Hymns: Worthy Of It All

I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the very modern hymns.

Today’s song is Worthy Of It All by CeCe Winans. It’s from 2021.

Worthy Of It All

Lyrics

Up until recently, I used to dismiss modern worship music as music for “happy-clappy” young people. I do remember recognizing CeCe Winans from the Goodness of God song, which is one of the more popular modern worship songs. Then, this morning, I was looking up old UK pop chart music from 1996 – something I’m prone to do. And who did I see, but CeCe Winans 😀! She’s around my age. And what was she doing in the secular pop charts of 1996?

Seems that she was a close friend of Whitney Houston, and she sang at her funeral. Perhaps I’m the only person who doesn’t know all this, but I’m looking forward to digging deep into all the music that she’s made. I’m so glad that I’ve stopped dismissing “modern” Christian music. There’s so much to discover now. And, of course, I’m keen to discover all the old stuff too. And replay all the music that I already know and love.

Count on Me – Whitney Houston & Ce Ce Winans

So let’s get to the song itself. Like so many other worship songs, it’s inspired by the heavenly worship that features in the Book of Revelation. Sometimes it feels as if we’re already in heaven. Even Paul touched on this notion in the Book of Ephesians:

Ephesian 2:6-7
⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

So, in a sense, where already sitting in heavenly places. I sometimes compare it with being told that you have a place in Cambridge University. Let’s say someone told me that I’d be studying particle physics there from next September. Wouldn’t I want to know all about Cambridge and all about particle physics? I’d be there virtually even before I get there physically.

And here’s a passage in Revelation that brings to mind the lyrics of the song:

Revelation 4:10-11
¹⁰the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
¹¹“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
    and by your will they were created
    and have their being.”

Interesting that such a recent song is already so widely known around the world: