Series - 6 - "Sing Your Praise to the Lord"

22 August 2010 at 20:43



THE INTRO AND THE SONG

Apparently, the intro to this famous song was a long time in the making - Rich was four years old when he started composing it. There are other legends, true or false, that it is taken from JS Bach's 'Fugue No. 2 in C Minor', that Rich was asked to play the Bach piece at a college piano course, and that he just went on from there to adapt it.

The legends hardly matter because what has emerged is a beautifully woven thing, of one substance throughout, relentless and driving all the time. Where Bach ends and Rich Mullins begins is noticeable but comfortably smooth. There is a lot of very decent, even superior songwriting quality.

In its heyday it was a relentlessly sought-after song, of course because of that now-legendary intro. It was thought to be the 'Holy Grail' of gospel piano rock songs, whatever such things meant.

For example, here is a very talented little boy's rendition of it:



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ME AND THE SONG

I never paid much attention to it till about 2-3 years ago. I was introduced to Rich Mullins in 1998, through his songs 'If I Stand', 'Sometimes by Step', 'Hold Me Jesus' and 'Awesome God'. But I didn't know he had also done 'Sing Your Praise to the Lord'.

Nowadays, whenever I hear this song there is a strange, wonderful, warming, uplifting feeling that I get and I feel like with The Lord, nothing is really impossible; that there is always hope. There is also a feeling of being caught up in praise and its musical textures - plenty of places in the song where chords crash in stormy waters or gently ripple and shimmer along on sunlit seas. Listening to this song is an enveloping balm of praise - you come away knowing how SO MUCH IS POSSIBLE WITH THE LORD, so many endless possibilities, and how He is always waiting to make things happen!!

I just pray that you feel the same - that you will know how unfathomable and inexhaustible God's resources are, and how past searching out His love, grace and mercy are for us :)

Get yourself a cup of coffee, clear your mind, sit down on your favourite chair, and listen....... God always has a BUT GOD to change everything!!!!



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RICH MULLINS

In 1998, I was asked to play Rich's 'If I Stand' and 'Sometimes by Step', for someone who wanted to sing them, and who gifted me a music book copy of Rich's Songs album. As a matter of fact, Rich's songs were, at that time, in the forefront of contemporary Christian music because this gifted Gospel singer-songwriter had died in an accident in 1997 or 1998 (don't know the year).

I have learned to cherish Rich very much, because some of his songs have been used of God to minister much to me in times of distress - these will be featured in this series in due course, as they come up before me and as God continues to remind me of His precious, precious words to me in my sorely-tested, much harried moments. I thank Rich for being responsive to God to write these precious words of hope down and put them to music reasonably well.

He doesn't seem to have been an easy or fluent performer, though the videos of 'Sing Your Praise' look easy, it's because it's still his most spacious and expansive, even untypical song. His other songs display a man who knew His God in the difficult times (just like me) and just crumpled in His God's arms (again, just like me). 'Sing Your Praise', however, reveals a triumphantly talented, expansive Rich........