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 Touch the Sky from 2015.
This one wins the prize for the most puzzling title – Touch the Sky 😀. It’s not unique to the hymn. I found several secular songs with the same title. Here are a couple:
So what’s meant by “Touch the Sky”? Seems it’s an idiomatic expression meaning to reach a very high level of success, joy, or achievement. It can also mean to aspire to something great. So, we shouldn’t be surprised to hear it in a worship song. I even remember something similar in an older hymn; The God of Abraham Praise, with a line saying “from earth I rise and seek the joys at His right hand.”
In worship, it often feels like we’re rising above our mundane life on earth. Hymns and worship songs can suit our different moods. Maybe we don’t always feel as if we can touch the sky, but on these rare occasions when we do feel truly exhilarated at belonging to Jesus, it’s nice to be able to express our feelings. And even when we don’t, remembering where we are in Christ helps us to cope.
Ephesians 2:4-7
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Here are some other versions of today’s hymn:
Hibernia Gospel 