*HE LIFTED ME

There is a tendency, today, to disregard those stuffy old hymnbooks. People are drawn to more contemporary Christian music.  Some of it is not bad but there are lots of poorly written and doctrinally weak "7-11" and "Jesus-is-my-girlfriend" type songs that stir emotions and make us feel all warm and fuzzy about ourselves.

Not long ago, I rediscovered the great, old classic treasure, HE LIFTED ME.  The song exposes our human condition and inability to present ourselves worthy of God's grace.

It doesn't do much for my self-esteem, but it does make me feel all warm and fuzzy about my Savior.

  

In loving-kindness, Jesus came,

My soul in mercy to reclaim,

And from the depths of sin and shame

Through grace, He lifted me.

He called me long before I heard,

Before my sinful heart was stirred,

But when I took Him at His Word,

Forgiv’n, He lifted me.

His brow was pierced with many a thorn,

His hands by cruel nails were torn,

When from my guilt and grief, forlorn,

In love, He lifted me.

Now on a higher plane, I dwell,

And with my soul I know ’tis well;

Yet how or why, I cannot tell,

He should have lifted me.

Refrain

From sinking sand He lifted me,

With tender hand, He lifted me;

From shades of night to plains of light,

Oh, praise His Name, He lifted me!

I was discussing this with a friend and theologian, Ron Livesay, who explained it something like this:

“It's not like we were in danger of drowning and God threw us a lifeline to grab so that we could save ourselves.  NO!  

"We were hopelessly buried in the deepest sea, helplessly mired in the sand and mud.  We were dead.  

"With no way to save ourselves, God reached down, picked us up, brought us up, set us on a firm foundation, and breathed new life into us.”  

The Psalmist put it like this, "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings."  (Psa. 40:2)

HE LIFTED ME was written by Charles H. Gabriel in 1905.