Playing at Church
We were so blessed to have the opportunity to play Search Me Oh God today:
Search me, O God, and know my heart today;
try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
cleanse me from ev'ry sin and set me free.
I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
fulfill Thy Word and make me pure within.
Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame;
grant my desire to magnify Thy name.
Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine;
fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self, and pride;
I now surrender, Lord— in me abide.
O Holy Spirit, revival comes from Thee;
send a revival– start the work in me.
Thy Word declares Thou will supply our need;
for blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead.
Written by J. Edwin Orr, who was a baker, that started street evangelizing, had no money, ended up evangelizing across the world to 150 countries, also became an ordained minister. He wrote this song Search Me O God in 1936, also known as “Cleanse Me”, when he was evangelizing in New Zealand, inspired from Psalm 139:23-24 as a powerful revival hymn.
Psalm 139:23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
As an older man, Orr, being interviewed by a young man who said he was praying for revival & stated but what else can I do? Orr immediately said, “You can let it begin with you!” He preached what he lived that revival should, could, & would be personal if we yield ourselves to God.
I love that in this song he is laying it all at the feet of God, all of his doubts, shortcomings, failures, disobedience & is asking God to look into his heart, find his sin, and cleanse his heart & his life. He is attributing everything to God & asking God to give him the knowledge, fire, and opportunity to share the gospel. It is about ultimate surrender of his life to God.
We all our sinners. When thinking about my own life, I am drawn to the apostle Paul who said of all sinners, he was the worst.
1 Timothy 1:15
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
This song mentions pride, which is one thing I am in constant prayer about when it comes to what we do here. This is our way to serve the Lord & share our passion for Jesus & His gospel.
What is something you struggle with?
The best thing we can do is pray to God to help us with these struggles. And then help others with the same struggles.