The Story Behind the Song

In a previous post I shared about how blessed we are at RMCC with great worship leaders and team members who help us lift our hearts and hands to the Lord (Lamentations 3:41). Going back to Moses and especially King David, worship or singing to the Lord, has always been an essential part of having a close relationship with God.

Singing songs of praise or worshipping the Lord takes on many forms and certainly there are preferences, likes and dislikes where it concerns everything from lyrics to melodies to rhythm and many other components of music that I know nothing about!

But what I do know is that God is worthy of our worship which includes singing to Him and as such we want to make singing to the Lord a significant part of our day to day fellowship with God. As David wrote: “Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! (Psalm 47:6)”

Many people have been raised up to sing praises to our King Jesus and everyone has their favorite artists. When my wife Melody and I were first saved we were quickly introduced to a couple named Bill and Gloria Gaither. We instantly fell in love with them and developed a deep appreciation for their shared heart to love the Lord through song and especially corporate times of worship.

I mention them not because I want to promote them, but because they are great examples of how the Lord uses music to build us up in our most holy faith. Bill and Gloria have written many gospel songs and what I like about their songs is that they use music to communicate the good news of the Bible. They use their gifting in music to encourage believers in their faith and to help believers through the trials of life.

One very good example of how a song can contain a great biblical message is their song, ‘Because He Lives.’ Long before I knew the story behind the song I really enjoyed its message. But once I heard the story that inspired the song my appreciation for the lyrics went to another level. The genesis for this song goes back to the late 1960s when Gloria was pregnant. In her own words, “We were expecting our third baby and reading the newspaper and wondering why anyone would bring a baby into a world like this!”

Months later, while holding her newborn son, Gloria’s perspective changed and a new song was born. In recounting the experience she said, “We realized that you don’t do what you do because the world is stable but you do all of that because Christ is real and the resurrection is true.” She went on to explain that the song began to take shape with the following words: “How sweet to hold a newborn baby but greater still the calm assurance this child can face uncertain days because He lives.”

Because He Lives is a great song on every level that songs can be measured, but especially because of the eternal truth it shares about our Savior Jesus. Because He lives, we can face tomorrow! I believe that if Charles Spurgeon heard this song he would be very proud of Bill and Gloria for how they were able to take the truth of God’s Word and turn it into song for the purposes of expressing great love to Jesus while simultaneously teaching believers to grow in the grace and knowledge of Him.

I encourage you to listen to this amazing song now with a little more understanding and appreciation for the story behind the song. You’ll find many different versions on YouTube and I pray that whatever musical style you prefer and wherever you are in your walk with the Lord, that you will want to make worship, singing praise to God, an ever growing part of your day to day fellowship with Jesus the Christ.

Written by Pastor Bruce Daze