain Climber
        • How Much More Glory
        • Mercy Rained Down
        • Step By Step
        • At The Cross (Love Ran Red)
        • He Is Risen, Hallelujah
        • Jesus Is Enough
        • There is Hope
        • Burn the Ships
        • Last Man Standing
        • This is Your Life
        • Dead Man Walking
        • Jerusalem
      • Gift of Faith >
        • You Amaze Me
        • I Got Saved
        • Gift of Faith
        • May The Peoples Praise You
        • Why Was I A Guest?
        • Lord, We Remember
        • A Mighty Fortress
        • His Love Runs Deep
        • Lord, Save Me From Me
        • Jesus, Thank You
        • Jerusalem
      • Hope >
        • Brethren We Have Met To Worship
        • Firm in the Faith
        • There is Hope (Siri's Song)
        • Lord, I Adore You
        • The Sovereign God of Love
        • The Solid Rock
        • He Will Hold Me Fast
        • Get To Work
        • Our Great God
        • At Calvary
        • I Will Sing of My Redeemer
        • Give Me Jesus
      • The Glorious Trial >
        • He is Risen Hallelujah
        • The Glorious Trial
        • Because You Love Me
        • Power of the Cross
        • How Firm a Foundation
        • Don't Be Afraid
        • Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
        • A Light In The Dark
        • Band of Brothers
        • Grace Greater than our Sin
      • XXV >
        • All Hail The Power
        • How Long?
        • Truth Is The Way
      • Sovereign >
        • Come Thou Fount
        • Almighty
        • In Christ Alone
        • At The Cross
        • All I Have Is Christ
        • Come As You Are
        • Amazing Grace
        • Behold Our God
        • Whom Shall I Fear
        • Sovereign
        • It Is Well
      • The New Life >
        • Burn The Ships
        • Draw The Line
        • Slow Fade
        • Thank You God For Saving Me
        • Miraculum
        • Jekyll & Hyde
        • Blessed Be Your Name
        • Believe
        • It Is Finished
        • The Gift
      • I Am A Christian >
        • When You Forgive
        • Write My Hurts In The Sand
        • I Am A Christian
        • But for the Grace of God Go I
        • My God Is Bigger
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        • Saving My Best for First
        • Roots
        • Don't Water Down The Gospel
        • Defenders of the Faith
      • Live It Up >
        • Power and Might
        • Psalm 100
        • Plastic People
      • Revolutionary War >
        • Revolutionary War
        • Rebelling Against the Weather
        • Chained to a Lie
        • Always Singing
      • UP >
        • Power and Might
        • Step by Step
        • Love The Lord
        • I'd Rather Have Jesus
        • Psalm 100
        • When I Survey
        • You are There
        • Names
        • Let Everything That Hath Breath
        • Weak
      • Throwback >
        • The Hard Way
        • Mercy Rained Down
        • Free
        • Sweet Sacrifice
      • Mountain Climber >
        • Mountain Climber
        • Fly Free
        • Cries of the Forgotten
        • Champion of the People
        • Hide Me in Your Hand
        • Look to the One
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        • You are There
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        • One of Those Days
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        • Create in Me a Clean Heart
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        • Pray
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        • God is Still God
        • Soldier
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        • Guns Blazin'
        • When the Rubber Meets the Road
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        • A Closed Mouth Gathers No Foot
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        • Return of the King
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        • I Will Praise and Worship
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